This week’s "DTV and Advertising" supplement to SHOOT offers an update on the prospects for digital lensing of commercials. While film remains and figures to continue being the dominant spotmaking medium, experimentation in DV is starting to emerge on both sides of the Atlantic.
As reported in the supplement story, director Nick Lewin of bicoastal X-1 Films opted to deploy a pair of DV cameras—each mounted on 35mm film cameras—for a Massachusetts Department of Health anti-smoking ad, "Anthem," out of Arnold Communications, Boston. He was inspired to do so after seeing Wim Wender’s digitally lensed feature, Buena Vista Social Club. Lewin said he felt comfortable suggesting the experiment to Arnold in that he has developed a positive working rapport with the agency over several previous collaborations.
In the U.K, helmer Willi Patterson—who was nominated for best commercial director of ’92 by the Directors Guild of America—has been experimenting in DV for the past couple of years. He formed the London-based house Slim Pix to take advantage of digital lensing possibilities, though he continues to take on 35mm spot assignments. (Patterson is repped stateside by The Sussan Group, New York.) A DV test spot, referred to as "a quick and rough" in the U.K., for Smith Kline Beecham soft drink Ribena via Grey Advertising, London, developed into "Looking Good," a commercial shot on film and produced by Slim Pix. Recently, 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, also out of Grey; Summerfield supermarkets for McCann-Erickson, London; and Southend theme park for London agency Arc.
However, Patterson’s DV exploits have also met resistance. "Many creatives are difficult to persuade," said the director, noting an incident in which a European agency went out of its way to make sure digital video wasn’t a viable alternative for a particular project. "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."
Patterson is asking that agencies try to keep an open mind about DV being a credible option. While film remains king and no one is suggesting its abdication from the spot throne, there are projects that could benefit from being lensed, partially or entirely, in DV.
Arnold Communications’ producer Spring Clinton Smith related that she was happy with the results of Lewin’s DV experimentation on "Anthem." "It can be scary when you don’t know what you’re going to get," acknowledged Smith. "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."
