The Ford Motor Company has unveiled its latest broadcast effort, which is being billed as the first national ad campaign shot with a 24P high-definition (HD) camera. At press time, the work was slated to make its on-air debut this week (4/11).
Created by J. Walter Thompson (JWT), Detroit, and directed by documentarian Peter Gilbert (cinematographer and co-producer of Hoop Dreams), the three spots highlight the automobile maker’s "Blue Oval" dealer certification program. Gilbert is represented for commercials via Santa Monica-based nonfiction spots. (His colleague Steve James, whose spot representation is also via nonfiction, directed Hoop Dreams. Gilbert’s directorial credits include the documentary Vietnam, Long Time Coming and the feature A Time for Dancing.)
Several longform projects currently deploy 24P HD, including the next Star Wars installment, being directed by George Lucas, and the A&E series 100 Center Street, directed by Sidney Lumet. Advertisers such as Procter & Gamble have also experimented with HD, including a landmark project in 1998—a :15 for Mountain Spring Fragrance Tide via Saatchi & Saatchi, New York—which was reportedly the first commercial shot entirely in HD (SHOOT, 6/19/98, p. 1). The spot was directed/DPed by the late John Alonzo out of Santa Monica-based Nolan/La Monte Films.
But the Ford project, filmed on Sony’s CineAlta 24P HD camera, is considered the first ad campaign shot in 24 frames-per-second video format, which is the same capture rate as film.
Prompting the client’s decision to test out 24P were cost-saving incentives, as well as a successful prior experience with the technology. Back in September, Gilbert directed a corporate video on 24P for Ford and JWT, which introduced the Blue Oval program to Ford’s employees. Blue Oval certification recognizes Ford dealerships with high customer-satisfaction ratings.
"We decided to do that project on 24P to play with it and see what it was like," said JWT producer Kelly Trudell. "We didn’t have a huge budget, but we were really impressed with what we were able to do. So when this project came up, we knew we’d be shooting a lot of people, a lot of non-actors, and figured this way we could let them burn up a lot of tape."
Gilbert also underscored the advantages of 24P in terms of capturing performances. "We could shoot for forty-two minutes straight on one tape," he noted. "People can relax and you don’t have to worry about the cost of film stock. For a director, it’s really great. You can joke in between takes; sometimes [the subjects] don’t even realize the camera’s rolling. It’s going to open up a lot of doors for doing documentary-based commercials."
Lensed over three days at dealerships in Dallas; Highland Park, Ill.; and Irvine, Calif., the television campaign features testimonials from Ford employees and customers who have benefited from the high standards and enhanced services of Blue Oval dealers. According to nonfiction executive producer Michael Degan, while "cost savings [relative to 24P] will differ from job to job, we were able to shave days off the production. There were budget constraints on this project, and when we ran two scenarios—sixteen millimeter and 24P—we discovered that 24P would help tremendously."
Moreover, Gilbert contended that viewers with traditional television sets—as opposed to HDTV sets—won’t be able to distinguish between the look of the Ford spots compared to ads shot on 35mm. "If you put it side-by-side with thirty-five millimeter, you’re not going to see a difference," he stated. "We lit it like we would for film; we didn’t treat it any differently." The campaign was shot by cinematographer Maryse Alberti (Joe Gould’s Secret).
What differentiates 24P from 35mm, according to Gilbert, is a certain amount of flexibility and immediacy. "Looking at the monitor [during the shoot], you’re seeing the finished product, in terms of lighting and how it’ll look," he said. "That speeds you up. But more importantly, the clients can be sure they got the content they wanted. In a weird way, it’s comforting."
In terms of 24P’s flexibility, Gilbert noted that for commercials geared for both broadcast and a theatrical run, a negative can be made from the tape—and that negative can be printed directly to film. By contrast, traditional video, with its 30-frame progressive resolution, is lost when it’s blown up for a theater run. Likewise, Gilbert continued, for spots shown on HD monitors in venues such as Times Square or Madison Square Garden, "it’ll look fantastic. There’s just a greater flexibility in terms of showcasing the content."
Looking good
Filming in 24P HD can also accelerate the post process. During the Ford shoot, for instance, the director and exec producer created rough cuts using a lap top and Apple’s Final Cut Pro digital editing software. "The word for it is ‘immediacy,’ " said Gilbert. "Video has always been more immediate than film, but now it has a better look."
"I would definitely use 24P again for situations like this," added Trudell. "There are still some things—really pretty pictures with cars, or scenery—which are more appropriate for film. But for this it was perfect. It’s cost effective, and the look is really good."
Gilbert predicted that 24P in the commercialmaking arena is poised for take-off. "It’s sort of like when nonlinear editing came along," he observed. "All of a sudden we all started editing nonlinearly. In the past five or six years, Sony has made a huge push to listen to filmmakers so that they’ll start using the equipment, and it’s happening."
Still, the director stopped short of suggesting that film is on its way out. "I equate 24P to having a different film stock. There are lots of things better suited to film, such as slow or fast motion, which 24P isn’t capable of yet, but it will be soon. It’s a case-by-case decision depending on the look you’re going for. But 24P is another tool in the arsenal we have as filmmakers."
