British-born commercial director/DP Ivan Bird has filmmaking in his blood. His maternal grandfather often shot shorts starring Bird’s mother and his grandfather’s co-workers. "My grandfather was an eccentric kind of guy, and during the second World War, he used to shoot a lot of 16mm," says Bird, who directs spots via Serious Pictures, London, and is repped in the U.S. by PMI Management, New York. "He was a bank manager, but he was very much into photography and cinematography. He made really odd little films. I saw them at a very young age, and although he died when I was very young, I was really quite influenced by him. Apparently, I am very like him."
Bird began his career as a still photographer, eventually shifting to cinematography. He’s worked as a commercial DP for about a dozen years, shooting spots for A-list directors in both the U.K. and the U.S. Some of his spot credits include: Xbox’s "Mosquito," directed by Daniel Kleinman, now of Large, London, out of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), London; Guinness’ "Surfer" and "Swimblack," both directed by Jonathan Glazer of Academy, London, for AMV BBDO, London; and Nike’s "Elephant," out of Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., and directed by Dante Ariola through now defunct Propaganda Films. (Ariola is now with bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander.)
Ten months ago, Bird made the transition to directing—helming ads for, among others, Mercedes-Benz and Radio One in the U.K. For the latter, he directed three spots in the "For the Love of Live" campaign, "Mosh Pit," "Crowd" and "Gig," which scored silver at this year’s British Design and Art Direction (D&AD) Awards; the package was done for Fallon, London. The ads, which promote BBC Radio’s coverage of live concerts, feature visuals of rock concerts that show what people will put up with in order to see live music. In "Crowd," for instance, concertgoers are shown bumping against one another, being dragged away by security guards, and encountering bathroom floors covered by inches of water. More recently, Bird completed a campaign for BMW of North America via Fallon, Minneapolis.
Bird says he loves the challenges of directing spots, especially getting a point across in 30 seconds. "The learning curve is vertical," he notes. "You learn something every day. The main thing is not having anyone to answer your questions. It’s up to you, which is fantastic."
He cites "Movement," a commercial he shot for Mercedes-Benz U.K., out of agency Campbell Doyle Dye, London, as a particularly challenging ad. Filmed on location in Barcelona and the Pyrenees mountain range, the spot smoothly juxtaposes dramatic images of athletes in action with striking shots of a Mercedes-Benz on the road.
The commercial was a challenging one for a number of reasons. "The whole thing in this country is you can’t be seen driving a car dangerously," Bird explains of U.K. car advertising. "You have to be seen wearing seatbelts, and cars have to be driven in a responsible manner. A lot of times, ‘Movement’ was an attempt to get past that, to make the cars look like they’re exciting to drive. It was basically [comparing] a gymnast’s movements with how exciting a car would be. It’s playing with time and space, connecting the two. [In the spot,] you’ve got one of the world’s great gymnasts. He stops himself and grips the bars in a matter of a second, [like] a Mercedes-Benz car [can do]."
Bird spent 12 days shooting "Movement," following two frustrating months of hunting out locations and casting athletes—it was tough to find the right ones. There ended up being a :60, a :90, and five :20 versions of "Movement," as well as a four-minute version that aired on the Internet and in cinemas.
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At an early age, Bird decided he wanted to be involved in photography. Instead of going to university, however, he studied in the school of experience, becoming a photographer’s assistant. He eventually graduated to editorial and advertising work, then decided to start all over again, switching to film. "I liked the idea of collaborating, which is what you do in film," he explains. He was a trainee loader at age 22, then a first assistant cameraman, a second assistant cameraman, and finally a DP at age 29.
Bird notes that as a director, "the whole ‘man-management’ part of it is very important. You can leave university and become a DP, but it’s important to know how to get the best out of people," he says. "You can be working night after night in the worst possible conditions, and it’s just keeping your camera department happy, getting the best out of them. That’s a really interesting part of the job that I don’t think people consider as much as how good technically you are."
Bird says he learned that lesson from on-the-job experience. "Different ways suit different people, but I like the fact that my history and background was very much work-oriented and hands-on, rather than being more theoretical and university-based," he relates. "You learn quick."
What was his most challenging spot? "They all become challenging in their way," he says. "The biggest challenge is the one you’re doing right then." Nevertheless, Bird cites the aforementioned "Elephant," a commercial he DPed, as being a particularly difficult job. The spot depicts a sick elephant lying on its side outside a circus tent. Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong rides by, gets off his bike, and gives the animal mouth-to-trunk resuscitation. "Why Sport?" the spot asks. "Healthy Lungs."
Shooting the spot wasn’t easy. "No one realizes that an elephant can’t lay on its side for longer than twenty seconds, or else it will damage its internal organs," Bird observes. "It won’t do that. It will get up again. Well, how can we solve this problem? We have a day to shoot this elephant, and if it keeps getting up every twenty seconds, we won’t get the film made. At the time you hate [thinking on your feet], but it’s quite exciting as well. We had to be quite clever, and [ended up] shooting over the elephant’s back."
Illusions are Bird’s stock in trade, of course, and he’s happiest creating them on commercials, although he has ventured into feature films—he served as cinematographer on Sexy Beast, directed by the aforementioned Glazer. "It was a great experience," Bird says, "but ninety minutes is a long time to sustain. Right now, I’m excited by thirty- or ninety-second, or four-minute pieces."
Bird has just completed the aforementioned BMW campaign for Fallon, and is bidding on more stateside work. "I love the enthusiasm of American creatives," he says. "I love their energy."
