To promote the fact that its N64 consoles now come in a rainbow of colors, Nintendo told its agency, Chicago-based Leo Burnett Co., that it wanted something big.
They got it with the :60 "Decisions," a Nintendo spot directed by Bruce Hunt of bicoastal/international @radical.media. According to Burnett senior VP/creative director John Brockenbrough, the idea was to dramatize—on an epic scale—the mental conflict in trying to choose between the colors. "We wanted to do it with a big hit," said Brockenbrough, "and wanted to separate ourselves a little bit from the category and from the work we’ve been doing on Nintendo."
The ad depicts an epic medieval battle with an unexpected comedic twist at the end. Although Braveheart seems to be the obvious movie reference, Brockenbrough says that movie was but one of their inspirations; others included the films of Akira Kurosawa, and such epics as Ben-Hur and Spartacus.
The Australia-based Hunt was the second unit director on The Matrix; he also directed additional second unit footage and served as visual effects director on Dark City. Said Brockenbrough, "For what we needed to do, [Hunt’s] most relevant experience was his movie experience."
The battle sequences were shot over three days on location in a cow pasture in Camden, Australia, an hour outside of Sydney. The spot features a large group of extras cast from local medieval fighting clubs. In the spot, six armies prepare for battle. Each faction is marked by a different color—on flags and face paint—that matches one of the new N64 hues: grape (purple), fire (orange), jungle (lime green), watermelon (pink), ice (aqua blue) and smoke (grey).
Hunt and DP Ross Emery—who collaborate regularly and teamed on The Matrix—capture stunning visuals of the clash. Set against a foreboding sky, wide shots reveal the enormity of the battle with the tunic and armor-clad masses spread out on a hillside. The camera pans across the faces of some of the fierce warriors—some on horseback, others carrying flaming torches, spears and axes. The battle cry sounds and the cavalry charges. We see the armies run full-force towards each other in one panoramic shot.
Just as an overhead perspective reveals that the armies are about to meet in the center of the hill, an abrupt zoom transitions to the eye of a teenager in a modern-day department store. The battle has taken place in the kid’s imagination, and the warring forces symbolize the different colored consoles, one of which he must choose. A deadpan voiceover says, "Nintendo N64’s six new colors are so amazing, choosing a favorite might be somewhat of a struggle. "
At that moment, the teen’s reverie is interrupted by the appearance of his girlfriend, who holds up two swimsuits—a one-piece and a bikini. "Billy, which one?" she asks. We are again plunged into a medieval setting, with two battalions of large men: one wearing the one-pieces, the other in the bikinis. The last shot of this absurd battle captures one group from behind, as we see one hefty man trying to rearrange a wedgie as he runs.
Hunt told SHOOT that the job’s quick turnaround presented a challenge. With a prep time of only two weeks, Hunt said he approached the spot as he would a feature, and tapped some members of his regular film crew.
"I’ve done things before that had a lot of people changing wardrobe, and I knew that the changing time was going to be the killer," said Hunt. "For instance, we did a lot of the stuff with the [cavalry] leaders on the first day. We had about fifty people, and they changed I don’t know how many times. We were also doing face-painting. It was mayhem. It became about how many people could stand by, as a pit crew did quick-changes." Hunt knew that the tight schedule precluded making all the necessary wardrobe changes on set, so some of the colors were altered in post.
The first shoot day consisted of filming 50 extras and focused on close-ups and medium shots. On day two, Hunt and his team shot 200 different extras and completed the wide shots. The third day was spent filming 100 extras and gathering more of the medium shots and action sequences. "The schedule became this bible, really, because we knew that we didn’t have those [same] people the next day," said Hunt.
Two cameras filmed virtually every shot, and a motion control camera was deployed for the wide shots. "There were only two wide shots, but they’re the ones that really sell it," said Hunt. "One shows the rising up behind one army to reveal there are six armies; another shot shows them all charging at one another."
There were shots where the camera panned across three of the armies, which was achieved by filming each army with a locked-off camera. The resultant shots were then composited together in post. Hunt credits Sydney based post house Animal Logic, which had about a week to put everything together.
"We felt we needed to make some noise with Nintendo coming out with their new stuff, and with [Sega] Dreamcast having just come out," said Brockenbrough. He added that Leo Burnett Co. has just awarded Hunt another Nintendo project, which will be a little simpler but "equally, if not more, intrusive" than "Decisions."
