Ramser Directs “Diner” With Performance-Perfect Finesse.
CLIENT
Nike.
PRODUCTION CO.
The A+R Group, bicoastal. David Ramser, director; Toby Irwin, DP; Lori Lober, exectuive producer; Brian Kilcullen, producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein, co-creative directors; Jeremy Postaer, associate creative director/art director; Dante Lombardi, copywriter; Matthew Winks, producer.
EDITORIAL
Bob ‘n Sheila’s Edit World, San Francisco. Sheila Sweeney, editor.
POST
Bob ‘n Sheila’s Edit World. Joe Wenkoff, online editor. Company 3, Santa Monica. Stefan Sonnenfeld, colorist.
AUDIO POST
Crescendo! Studios, San Francisco. Tim Claman, engineer.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN
earwax productions, San Francisco. Andy Newell, composer/sound designer.
BY REGINALD OBERLAG
A basketball savvy, seriously sassy little girl is the star of a new series of Nike-sponsored spots promoting the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBA) from agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
In the :30 “Diner,” WNBA stars Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson of the Houston Comets are eating lunch in a booth when three little girls suddenly appear and corner them at their table. The pipsqueak ringleader launches into a tongue-lashing tirade, taking Cooper to task for her performance in a recent game. Dressed in full basketball attire, the girl wants to know why Cooper failed to pass the ball to Thompson, who watches with amusement as the saucy leader dishes it out. “Why’d you pull up for a three on the break last night,” rants the impertinent squirt. “Well, I was open,” answers Cooper, who’s interrupted by the girl snapping back, “Tina was open on the block,” which gets a smile from Thompson, who looks smugly back at a stunned Cooper. “Yeah, but… ,” Cooper tries to explain as the girl butts in. “You know she’s money down there … why’d you take it? I know I wouldn’t have.” “Because I was open,” Cooper pleads, but the unrelenting girl preaches, “My mama says `because’ is not an answer.” The athlete agrees, but the little sass keeps coaching: “Shoulda hit Tina down low.” After Cooper promises to do that the next time, the girl says testily, “If there is a next time,” and tells her she owes Tina an apology.
Throughout the spot, a vintage-sounding Spanky and Our Gang-style score from earwax productions plays beneath the action until the spot is wrapped up with a quick product shot of a Nike sneaker.
Director David Ramser of bicoastal The A+R Group, deserves praise for getting quality performances from the girl and the athletes. The spot’s clever premise and script are the work of Goodby copywriter Dante Lombardi and art director/associate creative director Jeremy Postaer.
The creatives said the point of the “Kids” campaign is that these youngsters represent the conscience of the fledgling WNBA, and show that these athletes are approachable and haven’t yet been swamped by all the hype and money of big-time celebrity athletics. “These little girls are the purest form of fan you can be and it represents the innocence of the WNBA at this early stage,” said Postaer.
Agency producer Matthew Winks explained that they went to Ramser because “he’s a great performance director.”
Ramser noted that in order to insure a comic rapport, dialogue was shot from all points of view, with the multiple takes handed off to editor Sheila Sweeney of Bob ‘n Sheila’s Edit World, San Francisco, who expertly highlighted the snappy lines.
The spot’s strength owes much to the strong casting by Joe Blake Casting in Los Angeles of 11-year-old Kyla Pratt–she can also be seen as Dr. Doolittle’s daughter in the just-released Eddie Murphy film of the same name–and naturalistic acting by the athletes.
Ramser credited the agency creatives with delivering him a great script, and praised the girls and the players for their work. “It was a very simple approach; we weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel,” the director said. “So it just required [that I] keep the energy going with Kyla. We just ramped her attitude all the way up and down for a range of extremes, from being nice to nasty,” in order to give the client different tones to choose from.
The only artifice he used in the spot was to cheat the perspective between the girls and the athletes by exaggerating the sight-lines between them to achieve a “kind of David and Goliath appearance that the girls are smaller and looking way up at the players,” Ramser explained.
Ramser said the most challenging part of the job was the need to keep the young girls happy, which he did by letting them teach him the latest dance steps, rap songs and team cheers.
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THM Explodes Gummi Savers For FCB
CLIENT
Planters/LifeSavers Co./Gummi Savers.
PRODUCTION CO.
Propaganda Films, Hollywood. Vadim Perelman, director; Richard Henkels, DP; Andy Traines, executive producer; Paul Ure, producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
Foote, Cone & Belding, New York. Sam Gulisano, executive VP/group creative director; Scott Rosenblit, senior VP/group creative director/copywriter; Earl Keister, art director; Heidi David, producer.
STOCK FOOTAGE
Energy Film Library, Studio City, Calif.
EDITORIAL
Two Headed Monster, Los Angeles. Christopher Willoughby, editor; Galen Tong, assistant editor; Ruth Schiller, executive producer.
POST
RIOT, Santa Monica. Nigel Randall, Henry artist; Ron Kirk, producer. Rushes, Los Angeles. Chris Lyons, colorist.
VISUAL EFFECTS
RIOT. Verdi Sevenhuysen, Flame artist.
AUDIO POST
RavensWork, Venice, Calif. Robert Feist, engineer; Chris Canning, assistant engineer.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN
Decibel Architects, Los Angeles. Mickey Petralia, composer; Tom Page, sound designer.
THE SPOT
In “Study Hall,” the boredom of a quiet classroom is interrupted by a student with a package of Gummi Savers. He plays with the candies and eventually pops one into his mouth, after which his head explodes. The other students make a mad dash for the package of Gummi Savers left behind. The :30 ends with a voiceover pointing out that “Gummi Savers are too fun for some.”
Spot broke May 11
