Top Spot Credits
CLIENT
Altima/Nissan Motor Corp.
PRODUCTION CO.
Reactor Films, Santa Monica, Calif. Steve Chase, director; Barry Peterson, DP; T.K. Knowles and Chuck Ryant, executive producers; Diane Saunders, producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
TBWA Chiat/Day, Venice, Calif. Lee Clow, chairman/chief creative officer; Rob Siltanen, creative director/copywriter; Joe Hemp, art director; Elaine Hinton, agency producer.
EDITORIAL
Inside/Out, Santa Monica. Igor Kovalik, editor; Kevin O’Brien, assistant editor; Valerie Petrusson, executive producer.
POST
Encore Santa Monica. Jais Lamaire, colorist. The Finish Line, Santa Monica. Jerry Steele and James Bygrave, online editors/Henry artists.
AUDIO POST
POP Sound, Santa Monica. Jeff Payne, mixer. Margarita Mix, Hollywood. Jimmy Hite, mixer. RavensWork, Venice, Calif. Robert Feist, mixer.
MUSIC
Groove Addicts, Los Angeles. Danny Elfman, composer; Marc McKenzie, orchestrator; Dain Blair, executive creative director.
SOUND DESIGN
Machine Head, bicoastal. Stephen Dewey, sound designer.
BY DAVID KAUFMAN
A decade after Field of Dreams, the “if-you-build-it-they-will-come” school of image-making is alive and well in spotland. Take “Tour Bus,” a new Nissan Altima campaign directed by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Reactor Films’ Steve Chase, via TBWA Chiat/Day in Venice, Calif. The :45–whose release was preceded by that of three :15 spot teasers–continues to use ubiquitous Nissan icon “Mr. K,” and heralds the coming of a grand new invention to an empty wheat field that has become an unlikely tourist attraction.
The “invention,” of course, is the Altima. But the quirky blend of color, music and casting in “Tour Bus” renders the vehicle a postmodern Lourdes for the minivan-and-mall set.
In the spot, which relegates Mr. K to spot’s end, a busload of cliched tourists travel pilgrimlike to the sacred wheat field and its holy hatchback. The visitors are an odd bunch–international, yet distinctively uncosmopolitan. Super-suburbanites, they plunge from the bus and surround the roped-off vehicle, snapping and chattering away, with one German admirer (apparently accustomed to European compacts) opining that “it’s much bigger than I thought it would be.”
The effect is farcical without being patronizing. While the characters may be cliches, most viewers will recognize this and can easily identify with this economy-class style of tourism.
“We were trying to play off of the nature of roadside attractions,” said TBWA Chiat/Day’s Rob Siltanen, who served as creative director/copywriter for the spot. “How people will stop and check anything out–and on a tour bus, this is what happens.”
Chase added: “The concept here was `going through life’–to get off the bus and stop and pay attention on one of the stops in life.”
Chase said he aimed to make the spot surreal without losing sincerity. So he focused mostly on colors, choosing the palette as his main tool and selecting sets and scenery accordingly.
“We had primary colors as a goal,” he explained. “Incredible blue skies, green wheat fields, et cetera.”
But finding places to shoot those colors created some problems. The wheat field in Pullman, Wash., for example, proved particularly troublesome for Chase. The early June shoot was too early in the wheat-growing season to create the shocking green wheat field envisioned on storyboards.
But if you dream it, it will come. Chase found a farmer who’d planted a month early on a hunch that the previous year’s poor weather was unlikely to be repeated. His 400 acres, which had two feet of vertical growth by shoot time, served as a backdrop to the spot’s “beautiful, serene, calm, magical and hyper-realistic” look, Chase said. Also adding to the look was a set of antique buses, re-commissioned for the shoot and given a fresh coat of paint.
The shoot itself was problematic, as well. Chase had to contend with uncooperative weather, which turned the planned three-day shoot into an eight-day ordeal. Because of the delays, the :15 teasers–originally more elaborately conceived–had to be scaled back so attention could be focused on the :45.
“We didn’t want to compromise the main spot,” Chase said. “So we redesigned the teasers. Now they’re exactly as they were meant to be: teasers.”
The spot was scored by Danny Elfman, repped through Groove Addicts, Los Angeles, who created a whimsical, grand, portentous score that alerts viewers to the importance of the car without overshadowing it. “The sound is like a magical mystery tour that sets the tone for the spot,” Chase said.
***
The Post Group Dances For Coke
CLIENT
Coca-Cola Company.
PRODUCTION CO.
Bruce Dowad Associates, Hollywood. Bruce Dowad, director; Bohan Bazelli, DP; Heidi Nolting, executive producer; Jessica Cooper, producer. “World Dance” animation by Susan Young Ltd., London. Susan Young, animator. Shot on location.
AGENCY
Edge Creative, Santa Monica, Calif. Jack Harrower, Shelly Hochron and Len Fink, creative directors; Nick Hippisley-Coxe, agency producer, “Skyline” and executive producer, “World Dance”; Jonathan Schreter, producer, “Skyline” and “World Dance”; Fiona Forsyth, producer, “World Dance” and assistant producer, “Skyline.”
EDITORIAL
King Cut, Los Angeles. Enrique Aguirre, editor; Karen Knowles, assistant editor.
POST
The Post Group, Hollywood. Steve Scott, Flame artist; Pat Clancey, online editor. Hollywood Digital, Hollywood. Rob Sciarratta, colorist.
AUDIO POST
RavensWork, Venice, Calif. Robert Feist, mixer.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN
Elias Associates, bicoastal. Jonathan Elias, composer/sound designer/arranger.
THE SPOT
The :30 “Skyline” opens with a sidewalk musician playing classical music on her violin, with the night skyline serving as a backdrop. Among the many admirers is a young girl in her apartment window, who listens to the music while enjoying a Coca-Cola. As the violinist segues from classical music to the “Always Coca-Cola” jingle, the buildings that make up the skyline take on the shape of Coke bottles. Animated dancers erupt from a bottle of Coke during a jazz session in the :30 “World Dance.” The characters swirl from instrument to instrument, exhibiting various dance styles. The dancers return to the bottle of Coke as the quartet concludes the jam.
Spots broke in May.
***
AFI/Filmworks Races For Miami Grand Prix
CLIENT
Miami Grand Prix.
PRODUCTION CO.
AFI/Filmworks, Miami. Lewis Roth, director/DP; Robin Massin, executive producer; Ed MacNamara, line producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
Beber Silverstein & Partners, Miami. Joe Perz, creative director; Sherri Fritzson, producer; Dave Brokow, art director; Mitch Cook, copywriter; Jennifer Beber, account executive.
EDITORIAL
AFI/Filmworks. Jeff Sternberger, offline editor.
POST
Post Edge, Miami Beach. John Palmisano, colorist.
VISUAL EFFECTS
AFI/Filmworks. Wally Rodriguez, Flame artist.
AUDIO POST
Outpost Audio, Miami. Steve Johnston, mixer/engineer.
MUSIC
H&H Productions, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Michael Hoffman, composer/arranger.
THE SPOT
“Rocket Dog” opens with a shot of a race car whizzing around a track as an excited dog watches from the sidelines. Attempting to catch the car, the mutt tries to jump a fence, but fails. He then takes an alternate route through a drainpipe, scaling a cluster of tires and finally reaching the tracks. Realizing he’s no match for the race car, the disheartened canine returns to his doghouse, where a large box labelled “ACME” drops from above. Back at the track, a driver catches a glimpse of the dog, now outfitted in his newly acquired goggles and power pack, gaining on him. Propelled forward by the flames shooting out of his gear, the dog finally catches up to the driver. The voiceover states: “Catch the Indy cars at the Miami Grand Prix.”
Spot broke in May.
***
DMJ Prodns. Reads For HarperCollins
CLIENT
HarperCollins.
PRODUCTION CO.
OneSuch Films, New York. Bruce Nadel, director/DP; Al Califano, executive producer; Mario Malave, producer. Shot at OneSuch Films.
AGENCY
Franklin Spier, New York. Bethany Chamberlain, president/creative director; Libba Bray, copywriter; Rich Pacifico, art director; Jennifer Remley, producer; Michael Kazan, account supervisor; Susan Hecht, account executive.
EDITORIAL
DMJ Productions, New York. David Jasse, editor.
POST
Post Perfect, New York. Victor Mulholland, colorist. Image Group Post, New York. Joe Tavano, online editor.
AUDIO POST
Compositions, New York. Jonathan Appell, mixer.
SOUND DESIGN
Compositions. Steven Gold, sound designer.
THE SPOT
A :30 for John Gray’s book, “Mars and Venus on a Date,” focuses on discussions between men and women involving their dates. The commercial highlights the delusion and frustration of both men and women through body and hand gestures. The spot concludes with an emotional exclamation of “men” and “women” from the opposite sexes, followed by a shot of the book and graphics reading, “There is hope.”
Spot broke in July
