This :30 gives new meaning to the industry term "Flame artist." Here, we see personified versions of fire, devilish-looking creatures with bodies that glow like burning embers, stalking through the forest. They arrive at their intended destination: a two-story house.
However, setting this home ablaze may prove difficult, as the residents have kept a 30-foot buffer between the structure and the surrounding brush. This begins a series of thwarted attempts, tinged by a "curses, foiled again" brand of dark humor.
The creatures try climbing a tree, but to no avail—the trees have been trimmed so that their branches are not in close proximity to the house. Next, several firebrands hoist themselves onto the roof, where they discover that the homeowners are again well prepared—the roof is made of fire-resistant material, causing one of the creatures to bang his fists on the rooftop in frustration.
We then see three of the incendiary characters standing on the home’s front lawn, seemingly conspiring another plan. A voiceover interjects, "Find ways to make your home more defensible against wildfire. What have you got to lose, except everything?"
At this point, a sprinkler head rises from the lawn, putting the fire setters in peril. The spot ends with the supered Web site address, www.firewise.org.
Michael Chaves of Seed, Venice, Calif., directed this Ad Council PSA promoting Firewise, a fire safety organization, for agency Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB), Irvine, Calif. Blair Stribley and Dan Bryant executive produced for Seed, with Anton Maillie serving as producer. Florian Stadler was the DP.
The FCB creative team consisted of executive creative director Holland Henton, VP/creative director Chip Fuller, copywriter Christian Sternal, art director Brent Thomas, executive producer John Brooks and producer Dan Reilly.
Nico Alba of Union Editorial, Santa Monica, edited "Assault." Megan Dahlman produced for Union. Colorist was Bob Curreri of The Syndicate, Santa Monica. Audio mixer was Mike Greenberg of Eleven, Santa Monica.
Visual effects companies were Dieselfx and Barbed Wire, both in Santa Monica. Freelancer Carl Siebert served as exec producer for Dieselfx and Barbed Wire. He additionally was visual effects supervisor for Dieselfx. Elliott Jobe and Craig Price of Dieselfx were creative director/lead artist and Inferno artist, respectively. Avi Das was visual effects artist for Barbed Wire, with Korey Cachon serving as producer. Sound designer was Marc Levisohn of HUM, Santa Monica. Debbie Landon produced for HUM.
