The prospect of a bank spot with no people, only furniture, hardly sounds creatively stimulating. But in a gestalt that is far greater than the sum of its parts, this Regions Bank commercial tells the story of a young law student, his rise professionally and the progression of his personal life, creating a portrait not only of him but his family over the years.
Directed by Steve Beck of Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios (R+H), Los Angeles, the :30 entitled “Chairs,” part of a seven-spot campaign, simply consists of stop motion animation of furniture, primarily chairs, that fill up and empty various rooms to signify stages in life.
A law student, Clarence, starts investing early with Regions Bank as the spot opens on his modestly furnished, somewhat unkempt law school dorm room. From there, the furniture changes to an office, which reflects the first job he landed at a top law firm. After his office, we see the seating arrangement at a wedding reception as Clarence has married Rebecca. Next is the living room of the happy couple’s first house, a nursery signifying the birth of a baby–actually, twins, as the nursery fills up a bit more before our eyes. The spot then takes us through time to see the dining room of their home, with more seats being added one by one to signify a growing extended family, grandkids and so on. An executive suite conveys that our attorney has indeed moved up the ranks to partner status at the firm. Finally the furniture clutter diminishes as we see a retired, married couple’s living room with easy chairs for two.
At no time do we ever see Clarence, Rebecca or any other person for that matter. All we see is their “Chairs.” An end tag carries the Regions Bank logo, accompanied by the slogan, “Personalized service for every stage of your life.”
The agency for Regions Bank-Miami (with headquarters in Birmingham, Ala.) is Coral Gables, Fla.-based Creative On Demand. The ad shop creative team included partners/creative directors Priscilla Cortizas and Daniel Marrero, senior copywriter Andres Arlia, producer Patty Rodriguez, executive director of marketing Emmie Vazquez and integrated marketing manager Jose Quijano.
“‘Chairs’ was a unique opportunity to tell very typical portrait-style stories in a very atypical way,” said director Beck. The spot was shot by Al “Tiko” Pavoni in Hollywood, Fla., and combined green screen, digital stills and Flame compositing.
Paul Babb executive produced for R+H. Kat Dillon was head of production, live action, with Joel Zimmerman serving as producer.
The spot was edited by Diego Enriquez of Miami Edit, Miami, and Jay Lizarraga of R+H. Online editor was R+H’s Steve Wellington.
The R+H team on the post/effects side included: Lisa White, head of production, commercial digital; post producer Jon Derovan, lead Flame artist Eric DeHaven, Flame artist Hilary Sperling, roto artist Sheri Cruz, and 2D artisans Nathan Brunskill and Jenny McGee.
Audio engineer was Steve Johnston of Outpost Audio, Miami.
Writers of “Conclave,” “Say Nothing” Win Scripter Awards
The authors and screenwriters behind the film โConclaveโ and the series โSay Nothingโ won the 37th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards during a black-tie ceremony at USCโs Town and Gown ballroom on Saturday evening (2/22).
The Scripter Awards recognize the yearโs most accomplished adaptations of the written word for the screen, including both feature-length films and episodic series.
Novelist Robert Harris and screenwriter Peter Straughan took home the award for โConclave.โ
In accepting the award, Straughan said, โAdaptation is a really strange process, youโre very much the servant of two masters. In a way itโs an act of betrayal of one master for the other.โ He joked that โYou start off with a book that you love, you read it again and again, and then you end up throwing it over your shoulder,โ crediting author Robert Harris for being โso kind, so generous, so open throughout.โ
In the episodic series category, Joshua Zetumer and Patrick Radden Keefe won for the episode โThe People in the Dirtโ from the limited series โSay Nothing,โ which Zetumer adapted from Keefeโs nonfiction book about the Troubles in Ireland.
Zetumer referenced this yearโs extraordinary group of Scripter finalists, saying โprojects like these reminded me of why I wanted to become a writer when I was sitting in USCโs Leavey Library dreaming of becoming a screenwriter. If you fell in love with movies, or fell in love with TV, chances are you fell in love with something dangerous.โ
Special guest for the evening, actress and producer Jennifer Beals, shared her thoughts on the impact of libraries. โIf ever you are at a loss wondering if there is good in the world,โ she said, โyou have only to go to a... Read More