Anthem," a :60 for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health via Arnold Communications, Boston, conveys an anti-smoking message by simply showing kids being kids-on a beach running, dancing, playing, walking on rocks. The children are happy, involved and social.
An accompanying voiceover explores the future prospects for these youngsters as they grow up. "They’ll become Olympians. Or really good plumbers. One of them might win the Nobel Prize. Or one of them might just quietly change the life of a friend. They’ll become famous for more than the traditional fifteen minutes. Or they’ll simply marry your grandchildren. They’ll write and dance and invent and discover and stand up for what is right. They’ll fight for causes and bleed for sports teams and scream for musicians and argue about politics. Each year, half a million more people will live to do all these things. If we raise a smoke-free generation."
The spot is a strategic departure from the hard-hitting, high shock-value nature of many previous anti-tobacco ads. "Anthem" also represents another new wrinkle that’s slowly starting to emerge-experimentation with digital video lensing. For the ad, DPs Joe Zizzo and Brian Heller deployed two DV cameras, each mounted on a 35mm camera. The idea of shooting four cameras simultaneously-two 35mm and two DV-was proposed by director Nick Lewin of X-1 Films, bicoastal and Chicago. Lewin said he was inspired in part by Wim Wender’s DV-lensed feature, Buena Vista Social Club, which was released last year.
"I was utterly blown over by that movie," related Lewin. "It contained ways of observing people that were interesting. The DV cameras gave the film a different dimension….Having worked with Arnold Communications in the past, I felt comfortable suggesting and working with them on something new. I thought DV might give the commercial a vaguely documentary approach."
"The [DV camera] perspective was slightly off-kilter [from that of the 35mm camera], but they moved and tracked at the same time," Lewin continued. "We cast kids who weren’t actors to help us get real performances. And when we saw a nice piece of naturalistic performance during shooting, we’d have four cameras on it. We had different perspectives of little moments-giving the editor, Doug Walker [of FilmCore San Francisco], more to work with to help the spot ring true. What that adds to a piece is very subtle. There’s a scene in the spot where an Asian boy is walking. The scene cuts from a 35-millimeter shot to DV with a different depth of field. The picture skips just a bit, which helps provide a documentary feel. … It would have been too simplistic to make the spot all glossy. You’re trying to depict a wonderful world [without tobacco-related deaths and illness], but you need to play against that a little to keep it realistic. DV helped us accomplish that."
This was Lewin’s first foray into DV lensing. "I think more and more appropriate uses for DV will emerge," he observed. At the same time, he acknowledged that some might resist the medium. "Part of it is working with a camera the size of a matchbox compared to the huge things you’re used to seeing and capturing with a larger camera," said Lewin. "DV itself can be pretty amazing, though. Some people are getting their heads around the fact that it isn’t film. At one point, the feeling was it isn’t as good as film. But perhaps the way to judge it is that it doesn’t look like film, and maybe that’s good. Maybe we can do something with that to add to a story."
Spring Clinton Smith, a producer at Arnold Communications, related that she was happy with the results of Lewin’s DV experimentation. "The digital video cameras were mounted to the left of center of the 35mm cameras, so you got different perspectives on the same action. The DV cameras captured the same vision that the 35mm camera did but slightly askew. … It can be scary when you don’t know what you’re going to get. But the creatives loved the idea of getting four cameras on a shoot and the potentially extra dimension that could provide. The experiment opened our eyes to what DV can do to enhance the appropriate concept."
Established, film-savvy commercial directors besides Lewin are also gaining firsthand DV experience, and are intrigued by the medium. As earlier reported in DTV and Advertising, these helmers include David Cornell of bicoastal Headquarters, and food/tabletop spotmaker Bruce Nadel of bicoastal OneSuch Films.
CROSSOVER
Another dynamic that could foster spot experimentation in DV is directorial crossover from other disciplines that have been utilizing DV cameras-ranging from music videos to short films to longform fare. Young, up-and-coming filmmakers-a talent pool that the commercial industry is regularly tapping into-are getting their feet wet in the medium, as exemplified in SHOOT’s coverage of the Sundance Film Festival and alternative fests in Park City, Utah (SHOOT, 2/4, p. 1, and 2/11, p. 7).
Seasoned commercialmakers are also working with DV in other disciplines. Leslie Libman, who directs spots via bicoastal Coppos Films, has amassed her share of longform credentials over the years. She recently directed the second episode of the new UPN television series The Beat for Levinson-Fontana, the New York production company that is known for such work as Homicide: Life on the Street for NBC and HBO’s Oz.
The Beat episode she directed entailed shooting film and DV. "The episode is about two male cops in New York City," said Libman. "It gets into their private lives, and DV helped in telling their story. I’ve been working with a photojournalist in New York to create memory flashbacks-using film and video-that can be inserted into every episode. DV doesn’t look like TV; it has a high-contrast, very dramatic, offbeat feel.
"That’s the joy of working in different mediums," continued Libman. "Getting to experiment with DV opened up a whole new notion of how to shoot, and I can see applications in some commercials. … DV is another tool that can help in the telling of certain stories. It’s another way of getting things done-especially for agencies looking to break the rules in a positive way."
GOLDEN RULE
The overriding rule is that film still rules and figures to continue to do so. The industry consensus-as reflected in last year’s DTV and Advertising Survey (7/16/99, p. 9)-is that film will remain the dominant medium of choice for the commercialmaking community in the foreseeable future.
Still, the examples of spots (or parts of spots) being lensed in DV merit attention. There’s a fine line between being a film advocate and being close-minded to the potential of DV to enhance certain commercial assignments.
London-based director Willi Patterson, who is represented stateside by New York-based The Sussan Group, has encountered both agency open- and closed-mindedness when it comes to DV shooting. Perhaps best known for his tenure at bicoastal/international Propaganda Films-during which he earned a Directors Guild of America nomination as best commercial director of ’92-Patterson moved back to the U.K. in ’97, and was repped by BFCS, London. While there, ad agency Euro RSCG, Levallois-Perret, France, approached him about making a "quick and rough," a Procter & Gamble Old Spice test spot used for presentation purposes. As Patterson had already begun to experiment with digital cinematography, he decided to shoot the "quick and rough" using a digital video camera and a small production team. Patterson served as director/cameraman on the spot and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the end product. The result was so good that Patterson considered the piece air quality (though it didn’t air). That project led to other "quick and roughs" in between his traditional, larger-budgeted 35mm gigs.
He decided to exit BFCS and launched London-based Slim Pix about a year ago. The company was formed in part to take advantage of digital lensing possibilities while maintaining as small an overhead as possible. At Slim Pix, Patterson did a "quick and rough" shot on digital video for Ribena, a soft drink owned by SmithKline Beecham, via Grey Advertising, London. The project developed into Ribena’s "Looking Good," a spot shot on film and produced by Slim Pix.
Patterson’s digital video shoots have graduated from being "quick and roughs" to full-fledged airing spots, including work for Procter & Gamble dishwashing detergent Fairy Liquid via Grey, London; Summerfield supermarkets out of McCann-Erickson, London; and Southend theme park for London agency Arc. Patterson also helmed and lensed some DV beauty shots for Vaseline Intensive Care lotion, which were inserted into an existing 35mm commercial. The director noted that the beauty shots fit seamlessly into the spot shot on 35mm film, and that McCann-Erickson was pleased with the end product.
Patterson uses a Canon XL1 camera that costs around $2,500. "You can give it a film look very simply, and what you capture can be taken easily onto an Inferno or Henry," he related. "I still shoot a lot on film. But there are real advantages you can gain through DV. You reduce the size of your crew, and the savings can be put elsewhere. I’m finding I can add a couple of days to have more time with the actors."
However, there’s also considerable resistance, Patterson acknowledged. "Many creatives are difficult to persuade," he said, relating one incident in which a European agency went out of its way to make sure digital video wasn’t a viable alternative. "We had a quote in on a big deodorant commercial," recalled Patterson. "I talked to the creatives about shooting it on mini-DV. The commercial involved vignettes of couples at home, with a spontaneous feeling of almost improvised dialogue-with deodorant being worked into the conversation.
"In pitching the idea of shooting it in this manner [DV], I told the agency with the cost savings, we could buy a couple extra days of rehearsal and enhance the project in other ways. Our quote was little [as compared to a traditional film budget], but the agency was worried about a lack of production value-which I assured them there wouldn’t be. I later found out that we lost the quote over money. Our quote had been quoted at three times what we put in. The agency instead went with a 35-millimeter version. They were so nervous [about trying DV] that they pushed our quote up."
STAR POWER
Patterson also pointed to George Lucas’ much publicized decision to deploy digital cinematography in his next two Star Wars films. Sony Electronics and Panavision have delivered the prototype 24-frame, progressive, high-definition camera system to Lucasfilm in San Rafael, Calif., for testing, prior to using it to shoot the Star Wars movies.
Based on the results of those tests, Lucasfilm will determine if the next slated feature, Star Wars: Episode II, will be shot digitally in its entirety or in part. Production is scheduled to get underway in June.
As announced at NAB ’99, Sony, in collaboration with Panavision, developed a digital hi-def camera system tailored for moviemaking use. The system married Sony’s new 24-frame, progressive scan, 1920x 1080 digital camera with a new series of 2/3-inch lenses and accessories specifically created by Panavision to meet the needs of cinematographers in motion picture production.
"The working relationship between ourselves, Sony and Panavision represents a model for an industry seeking to capitalize on fast developing breakthroughs in digital imaging," said Rick McCallum, producer of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.
There is still room for disagreement over how great a ripple effect will be generated if a major DV-shot feature is a commercial success. And the question remains as to whether or not experimentation in TV spot shooting will spur a significant number of others to follow suit. In our original ’99 survey, Ric Anello, the St. Louis-based executive VP/executive creative director of D’Arcy North America, observed that "as electronic shooting applies to advertising, I think most advertisers and agencies will wait for a commercial feature that is successful before it becomes a significant factor. But if some of the advantages of DTV that are being talked about actually materialize, I think they will attract an ad audience. Obviously the cost savings factor will catch the attention of agency clients.
"The ease and flexibility of the equipment/mechanical process that could allow for more spots per package and/or more creative experimentation will attract the attention of agency creatives," continued Anello. "Both of the above points-plus the overall increased efficiency for shooting schedules-will be appealing to agency producers…Finally, the one caveat, but it’s a big one-the directors we respect will need to anoint it."
In the same survey, David Perry, director of broadcast production at Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, contended that "film will continue its stranglehold on commercial production for the foreseeable future." He cited three factors:
i"All agency creatives and producers and directors are film snobs. If they don’t come by it naturally, they pick up the attitude quickly. The same goes for directors. We have fifty years of TV commercials being originated on film. Film is the language of commercials.
i"Film is a high-definition medium, and both the Spirit and C-Reality telecine systems make conversions from film to HD no more complex than the current film-to-tape process. Shooting film for HD is just the same as shooting it for NTSC. And the postproduction process is identical, whether we shoot on film or HD, after the telecine is done."
iAnd "HD video looks great-much better than NTSC video. But it still has the drawbacks of being alive and electronic. HD video will nibble at the edges of film’s lock on our business, mostly at the lower end. Some film people will want to experiment with HD video just because it is new. There is a minor trend for a low-budget, underproduced look in some TV commercials, particularly in Europe. A lot of it is done on video. But otherwise, film gets the nod. Too many people have been trained in film for far too long for HD video to have much of an impact just because it looks better than old video. HD video will win some converts, but it will be gradual and will never really challenge film’s dominance. Twenty-five years ago, when they discovered a way to edit tape electronically, film’s demise was widely predicted, particularly by the people who were investing heavily in video cameras and recorders. It never happened, and they’re all gone. There is a place for HD video, but it will never have but a small place in TV commercials."
