This weekend, forward thinking Minneapolis-headquartered advertiser Best Buy will launch “The Return of Kwan,” a cinema spot co-sponsored by Nokia and Cingular, that cleverly issues a reminder to turn off cell phones while in the theater. The piece is part of Best Buy’s strategy of using new distribution opportunities, coupled with new technologies, to get its message to customers.
“Best Buy wants to get imagery to any screen where there is a viewership,” said Mike Nelesen, staff director at Best Buy, which has in-house creative and production services. That strategy includes content for television, cinema, in-store displays, the Web–and, not so far down the road, possibly cell phones.
Best Buy creative director Joe Michaelson explained that since cell phones have become a huge part of the culture, advertisers could use these displays as a way to “reach people in efficient and effective ways, and in a way that is different.”
In fact, Best Buy reported that it is currently exploring opportunities and that there may be an extension of the “Silence” campaign on cell phones within a year. Using the Web, this is already getting closer to reality. Michaelson related that Best Buy already enhanced the experience of a previous Nelesen-directed “Silence” campaign spot, titled “Cheerleading,” which included a Web address that led viewers to a site where they could download the ring tone used in the commercial. In the future, don’t rule out cell phone content and sponsorships, Michaelson said.
“It’s really exciting,” said Mollie Weston, director of broadcast production services at Best Buy. “There is so much out there. Best By sells all this stuff that the content is put on, so it makes so much sense for us to have presence in these alternative categories. It’s an exciting time in our business.”
With these opportunities on the horizon, what does that mean for advertising producers? It looks like a rapidly expanding palette of formats and production techniques.
For instance, Best Buy, which sells HDTV sets and monitors, produces its TV ads in high definition. They run both on-air and for in-store demonstrations.
Recent cinema releases such as “Kwan” were finished in 2k data, which is 2,048 x 1,556 lines of resolution and the mastering format used for many trailers and features that use a digital intermediate process. This is significantly more resolution compared with today’s NTSC standard definition video, which is displayed at 640 x 480 lines of resolution; or even high definition, which is commonly 1920 x 1080 lines.
So why 2k? “We are posing the spot as a movie trailer, so it has to look like the movie trailer and post like they do,” explained Michaelson. “The ‘Silence is Golden’ campaign is not airing in the block with commercials. It’s airing with the trailers.”
This latest ‘Silence is Golden’ ad is from the martial arts genre; the colors, set and wardrobe from the lavish production were inspired by a Chinese painting on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Production of this spot involved cranes the size of semi-trailer trucks, blazing fire, horses and martial arts experts. The result could be likened to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero.
The ‘trailer’ tells the story of a former warrior who must fight once again when his old nemesis returns. A cell phone ring interrupts the final battle between the two, and the reminder to turn off cell phones during the movie is revealed.
DP Mike Welckle lensed “Kwan” in 35mm; a Digi Beta tape of the footage was delivered to editor Randy Kramer at Fischer Edit, Minneapolis.
For finishing, Best Buy went to Hollywood-based post house Pacific Title, which handles primarily theatrical work and is therefore experienced in delivering high resolution imagery. Pac Title scanned the film negative from Cramer’s EDL at 4k–4,096 X 3,112 lines–or four times the picture information in a 2k file. Then the spot was conformed in 2k in a Discreet Inferno; color correction was completed on a Discreet Lustre. Then they did a reverse scan back to negative, so that they could view prints. They made some tweaks and more prints, and when it was ready, the 2k master was used to create film prints for theatrical release.
“It was a lot different from [working in] HD; it was a lot different from NTSC,” said Neleson. “Mattes are different because you see more; wardrobe has be better because you see more details.”
“Audiences will see and react to advertising differently in the cinema,” related Michaelson. “You have a whole different toolbox. You can do surround sound, and pictures dealing with different aspect ratio and color space. [A viewer’s] peripheral vision is really different.”
Weston reported that an exit survey conducted in theaters shows that brand linkage from the “Silence” ads is extremely high.