This spot opens like a beauty product demo, as we see a woman applying a skincare créme to her face. On the bottom left of the screen, an understated super simply reads, “Day 1.”
The assumption is that we will see the remarkable improvement in the woman’s complexion as a result of this miracle cream as we move onto subsequent days. The only fleeting though unsettling observation is that this woman already has a perfect complexion. How could it get any better?
Next we see “Day 3” and the woman looks slightly worse, with the start of some subtle dark rings below her eyes.
By “Day 5,” severe patches of acne have broken out on her face yet she continues to rub the créme on her forehead and cheeks.
On “Day 7,” what had been acne now looks much more like open sores. Yet she still dutifully applies the créme.
A voiceover asks, “What’s the secret to this woman’s transformation?” At that point, we see the answer in the form of the word “Racism” which is the label on the jar containing the “beauty” créme. The voiceover continues, “The more you apply it, the uglier you get.”
A super identifies the sponsor, UN.ORG, and the related occasion, the United Nations’ “Week of Solidarity with the People’s Struggle Against Racism and Racial Discrimination.”
“Skincare” was directed by Tim Gibbs via 8 Commercials, Sydney, for Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney. (Gibbs is repped stateside by Mirror Films, Hollywood.) Mike Vanderfield was executive producer/producer for 8 Commercials. The DP was Graeme Wood.
The agency team consisted of creative director David Nobay, copywriter Tim Hall, art director Noah Reagan and producer Karen Bryson.
Editor was Peter Barton of Post Office, Sydney. Online editor was Drew Downes of Post Modern, Sydney. Colorist was Ben Eagleton of The Lab, Sydney. Audio post mixer was Simon Lister of Nylon, Sydney.
Principal actress was Elisa Sommet.
Craig Henighan Sounds Off On “Deadpool & Wolverine”
Hollywood lore has it that character actor Edmund Gwenn--while on his deathbed--quipped, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
The second part of that darkly witty utterance remains all too true today as Craig Henighan--a Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Oscar nominee in 2019 for Roma--can attest in that he had to grapple with the sonic of being comic for this year’s box office hit, Deadpool & Wolverine (20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios).
The degree of inherent difficulty was ramped up even further because Deadpool & Wolverine had to seamlessly bring together high action-adventure exploits with moments and dialogue that tickled the funny bone. There’s a mesh of humorous banter--a staple of the franchise--along with major spectacle replete with explosions, fights, an impactful score and off-the-wall musical numbers.
Henighan explained that among the prime challenges for him from a sound perspective was having to make sure every joke landed within the construct of a superhero film. The tendency for a tentpole movie of this variety, he noted, is to gravitate towards big, loud audio spanning music, dialogue and sound effects. But the unique comedic element of Deadpool & Wolverine necessitated that re-recording mixer and supervising sound editor Henighan strike a delicate balance. “You need to get out of the way for the comedy,” he related. The jokes in a superhero film become “a real dance” as Henighan had to establish a rhythm that did justice to both the comedy and the action as the narrative moves back and forth between them--and sometimes the funny and the high energy, high decibel superhero dynamic unfold simultaneously in a scene or sequence. The “sonic fabric” has to... Read More