Director Tim Damon, well known for his car commercials and sheet metal shooting prowess (including combo spot/still assignments for Lexus, Corvette, Chrysler, Toyota and Goodyear), broke new vehicular ground for himself, helming a live broadcast over YouTube Live, Meerkat and Periscope during halftime of last week’s Thursday Night Football (10/22) game pitting the Seattle Seahawks against the San Francisco 49ers. Produced by Damon Productions and lensed on stage20–Damon’s specially designed space in Gardena, Calif., for completing world-class automotive work–the approximately eight-minute piece featured host Christopher Allen, blues guitarist Joel Whitley, precision driver Dave MacDonald, and a number of trick plays showcasing the mettle of the 2016 Lexus LX luxury SUV.
For a director accustomed to precision automotive work, Damon delved for the first time into the less precise, often unpredictable world of live social media where anything could have gone wrong logistically and/or in the on-camera performances of Messrs. Allen, Whitley and MacDonald, as well as the LX itself.
Though the immediacy of a live production was new to Damon, there was still some familiar ground for him in that the very nature of the project called for thorough preparation akin in many respects to what the director has done over the years for his many commercials. Plus the live webcast contained heavy dialogue, at which Damon is also proficient though it’s a talent often overshadowed by his car reputation.
After host/spokesman Allen tells us the halftime score (17-0 in favor of the Seahawks) and references some first half game highlights, he turns our attention to the 2016 LX, initially to its stylish exterior with black lights spotlighting specific features, then the interior of the car, highlighted by special lighting. As we hear the state-of-the-art sound system, we also get a live earful of blues guitar being strummed by Whitley. The electric guitar is plugged into an LX port.
Next up is a bit of demo driving by MacDonald–a parallel parking job assisted by a 360-degree panoramic view monitor. One false move and a tire or two could be punctured as beds of sharp nails form the curb and area right behind the alloted parking space. As it turns out, there were no false moves and the overall project made a smooth, impressive showing.
Damon reflected on “The Live #LexusLX Halftime Show” in terms of the challenges it posed and lessons he learned from the experience.
SHOOT: What were the biggest challenges that the live halftime show posed to you as a director and cinematographer?
Damon: There were many lighting changes. You’re in and out of the car twice. The car has to back up for the demo. There are camera moves inside the SUV. A lot can go wrong. But it was a nice advantage to have my own stage. We were able to spend a week working on stage to figure everything out, to come up with graceful scenarios and contingencies. We were able to lay everything out and come up with a way to have a fluid and graceful feel.
Figuring out the black light sequence also took some time. We had to create enough black light to light an entire car and set. To accomplish that, we had to custom build the entire rig. We devised a flat with 40 black lights. Plus we had eight stands, each with 12 black lights apiece. We had a total of about 140 black light tubes configured to highlight specific features of the LX. We wanted to do some wider shots so we had to create a lot of black light on stage.
I own a fabrication shop and we put it to good use, building a rig to hold one live-action camera and three iPhones–one smartphone for live streaming to YouTube Live, another for Meerkat and a third for Periscope. We designed the rig because we needed an alternative to a stabilized head, which felt too floaty. For the main live-action camera, we ran tests and tried most everything. Some cameras were too heavy. We put in a lot of prep and went with the Sony a7SII, which was terrific. I had a week to practice how to walk as smoothly as possible carrying this rig. So we decided to design this special rig so I could control the camera and the three iPhones. I got to feel comfortable getting that rig in and out of the vehicle in a fluid manner, capturing all the action and features live.
SHOOT: What was your approach to working with your on-camera talent, particularly host/spokesman Christopher Allen?
Damon: We rehearsed quite a bit over a couple of days. I remember doing a dozen takes all the way through and when things went wrong, we learned to work with each other to keep things going. We learned to trust each other. I told Chris that no matter what happens when we’re live, don’t stop. If you’re hit in the head by a light, keep going. If I should stumble with the camera, keep going. We need to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. We have to save each other if something goes wrong. I think the rehearsals got some of the bloopers out of the way. And when the bloopers happened in rehearsal, we learned how to keep going. We learned how to dance together. It was kind of like a ballet. I had him stay in character for that whole last day of rehearsal.
SHOOT: What key lessons did you learn from the live broadcast experience?
Damon: I learned how valuable it was to have worked with Lexus and Team One in the past, including on a Super Bowl spot earlier this year [“Illusion” for the 2015 Lexus RC 350, which incidentally also ran during halftime of last week’s Thursday Night Football game on CBS; see spot below]. If not for that close working relationship, I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to do this live Thursday Night Football piece. Also, Lexus and Team One were great to work with on this live project. They were supportive. They could not have been any better to work with. There was a mutual trust from our having been long-time collaborators, an understanding that we had worked hard and there was a point where too much input would be counterproductive. We set a deadline that 4 pm on shoot day, there would be no more input. We were prepared and ready to take on whatever happened.
I also learned that my instincts were right in one key respect. I knew I had to let the talent be the talent. I couldn’t over direct or coach Chris because it was a live event and if someone is over coached, they don’t come across as who they naturally are. I had to let Chris be Chris.
I loved during this live “commercial.’ It was such a rush being a part of it and pulling it off.
SHOOT: You did “The Live #LexusLX Halftime Show” via your Damon Productions. But you are also repped for commercials and branded content via production house Bandito Brothers. What’s the thinking behind maintaining two roosts for your spotmaking?
Damon: The thinking behind it is I don’t want to be isolated creatively. I do some stuff through them and some through me. I recently directed an Indian Motorcycles job for Team One through Bandito Brothers. I enjoy the input of the new executive producer there, Ryan Slavin. I like being able to call Bandito Brothers’ [directors and company founders] Scott Waugh and Mike “Mouse” McCoy to bounce ideas off of and get their input and feedback.
