Two women–one pushing a baby stroller–walk side by side in the park. Both are holding umbrellas as it rains steadily.
The lass behind the stroller tells her friend she recently went to the zoo where “all the animals were amazing.” She cited as an example an “incredible” elephant. “Did you know that elephants have ten thousand muscles in their tongues?”
Then out of nowhere an object comes flying into the scene, hitting the recent zoo-going woman on the side of the face. “Ow,” she says, clearly smarting.
“You alright?” asks her friend. “–You’re bleeding.”
An ominous feel develops as we wonder if this is just the beginning of a barrage of thrown objects. “Let’s get out of here,” says the friend, as we discern that the object was either a nut or small acorn.
The camera then reveals the culprit, an acorn-holding squirrel. A Web site address then appears on screen: JealousAnimals.com.
An end tag identifies the sponsor, the Toronto Zoo, accompanied by the slogan, “Same planet, different world.”
“Squirrel” is part of a three-spot campaign directed by Brian Lee Hughes of Reginald Pike, Toronto, for Lowe Roche, Toronto.
James Davis and Josefina Nadurata executive produced for Reginald Pike, with Cindy Marshall serving as producer. The DP was Tico Poulakakis.
Geoffrey Roche and Christina Yu were creative directors for Lowe Roche. Art director was Patrick Shing. Copywriter was Ryan Spelliscy. Melanie Lambertsen and Dana Rudelier were agency producers.
Editor was Graham Chisholm of Relish, Toronto. Sound design/audio house was Pirate Radio and TV, Toronto.
Interactive designer was Jessica Lee of Indusblue Inc., Toronto.
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