This isn’t your father’s amusement park as underscored by new-generation advertising conceived by agency davidandgoliath (dng), Los Angeles, for Universal Orlando, Fla. To promote Halloween Horror Nights 13 at the resort’s Islands of Adventure theme park, dng opted for dark, moody and somewhat disturbing creative fare—no funny, sunny Disney-esque depictions here.
Instead, the protagonist in this two-spot campaign is "The Director," a demented filmmaker with a perverse interest in cinema verité. Based in an abandoned theater, he practices his craft by torturing his subjects and capturing their terror on film.
In the spot titled "Jester," we see a scared-stiff clown who is strapped to a contraption in the abandoned theater. On both sides of his mouth are hooks pulling his mouth into a wide "smile." Our director frames the shot with delight. We see a tear form in one of the clown’s eyes as his facial makeup crumbles.
A super appears, asking, "Have you met The Director?" We then see a bell from the clown’s cap fall to the floor, leaving us to wonder about the hideous fate that has befallen the jester. Theater curtains then close—supered on them is copy hailing the Halloween horror fest, which begins on Oct. 3 and runs 21 select nights through Nov. 1.
Similarly, the second spot, "Electrocution," reveals a man tied down to and immersed in a water-filled bathtub. A floating rubber duck bobs in the water as the man thrashes around helplessly. The director frames and zooms in on his terrified prey. Then an electricity switch is flipped on, after which we hear a blood-curdling scream.
Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights has evolved over the years from a fantastical experience to a more realistically frightening Halloween event. Toward that end, dng chairman/chief creative officer David Angelo noted that spots were created "that live more in the short horror film genre" rather than the traditional ad arena.
The commercials were directed by Dean Karr of The Mine, Los Angeles. Arthur Gorson served as executive producer and producer for The Mine. The DP was Checco Varese.
The dng team consisted of Angelo, associate creative directors Ben Purcell and John Figone, art director Anne Bioty, copywriter Melissa Pipeling, executive producer Anne Kurtzman, senior producer Maresa Wickham and associate producer Erin Sullivan.
Pipeling and Bioty said that while they were studying what makes a horror character scary, they found that the psychological and callous demeanor of, say, Hannibal Lecter, is much more menacing than outright slasher characters like Freddy or Jason. Hence "The Director" was created to appeal to potential theme park goers/horror movie aficionados who want to experience a higher level of fright.
Nick Alba and Todd Iorio of Union Editorial, Santa Monica, were offline and online editor, respectively. Megan Dahlman produced for Union. Colorist was Arnold Ramm of Encore Hollywood. Josh Eichenbaum of Union was the audio mixer.
The stories in both spots unfold to a special arrangement of "You Ought to Be in Pictures" by Michael Carroll of Michael Carroll Music, New York.
The overall campaign—which also consists of outdoor, print and radio—rolled out earlier this month throughout Florida.
Gianni Garofalo and Steven Vallo were the principal actors in "Jester." The SAG/AFTRA Commercials Contract Standing Committee has granted a waiver to allow commercials to be available for viewing on SHOOTonline.com. The spots cannot be copied, downloaded or e-mailed.
