We open on an elderly man regaling his teen grandson with a war story. The imagery flashes us back to the former as a young man in battle who witnesses a fellow soldier get seriously wounded. He goes to rescue his comrade, carrying him back to cover behind a tree.
Then as he returns to the fight, a bullet hits him in the chest around the heart area. He recoils back and falls to the ground. But remarkably he’s not hurt and is fully conscious, only stunned by the impact of the bullet which was absorbed by a metal Zippo lighter in his front uniform pocket.
The spot returns us to the present and the grandfather hands the life-saving, bullet-dented Zippo to his proud grandson who’s understandably in awe of the gift.
A supered endtag simply reads “Zippo.”
Real-world traction Titled “Heirloom,” this spec spot was written, directed, produced and edited by M. Keegan Uhl, Created earlier this year for Zippo’s create-a-commercial contest at poptent.net, “Heirloom” wound up winning Uhl $5,000 in prize money. And just last month, it paid another dividend in terms of exposure, debuting at a NASCAR race event venue.
Furthermore, “Heirloom” is slated this month for display on electronic billboards in Asia. Uhl’s spec spot has indeed graduated to earn some real-world marketing play.
So too is Uhl looking to graduate to a full fledged production house affiliation for his first career representation as a director of commercials and branded content. He has to his credit spec work, a couple of short films and music videos, even a web comedy series, with other projects in the works. The digital sitcom is titled Guess Again, which follows the antics of three 20something roommates; episodes of the mini-comedy run from four to eight minutes apiece. Uhl, who’s been an editor for over a decade, began showcasing his directorial reel to production companies last month.
Uhl is no stranger to SHOOT. He entered “Heirloom” into this year’s SHOOT New Directors Showcase. Though the spot didn’t make the final cut for the ninth annual showcase, it was under strong consideration as a finalist for inclusion.
Exposure 2011 has been a year for Uhl’s work as a director to garner exposure. His short film The Beach came up a winner in Canon’s “The Story Behind The Still” contest, selected as the official Chapter 3 for a collaborative film started by director Vincent Laforet (a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer) who collaborated with Grey New York to bring his interpretation of a still image to life in a short film entitled The Cabbie. The year-long contest invited participants to use the HD video capability of their DSLR cameras to create short videos that tell a story based on the final still frame from Laforet’s piece, and then from each successive winning “chapter.” Videos were submitted online and judged by a group of filmmakers and the Vimeo community at large. Laforet’s piece kicked off an eight-chapter collaborative work. Laforet (who is repped as a commercials director by The Joneses) also helmed the eighth chapter, titled Corridors, to conclude what was billed as one of the largest user-generated filmmaking stories ever.
The final full eight-chapter film, including Uhl’s Chapter 3, The Beach, debuted this past January at the Sundance Film Festival and simultaneously on Vimeo. The next month the overall film made its TV premiere on the Sundance Channel.
“The innovative nature of ‘The Story Behind The Still’ contest demonstrates how storytelling has evolved to become a wonderful social experiment in collaborative filmmaking,” said Ari Halper, senior VP/executive creative director, Grey New York. “The awards won by this campaign, including the prestigious 2010 Cannes Advertising Festival Gold Medal Lion, Silver Promo Lion, Titanium/Integrated Lion, are a testament to how this contest has created a new milestone in filmmaking–one that inspires individuals to express themselves in new and interesting ways using the increased functionality of their cameras.”
Uhl directed, wrote, co-produced, edited, handled color and sound design for The Beach, which was shot by cinematographer Andrew Brinkhaus who also lensed Zippo’s “Heirloom.”
