The initial P.O.V. in this spec spot–looking up through toilet bowl water–is a bit of an eye opener. And our sight for moist eyes is a pair of kids–a little boy and his “big” sister.
The spot then shifts to a more conventional perspective of capturing the two children in the bathroom, standing in front of and gazing into the toilet.
“I’m sorry you have to go to heaven Sammy,” says the lad, holding a goldfish in his hand.
“I’ll miss you,” affirms the girl.
“We’ll miss you forever,” nods the boy.
As Sammy is dropped into the toilet, the girl adds, “Don’t forget to give us a call tonight”–at which point she plops a cellular phone into the bowl and flushes.
A voiceover relates, “Misplace your phone? Skip the grieving process with a great deal on the coolest new phone at Cingular.”
Jazzy product shot motion graphics of Cingular cell phones appear on screen. The spot then takes us to the kitchen were the two kids are with their mother.
“Mom, did Sammy call yet?” asks the girl.
“What?” responds the mom in a voice tinged with both bewilderment and disbelief.
An end tag contains the Cingular logo, accompanied by the slogan, “Raising the bar.”
Bill Kelman of Apache Films, Venice, Calif., directed the spec piece, which was conceived by creative directors Jonathan Emmerling and Steve Giraldi. Art director was Rebecca Bloom.
Robbie Howard produced, with Kelly Koskella serving as co-producer. The DP was Damien Collier. Production designer was Irwin Mehlman, with Rebecca Bloom the art director.
Editor was Ryan Wick. Colorist was Nadeem Chawdhry of Filmworks/FX, Santa Monica. Motion graphics/effects artist was Alan Chamberlain. Audio post mixer/sound designer/composer was Ben Davis of Ben Audio, Venice.
Principal actors were Carissa Bodner, Nolan Gould and Kristin Pfeifer. There was no actual goldfish; it was a rubber fish that Kelman bought at a magic store.
Searching for spec concepts, Kelman linked up with creative directors Emmerling and Giraldi via wheresspot. Emmerling and Giraldi are creatives at Gotham, New York, but they did this project independent of the agency.
Lensing and Designing Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist”
Cinematographer Lol Crawley, BSC and production designer Judy Becker collaborated for the first time on The Brutalist (A24) and emerged as Oscar nominees in their respective disciplines. Their work on the film has also earned major recognition elsewhere on the industry awards circuit. Just this week, Crawley won the British Society of Cinematographers’ Feature Film Award. He also is currently a nominee for both an ASC Award and a BAFTA Film Award. And Becker received nominations for a BAFTA Film Award and an Art Directors Guild (ADG) Excellence in Production Design Award. Crawley and Becker, though, traversed distinctly different paths to The Brutalist, being on opposite ends of the collaborative continuum with director and co-writer Brady Corbet going into the film. Crawley had already shot two features for Corbet prior to The Brutalist--The Childhood of a Leader (2015) and Vox Lux (2018). In sharp contrast, The Brutalist marked Becker’s first time working with Corbet. Becker recalled seeing The Childhood of a Leader and immediately wanting to design for Corbet. Describing herself as “stunned” by the film, she related that it reflected Corbet’s talent as a filmmaker, his ability to work within a budget on a period movie and still deliver an end product that looked fantastic while brilliantly telling a story. Becker noted that a big budget period film replete with tons of set dressing, over-dressed locations and the like misses the mark for her. She asked, “Why waste that money?” But when Becker sees a period movie with a pared down budget that looks so good, “I’m really blown away.” Based on The Childhood of a Leader, Becker told her agent that she’d love to... Read More