Forget about a viable ad concept dying in committee or in focus groups. In this charming tongue-in-cheek, largely black-and-white animation :30, the commercial assassin is instead a receptionist who answers phones at the Idaho Lottery office.
We open on a ringing phone that is picked up by the female receptionist. On the line is a man who says he saw the new Twister scratcher game cards in the store, which prompted him to come up with an idea for a TV commercial promoting the Idaho Lottery’s new game that carries a $30,000 payoff. The guy’s head turns into a light bulb, connoting the proverbial inspired idea. He explains his spot storyline to the receptionist, an ad scenario that is brought to life in animation directed by Christopher Hinton via Hollywood-headquartered Acme Filmworks for agency es/drake in Boise. The man with the plan explains that a dot builder, whom we see with trusty hammer at the ready, is all set to play Twister. Since he makes the colored dots on the Twister board–causing players to contort their bodies in different directions–it figures that he should be masterful at the game and a leading candidate to win the 30 grand.
But these best laid plans are scuttled as our idea man relates that a “ginormous octopus alien” arrives on scene and uses its far reaching tentacles to out-twist the now caped superhero Twister man and win the $30,000 top prize. The octopus then uses the money to repair his spaceship, deploying a giant drill.
The receptionist, seen mindlessly twirling her hair, says succinctly that this idea “would never make it on television” and proceeds to burst the light bulb that emerges from her ear. (The idea started with the man, apparently made its way through the phone receiver and went in one ear of the receptionist and out the other.) The guy responds, “That wasn’t necessary,” referring to the manner in which the receptionist summarily dismissed his concept.
An end tag shows us an animated version of the scratcher game piece along with the Idaho Lottery website address.
Creative freedom
Hinton said he was drawn to the project primarily for the “creative freedom” the agency team afforded him. “They gave me lots of latitude, presenting me with a basic script and then an audio recording of the voices in the phone conversation. I put together a rough animatic based on all of that, and they accepted my interpretation, adding a few suggestions.”
The agency team that entrusted Hinton consisted of creative directors Joe Quatrone and Dennis Budell and producer Lisa Hawkes.
Twice nominated for an Oscar–for the short films Black Fly in 1991 and Nibbles in ’04–Hinton is repped for commercials by Acme. His modus operandi is to hand draw every frame of his work on a tablet. He did just that for this Idaho Lottery commercial, which is aptly titled “Twister.” “It was all drawn on a table using a vector-based software called Toon Boom Studio. It’s very easy software to use,” related Hinton. “Because it’s vector-based, you can move things around and enlarge them without any degradation to the image. And due to the way I drew it–using line thicknesses to deflect any computer look–the finished commercial looks less mechanical and more human.”
Over the years, Hinton has done a smattering of spots but is looking to pick up the spot pace since he has more free time having recently quit running the animation program at Concordia University in Montreal. After being a member of the fine arts faculty there for 16 years, Hinton decided to devote more time to directing and animating projects, working in concert with Acme Filmworks or Canada’s National Film Board. He directed Black Fly through the latter, and Nibbles via Acme. Ron Diamond and David Schmier of Acme executive produced “Twister.” Hinton and Acme founder Diamond are long-time friends; in fact Diamond was exec producer on the Oscar-nominated Nibbles.
Dual existence
While Nibbles, Black Fly and now the Idaho Lotto spot reflect Hinton’s affinity for comedy, the director noted that he leads “a dual existence….I very much like humor but I also love exploring more abstract, art-related issues by trying to push the animation medium as far as I can.”
On that more serious, abstract score, Hinton is currently working with the National Film Board of Canada on a short that captures the art of dance through stereoscopic imagery. Hinton added that his independent film work consists of shorts. He is not enamored with feature-length fare. “I like to have control. That’s the real crux of the matter,” he explained. “I draw, animate and direct all my work. The short is a great medium that allows you to be in the driver’s seat.”
