We’ve been treated to all sorts of unusual and amazing sights–ranging from a gorilla rockin’ out on the drums to children with freakishly rubbery eyebrows–in those Cadbury commercials that have been produced since 2007 as part of the confectionary company’s Glass and a Half Full Production-themed campaign, and the latest spot continues the trend. Titled “Ostrich” and clocking in at just over one-and-a-half minutes, the commercial created by Saatchi & Saatchi Johannesburg and directed by Peter Truckel via Johannesburg’s Catapult Commercials finds an ostrich taking flight–thanks to a parachute–after a daring leap from a plane.
Truckel said he was immediately taken with the idea of a flying ostrich when he read the brief, which actually changed quite a bit throughout the pre-bid/pre-production process. For example, Truckel pointed out, the ostrich was originally seen wearing a pair of goggles and a flying helmet at the outset of the spot, but he suggested that having the ostrich decked out in flying gear would take away any sense of surprise for the viewer, so the goggles and flying helmet were ditched.
Truckel also thought it would be a good idea to place crates on the plane to help make the location more ambiguous at the start of the spot. The crates also provided a surface onto which “A Glass and a Half Full Production” could be stenciled, thereby eliminating the need for a supered title over the opening frame.
Small but smart touches. Saatchi executive creative director Adam Wittert noted that Truckel was hired to direct because of his storytelling ability and experience with VFX and animatronics.
Real deal
An animatronic ostrich created by Johannesburg’s The Creature Shop was used in the spot, but you might be surprised, Truckel shared, to discover that at least 90 percent of what we see in the spot is a real ostrich, with the VFX crew at Bladeworks, Johannesburg, marrying the head and neck of real bird to the faux bird in a number of shots.
Using the Red camera with Cooke lenses, Truckel and DP Werner Maritz filmed not one but two real ostriches inside a cargo plane interior built on a stage at Sasani Studios in Johannesburg. Working with real ostriches provided by Luke Cornell, an animal wrangler based in Cape Town, proved to be a surprisingly hassle-free experience, by the way. “He’s had the birds–they’re sisters–since they were little more than eggs, and as a consequence they are extremely well behaved around people,” Truckel said. “Ostriches as a rule are well known for being more than a little flakey around cameras, so working with Luke and his birds made our lives infinitely easier.”
But working with the animatronic bird was a different story. The second day of stage time was devoted to shooting the fake bird, and Truckel quickly realized that though it had been feathered to match the real ostriches, there simply weren’t enough feathers on it, and this became especially apparent when the animatronic bird’s wings were extended in a flying pose. Truckel tried to make the best of the situation, figuring it could be fixed in post. But when he later realized it would be cost prohibitive to attach more feathers in post, Truckel had the model makers at The Creature Shop re-feather the bird, and the scenes with the animatronic bird were re-shot.
That would not be the only difficulty faced in making “Ostrich.” The editing process–editor Gordon Midgley of Riot, Cape Town, cut the spot–was also challenging. “The editing was exhausting,” Wittert said. “We had a lot of people influencing the outcome of the ad, so it was tricky and sometimes just painful trying to balance everybody’s comments and views. Eventually, we reached a point at which the majority of us were happy, but it was long and arduous.”
Musical debate Choosing the music to accompany the visuals wasn’t a walk in the park either. “The choice of music caused us endless headaches,” Wittert said. “We literally trawled through thousands of songs. We had many long arguments about the music and what exactly it should be saying. We wanted something that spoke to the grandness of the ostrich’s dream, but was also fun and comical when used in this context.”
The aria “Nessen Dorma” performed by Luciano Pavarotti was a contender, but Saatchi in the end selected Sammy Davis Jr.’s’ “I’ve Gotta Be Me,” which was re-recorded by HeyPapaLegend Sound Studios, Cape Town, for the commercial with Myles McDonald serving as music composer/arranger and Ross McDonald as composer/engineer.
Despite the fact there were challenges to overcome in making “Ostrich,” the resulting commercial is truly delightful. Like previous spots in the campaign, “Ostrich” aims to link the consumption of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars with a joyful experience. Taking a cue from the incredibly successful “Gorilla” spot out of Fallon London, “We thought ours should also feature an animal,” Wittert reflected. “The ostrich seemed like a good choice because it’s so comical looking and is a very South African image. But the idea to have the bird attempt to fly by jumping out of a plane was all due to the clever creatives involved.”
