By Ken Liebeskind
LOS ANGELES --After Sony lowered the price for its PlayStation Portable Media Player early this year, TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles developed the “Get Your Own” campaign, which focused on a guy who doesn’t have a PSP and gets overly excited whenever he sees one. “It speaks about the mind set, when you have it and people see it, they get addicted to it and stare at the screen,” said Nick Davidge, a creative director at the agency.
The campaign’s first iteration took place on an airplane and the second, which launches next week, is set in a shopping mall, where three spots were shot, including one on an escalator that plays online. After the gameboy riding down the escalator sees a guy with a PSP riding up, he tries to walk up and badgers the guy about how great the PSP is. When the guy tells him he can’t use it, the gameboy ascends down the escalator and the “Dude, get your own” tag line plays.
The escalator spot works well online, because three different versions of it were created for three online placements. A 15-second spot runs as a pre-roll; a :30 runs as a banner that’s initiated by a user; and a :42 runs on the PSP website and YouTube and as banners on sites that allow long-form spots. “It works in different time slots and the gag changes where you can cut it,” Davidge said.
Director Sam Cadman, from Tool of North America/Santa Monica, Calif., said the location and the casting were two keys for the spot. It was shot in the Del Amo Shopping Center in Torrance, Calif., where Quentin Tarantino shot Jackie Brown. “So we were on hallowed ground,” he said.
The spot stars B.J. Bales, who appeared in the first campaign as the gameboy. “He’s a funny, spontaneous actor who brought the part to life,” Cadman related. “He was able to play the part even though he got beaten up, running against the flow of the escalator after throwing himself at the elevator doors for the TV spot.”
He runs into a fat guy on his way up the escalator. “We wanted him to barrel past other members of the public and we thought it would be funny if there was a really big guy,” Cadman said. “He’s taken out of the frame when he crashes into the guy with the enormous chest. But it felt natural and easy, because B.J.’s a star and he got it quickly.”
After B.J. gets rejected, he’s near the top of the escalator and begins riding down. “We wanted to make the situation visually funny, so it was best that he was going up at the end so when he gets left behind, he’s going down into the gloomy depths,” Cadman said.
The spot was shot in 35mm by a cameraman carrying a heavy camera with a rig attachment. “It required agility as he was facing backwards and had to step off without falling over,” Cadman said. “He’s standing in front of the PlayStation player who’s going up the escalator with his back to the direction he’s going in, and then he has to step back off the escalator.” It sounds almost as funny as the gameboy scene, but it’s not part of the spot.
Davidge said the spot will play on www.us.playstation.com, MySpace, GrindTV, Heavy, MTV and game sites, including IGN, Gamespot and Cravegames.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More