By Carolyn Giardina
The serial comic strip "Spy vs. Spy" from MAD magazine, in which two hapless spies try to foil each other, is the inspiration behind "Helicopter," one of four highly creative new spots out of BBDO New York for Mountain Dew. A second spot in the campaign, "Hallway," is also currently airing; the other two ads have yet to run. "[The campaign is] rooted in ‘Spy vs. Spy,’ " explained executive creative director/copywriter/art director Bill Bruce. "The guys go after each other; [but in these spots,] Mountain Dew is the desired prize. The desire was to go back to the early sixties feel and look of the comic. It seemed to have this dark, perverse, odd sense of humor about it."
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CLIENT
PepsiCo/Mountain Dew.
PRODUCTION CO.
Traktor, Santa Monica, Calif.
Traktor, director; Bill Pope, DP; Jim Bouvet, executive producer/line producer; Tom Hartman, production designer. Shot at Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, Calif.
AGENCY
BBDO New York.
Ted Sann, chief creative officer; Bill Bruce, executive creative director/ copywriter/art director; Doris Cassar, copywriter/art director; Hyatt Choate, executive producer; Loren Parkins, executive music producer.
EDITORIAL
Nomad Editing Company, Santa Monica.
Tom Muldoon, editor.
POST
Company 3, Santa Monica.
Stefan Sonnenfeld, colorist; Missy Papageorge, producer.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Method, Santa Monica.
Alex Frisch, visual effects supervisor; Cedric Nicholas, Andrew Eksner, Russell Fell and Alex Kolasinski, visual effects artists; Hatem Benabdallah, James LeBloch and Jeremy Butler, 3-D artists; Laurent Ledru, 3-D creative supervisor; Gil Baron, 3-D technical supervisor; Brandon Sanders, Katrina Salicrup and Mike Vaglienty, junior visual effects artists; Neysa Horsburgh, visual effects executive producer; Sue Troyan, visual effects producer.
Stan Winston Studio, Van Nuys, Calif.
Alan Scott, producer; Shane Mahan and Chris Swift, model designers.
AUDIO POST
Sound Lounge, New York.
Tom Jucarone, mixer.
SOUND DESIGN
Nomad Editing Company.
Francois Blaignan, sound designer.
Review: Director Nora Fingscheidt’s “The Outrun”
At some point during "The Outrun," it occurred to me that watching Saoirse Ronan act is a bit like looking into a magnifying glass: Everything somehow feels a bit clearer, sharper, more precise.
This singular actor gives one of her finest performances in a two-hour study of addiction that is poignant, sometimes beautiful but always painful to watch โ and would likely be too draining if not for the luminous presence at its core. Would it even work โ at all โ if Ronan, who also makes her producing debut here, weren't onscreen virtually every second?
Luckily, we don't need to imagine that. Ronan, who plays a 29-year-old biology student named Rona (the name comes from a tiny island off Scotland) serves as both star and narrator, speaking the words โ sometimes poetic โ of the addiction memoir by Amy Liptrot. The script, adapted by Liptrot and director Nora Fingscheidt, makes frequent use of fantasy and whimsy, even veering into animation. Some may find these deviations a distraction from the plot, but they are frequently mesmerizing.
Besides, plot is a loosely defined thing here. We go back and forth in time so frequently that sometimes only the changing color of Rona's hair indicates where we are on the timeline. It takes a while to get used to this, but the uncertainty starts to make sense. We are, in a way, inside Rona's mind, experiencing the fits and starts of her journey. And recovery is hardly a linear process.
There's a fine supporting cast, but the true second star is nature itself. The film is based mainly in the Orkney Islands off Scotland, a windswept landscape that can be both punishing and restorative. It can also be stunning, especially the sea. And the sea is where we start, learning that Orkney lore holds that when... Read More