Although he’s best known as the director of movies such as The Doors, Wall Street, Natural Born Killers and Platoon, among other box office hits, Oliver Stone recently has touched upon subject matter that is a first for him: Heineken beer and, his latest endeavor, a Motorola product launch.
The popular cell phone manufacturer’s "Wireless," via McCann-Erickson, Singapore, is a :60 flow of images that plays against an instrumental, ambient score by record-label artist Moby. Shot on location in such cites as Shanghai, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur as well as parts of Northern California, the spots show the possibilities of Web-enabled wireless phones. In one scene, for instance, a smartly dressed, sunglasses-clad person dials out from a cable car.
For the spot’s conclusion, Stone treats TV viewers to his visual effects handiwork, this time applied toward a commercial purpose: Clinching the concept, the segment shows the supporting cables of a bridge disappear one by one as a car drives past them.
"Oliver wanted the [vanishing cable] scene because he didn’t feel that the concept-that wires are disappearing-would be clear enough for a lot of people," said Los Angeles-headquartered Saville Productions’ executive producer Rupert Maconick, who secured Stone for the job. Saville Productions also maintains operations in Bangkok and Singapore, and makes its niche locating U.S. directors for East and Southeast Asian agencies.
Although he picked Stone for the Motorola spots, Maconick confessed, "Frankly, I think most of the top feature film directors are quite capable of directing a :30 or :60 commercial of any genre." Maconick believes movie directors "enjoy commercials because they challenge their creative talents between feature commitments. … Plus, the money’s not bad."
Advertisers also benefit, says Maconick, because "any commercial directed by a renowned feature director is a media event unto itself. The resulting PR is a goldmine."
Although Stone’s Motorola and Heineken jobs were obtained by Maconick, credit goes to Dennis Loonan, president/executive producer of Shooting Stars Productions, New York, for first considering Stone for commercials. Loonan called the director two years ago to pitch a campaign. Stone turned it down, but, Loonan said, "he loved the storyboards, and said future projects were a possibility."
Loonan contacted Stone again late last year with another offer: a campaign for Heineken, featuring the spots "Rain" "Curiosity" and "Night Life," via Bates China, Hong Kong. Stone accepted. The campaign was co-produced by Saville and Shooting Stars.
In one of the performance-based commercials, "Rain," a man runs into a cafe to escape a sudden downpour. While waiting out the rain with a beer, a woman also dashes into the cafe, soaked and in disarray. The two make eye contact as the spot cuts to an end.
Loonan decided to pitch Stone for the Heineken ads, he said, because the agency felt the storyboards called for the skillful use of body language and preferred a feature director to manage the job.
"Just watching him work was a treat. [Stone] is a master storyteller," said Loonan. He added that Stone, who was unavailable for comment, is "absolutely" interested in future commercial projects.
For Stone’s latest spot endeavor on behalf of Motorola, the McCann-Erickson, Singapore team included creative director Scott Brazil and producer Siobahn Crowley. Digtial effects were done by Click 3X, Santa Monica, with a contingent consisting of effects director Craig Price, special effects supervisor/producer Ken Wallace, executive producer Phyllis Nix, producer Linda Miller, Inferno artists Michael Peterson, Bill Kunin and Che Martin, CGI artist Chris Wells, and visual effects artist Roger Mocenigo. "Wireless" was edited by Patrick Sheffield of Red Car/Santa Monica.
