A waiter at a restaurant asks a woman seated at a table with a guy if she has any questions. She does indeed, ranging from asking what the soup of the day is to the daily specials, how the steak is prepared, can she get it grilled, does it come with a side dish, what kind of pie is available and even whether or not the waiter is an actor.
“We ask questions everywhere we go,” reads a message on screen, which is also related by a voiceover.
“Except here,” continues the voiceover as we see the same woman in a doctor’s examining room. Given the opportunity to ask questions, she is instead silent and timid.
The voiceover then affirms that we need to ask questions in the doctor’s office and directs us to a website (ahrq.gov) for the 10 questions everyone should know.
“Restaurant” is one of two spots in this Ad Council campaign for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality). The other similarly themed PSA centers on an inquisitive guy who’s looking to buy a cell phone. But as soon as we see him later in a doctor’s office, he clams up.
The bottom line: Your health is more important than your cell phone or your food order. Ask questions of your healthcare providers.
Both spots were directed by Brendan Gibbons of Station Film for Grey New York.
The Grey team on the campaign included executive creative director/writer Rob Baiocco, art director Chris Brunt and producers Lauren Tuttman and Tiffany Jackson.
The DP was Bob Gantz. Editor was JJ Lask of PS260, New York.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More