Mothership directors Dael Oates and David Rosenbaum have teamed up with Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, to roll out the Sprint HTC EVO 4G mobile phone, billed as a technological first. Titled “Firsts,” the :30 cinematic TV and in-theater commercial (with an extended :60) showcases an elaborately choreographed domino effect toppling the world’s technological and cultural “firsts.” Visual effects were contributed by Mothership’s sister facility, Digital Domain.
“Firsts” is set on an expansive and surreal landscape as a rudimentary stone wheel rolls across screen and the voiceover states, “First is the beginning. First leads.” The wheel sets off a massive domino chain of objects that have changed human culture. A 19th century bicycle topples a row of steam engines, a gramophone, microscope, typewriter and light bulbs. A seemingly endless queue of the world’s first telephones and film cameras knock over a Ford Model T, which rolls into a towering wall of televisions avalanching upon impact. A lone TV rolls across the salt flat, felling the first airplane, rocket and a manned missile, which unlocks from its docking station and takes off into space. Finally a long chain reaction of circuit boards, VHS tapes, computers and mobile phones culminate in the last “first” standing, the Sprint HTC EVO.
Oates and Rosenbaum, who do not regularly direct as a duo, joined forces to handle the complex Sprint spot, including overseeing a three-day live-action shoot at the Bonneville Salt Flats and the digital integration of hundreds of all-CG elements.
The 40-person production team, which included Ed Ulbrich and Tanya Cohen, president and executive producer, respectively, of Mothership, worked on the project over six weeks. Oates and Rosenbaum opted to showcase as many practical props as possible, which were then digitally augmented and enhanced by the sister VFX team at Digital Domain, with Aladino Debert as creative director. The directors tapped longtime collaborator DP Claudio Miranda, who has worked with Digital Domain on commercials as well as features, including the upcoming TRON: Legacy and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
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