Josh Miller of B-Reel directed this PSA in which two couples at a booth in a Mexican restaurant are having some social drinks, chatting about another couple’s break-up, and possibly getting a puppy.
All of a sudden the action turns slow motion and it’s if the booth and its occupants are in a car crash, with broken margarita and beer glasses and salsa and chips sent flying. The scene transitions to one couple in the front seat of a car, their air bags activated as their car has crashed into a street pole.
A voiceover relates, “Just a drink or two can impair you. Buzzed driving is drunk driving.”
The Texas Department of Transportation website for the program SoberRides.org then appears on screen.
This casual social encounter that turns into a violent slow-mo crash scene came out of agency Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing.
“This was a great concept for an important cause,” said Miller. “More than anything, it’s a reminder that sometimes all it takes is a single drink to impair your judgement. We each have our own personal threshold, and a casual dinner and drinks with friends can end in disaster. That’s what I wanted to capture in the most simple, visceral and visual compelling way.”
Miller and his team went to some extraordinary lengths to create the effect he calls “beautifully violent.” After shooting the wider shots in an actual Mexican restaurant, Miller built a small set that matched the scene from the restaurant, and then mounted the set on dolly tracks. By making the set movable, the B-Reel team was able to capture the entire crash moment in camera, and at 600 frames per second.
The camera itself was locked to the moving set, so the viewer can’t detect the movement before the moment of impact. So when the crash happens, it feels abrupt and real. Miller captured everything in camera, including the smashing beer glasses and food and drinks flying through the air.
Denzel Washington, Michael J. Fox and Bono Among Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients
In the East Room of the White House on a particularly frigid Saturday afternoon, President Joe Biden bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aroused a standing ovation from the crowd as she received her medal. Clinton was accompanied to the event by her husband former President Bill Clinton, daughter Chelsea Clinton and grandchildren. Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington were also awarded the nation's highest civilian honor in a White House ceremony.
"For the final time as president I have the honor bestowing the Medal of Freedom, our nation's highest civilian honor, on a group of extraordinary, truly extraordinary people, who gave their sacred effort, their sacred effort, to shape the culture and the cause of America," Biden said in his opening remarks.
"Let me just say to each of you, thank you, thank you, thank you for all you've done to help this country," Biden said Saturday.
Four medals were awarded posthumously. They went to George W. Romney, who served as both a Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; former Attorney General and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; Ash Carter, a former secretary of defense; and Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Kennedy is father to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for health and human services secretary. Biden said, "Bobby is one of my true political heroes. I love and I miss him dearly."
Romney is the father of former Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, one of... Read More