It’s an oft-told story—how the genie, unwittingly released from the magic lantern, grants his liberator three wishes. And from the outset, a new spot for Mercedes-Benz looks to have all the makings of a classic retelling. But "Three Wishes," which was created by Merkley Newman Harty|Partners (MNHP), New York, and directed by Frank Todaro of bicoastal/international @radical.media, takes a decidedly different twist. Apparently, the new E-Class luxury sedan is simply everything a guy could wish for.
The :60 version of "Three Wishes"—the spot also has a :30 lift—opens on a picturesque view of a beach as a jogger running near the water’s edge slows down to catch his breath. A few feet ahead of him, something catches his eye. He moves toward the object, a gold lantern half obscured by sand. The jogger picks it up, dusts it off, and—poof!—a blue genie appears from a cloud of smoke.
"You have released me," the genie declares dramatically. "I will grant you three wishes. But choose wisely because—"
"The new E-Class," the jogger interrupts. It is here that the spot gets interesting.
The genie, clearly not used to being interrupted, nonetheless recognizes a good wish when he hears it. He nods appreciatively and flicks his hand. From a ball of fire and smoke, a pristine Mercedes-Benz sedan appears.
"You have two wishes left," the genie says, "but remember—"
Before he’s finished his sentence, the jogger has dropped the lantern and leapt into the driver’s seat. Sand sprays from the car’s spinning tires into the genie’s face.
What follows are scenes from the jogger’s joyride interspersed with footage of the now aimless genie. First we see him checking his watch. Then we see him playing paddleball. As the jogger continues to test out the car’s features, such as the sunroof, the genie "floats" in line at a vending truck. Later, we see him lying in the sand, flipping through Genie magazine, the remains of his lunch—an empty bag of chips and a Big Gulp style beverage—strewn around him.
Meanwhile, back inside the Mercedes, the driver cackles with delight, as the voiceover explains, "It’s everything you could wish for." A black screen follows with the supered text, "The All New E-Class. Experience. Unlike Any Other."
One of three new ads for the E-Class, "Three Wishes" broke in September. The other two spots were "Production Line" and "Life in the E-Class." Kuntz & Maguire of bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander directed the latter, while "Production Line" was helmed by Nico Beyer of Neue Sentimental Film USA, bicoastal.
MNHP executive creative director Randy Saitta said Todaro brought the right balance of comedy, performance, and style to "Three Wishes." "We wanted it to have a bit of a sense of humor," related Saitta. "Frank not only could give it a beautiful look, but he was just wonderful with the performances."
Determining the look of the genie was the primary focus of preproduction, Todaro recalled. "We talked about all sorts of things," the director said. "There was a sensitivity to Middle Eastern-ness, if you will. Like, how Middle Eastern looking do we make this guy? Do we want to put him in turbans and things like that? We all liked the idea of a 1950s Technicolor version of a genie, a stylized version of what a genie would be, a guy in pancake make up, to give that slight tongue-in-cheekness to it, as opposed to this gritty realism or a spooky look."
Beyond that, there was also the question of what color the genie’s skin should be, what sort of facial hair he should have, what he should wear, and what he should sport on his head. They tested green, blue, sliver and copper skin tones and various headdresses. In the end, it was determined that a blue genie would do the trick, and he would have a ponytail from the top of his head, but very little hair besides.
Casting was "kind of horrible," according to Todaro. "First we cast a lot of guys who looked the part, but they weren’t so good in the callback. There was a push at one point to use this guy who looked right; he had a naturally bald head and a buff upper body, but he just wasn’t funny. Thankfully everyone saw the light there."
Saitta agreed. "We found guys that looked exactly like a genie, but [comedian Fred Armisen, who we cast] had a better comic touch. [It underscores that rule] don’t go for the face, go for the performance."
The three-day shoot took place at Leo Carillo Beach in Los Angeles. The nearby canyons as well as a ranch provided the backdrop for the driving sequences. The genie was shot against green screen as he stood on a device called a zero gravity arm—a counterweighted lever with a pivot in the middle, sort of like a seesaw—which creates the floating quality. "The real issue was making sure every time we shot him, we figured out the focal length, so that he would be the proper blown up size," Todaro recalled. The DP was Neil Shapiro.
Todaro said they covered the script, but also did some improvising on set, tossing Armisen various lines and scenarios to act out, and letting him adlib as well, some of which made it into the final spot. For one, the ending changed; originally the genie was going to get on a bus and try to pawn the remaining two wishes off on some passengers. But shooting that raised several complications—not the least of which was how to make the genie float and look larger than your average human within the confines of the bus.
Weather provided another challenge on set. "It was really socked in the first day, so we couldn’t do the plates first, which you want to do in this situation." Moreover, it fell to the visual effects artists at Sight Effects, Venice, to bring some continuity to the skies, because one minute during filming the sky would be a clear blue, and the next a blanket of clouds would render the atmosphere white.
Sight Effects also created the animated fireball from which the sedan appears, as well as the genie’s tail. "We started experimenting with particle animation and smoke, to come up with something that we could reveal the genie out of and then it would be his lower body, his tail," explained Sight Effects’ Melissa Davies, who was visual effects supervisor with Adrian Hurley. "We were looking for something that could react to the environment, mostly the wind, but still be part of his being. We shot a lot of smoke references. What we had to do then was build these layers of particle animation that kept wrapping on itself or behind, so it wouldn’t dissipate, and that had to stay confined without looking like a hard edge."
As for the fireball, that involved shooting various plates—a plate with the car there, a clean plate without the car, some reactive smoke blowing over the car, etc. Davies continued, "The rest of it we created with particles, a little burst of particles that left the genie’s hand. Then, as the ball hits the ground, there were multiple layers of sand spreading out, smoke came up in a plume, and then the car appears out of nowhere."
Additional credits go to editor Ian MacKenzie and sound designer Marc Healy of MacKenzie Cutler, New York. Chris Ryan of Nice Shoes, New York, was colorist. New York-based Tonefarmer’s Ray Loewy composed the music, while the audio mix was done at Sound Lounge, New York. Tom Jucarone mixed the :60 version, while Peter Holcomb was mixer on the :30.
