Given the popularity of the FOX Network’s Boot Camp, the timing has been fortuitous for the release of the U.S. Army’s latest campaign, a combination broadcast TV/Web effort that falls in with the current trend in reality programming.
The 23 television spots and roughly 70 Webisodes (featured on www.goarmy.com) document the journey of six Army recruits as they endure the rigors of basic training. Created by Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, and produced by Los Angeles-based Digital Ranch, the campaign was directed by agency producer Sam Ciaramitaro.
"Basic Training: The Making of an Army of One" is the second installment in the Army’s $120 million "Army of One" campaign, which was first introduced in TV spots that broke earlier this year (SHOOT 2/23, p. 7). Andrew Douglas of bicoastal Anonymous Content directed the earlier ads, also done via Leo Burnett.
Set at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., "Basic Training" involved filming "around the clock" during the recruits’ nine-week basic training schedule, according to Ciaramitaro. In all, the crew shot 670 hours of footage during the 87-day shoot. The six cinematographers were: Brian Callahan, Paul Dougherty, Dave Hopper, Garret Lakin, Stephan Mazurek and Dan Waymack. From preproduction through post, the project lasted five months.
Ciaramitaro turned to Digital Ranch for his line production support. Headed by president Rob Kirk and production chief Rob Lihani, Digital Ranch has produced more than 200 hours of programming for The History Channel, as well as numerous military-themed documentaries, including A&E’s Weapons of War, the Emmy Award-winning Remembering World War II: Pearl Harbor, and D-Day: The Total Story. Furthermore, Digital Ranch was recommended by Leo Burnett producer Jennifer Leimbrook, who had previously teamed with the company’s partners on a television series for The Learning Channel.
"We basically shot a movie," explains Ciaramitaro of the epic shoot. "But it’s truly real time, in the sense that there was no opportunity for do-overs. I needed [producers] who really got it, and who knew how to interact with Army personnel. We shot every day [with a small crew], and once a week we’d pick an event that looked to be the most interesting activity, map it out and have a full-up production."
One such example was an obstacle course challenge, which the recruits completed in 14fi minutes. Ciaramitaro notes that he and his crew used about 15 strategically placed cameras to capture the action on the field. Small DV cameras were rigged onto a remote-control car, a skateboard, and a drill instructor’s helmet. For the shoot, the director also relied on lipstick and infrared cameras, a jib and a Steadicam.
"The incredibly exciting thing is that we were there every minute of the process," notes Kirk. "We shot the recruits before they left home for basic training, followed them off the bus when they arrived, and all the way through until they graduated. The access [allowed by the Army] was unprecedented, and we had a good budget that allowed us to have multiple crews and cameras and to be in several places at once." (The project’s budget wasn’t disclosed.)
To expedite the post process, an editing facility complete with five networked Avid systems was set up at the hotel where the crew was staying. The post team, from Outsider, Chicago, was made up of editors Joe Malecki, Michael Labellarte and Chris Mines; assistant editor Rich Allen; executive producer Ed St. Peter; and graphic designer Aharon Bourland.
According to Leo Burnett account director Pat Lafferty, the idea for the campaign began to germinate a year ago, before reality TV had reached its current popularity. From focus group participants, agency creatives discovered that many people didn’t grasp what the Army experience entailed. "It really was a group effort that grew out of listening to young adults talk about the fact that they had no idea, and a lot of misperceptions, about what went on [in the Army]," Lafferty explains. "There were many people who pieced together this idea, starting with folks who worked on the pitch a year ago, all the way through this past December when we finally sold the idea."
Interactive Component
The campaign’s companion Webisodes run between two and five minutes, and feature the recruits’ day-to-day regimens. After the TV campaign broke in February, traffic on goarmy.com increased from 7,000 visits a day to more than 55,000, according to Digital Ranch. Web design firm Chemistri, Chicago, created the Web site.
"Basic Training" also includes some U.S. Hispanic market spots, which Ciaramitaro helmed for Cartel Creativo, San Antonio. The creative director was Ed Segura. The Spanish-language ads focus on two Hispanic recruits, and were cut by Jorge Condé of Sprocket Productions, San Antonio.
Additional credits for "Basic Training" go to Digital Ranch supervising producer Scott Corburn and assistant director David Brand. For Leo Burnett, the creative team included executive creative director Mike Colt, creative directors Larry Zuger and Sebastian Mueller-Soppart, copywriter Jon Kooker, executive producer John Kaste and production manager Jovita Pacheco.
Finishing was done at The Filmworkers Club, Chicago, by colorist Michael Mazur and online editor Bob Churchill. Audio engineer was Michael Mason of Chicago Recording Company, Chicago. Numerous composers from Amber Music, New York and London, scored the spots, including Nik Leman, Tony Strong, John Wadell, Will Parnell, Nick Amour, Andy Carroll and Robert Miller.
The Army campaign is Ciaramitaro’s second directorial effort since returning to Leo Burnett in August 2000. He also helmed a Morgan Stanley spot called "Top Advisors," which aired during the presidential election coverage in November.
Ciaramitaro began experimenting with film as a teenager and later earned a degree in telecommunications from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., in ’92. After college, he began freelancing in the commercial arena before joining Leo Burnett as a producer in ’95. Two years later, however, he left the agency to launch a directing career. After building up a reel, he landed regional representation in the spot arena via Big Deahl, Chicago, and national representation via Gotham Central, New York. Over the next three years, he helmed ads for Portland, Ore., radio station K103, Kellogg’s and McDonald’s, but eventually was lured back into the Leo Burnett fold, figuring that a staff producing gig that also offered him the opportunity to direct was a best-of-both-worlds scenario. "It’s a great agency with a lot of different clients," he observes.
At press time, the producer/director didn’t know what his next assignment would entail. Given the extent of the Army project, he states, "I’m taking two weeks’ vacation."
