BBDO New York’s “It”-themed campaign for eBay continues to delight with a new :60 titled “Ring,” the effort’s most creative “iteration” to date.
The clever spot finds a happy young couple in their apartment. They are cleaning up after dinner when the woman’s wedding ring–garnished with a big “It” diamond–slips off her finger and down the drain of the kitchen sink. You can’t help but feel for the pair as they listen to the treasured piece of jewelry clank down the pipes.
Edith Piaf’s French classic “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” (“No, I regret nothing”) kicks in as we follow the ring through the pipes of the couple’s apartment building. Along the way, we get a glimpse into other apartments where we encounter a colorful array of neighbors and all of the items they, too, have purchased from eBay.
Each item is presented in the form of an “It.” While a young boy bounces an “It” ball, an elderly man answers an “It” phone. A weight lifter bench presses “It” dumb bells, and a plumber wields an “It” wrench.
Ultimately, the precious “It” ring makes its way through the pipes and is ejected into a sea full of fish.
Cut to the young couple eating salmon for dinne–after taking a big bite, the woman spits out the “It” wedding ring.
The aim in creating “Ring,” according to BBDO executive creative director Greg Hahn, was to, through a linear story, illustrate the fact that everyone can find something they want on the Internet auction house eBay.
In addition to Hahn, the BBDO creative team that dreamt up this imaginative idea was made up of creative director Chris Toland, copywriter Reuben Hower and art director Brandon Mugar.
Directors Oskar Holmedal and Henry Moore Selder of the directing collective Stylewar, which is represented by bicoastal/international Smuggler, saw enormous potential in BBDO’s concept and took on the task of directing “Ring.”
“We had quite a detailed script [when we approached Stylewar],” according to Hower. “But, that said, they brought tons to this as well, and we really enjoyed the collaboration. Stylewar took it to a place we could have never imagined.”
Holmedal and Moore Selder not only contributed additional scenarios–they, for example, suggested having a naked guy (who is seen in the spot in underwear) playing an “It” guitar–but worked with the agency to choreograph the ring’s travels through the piping, making sure there were beats hit and a pause taken.
“It was a big mathematical equation,” Holmedal remarked.
Aiming to capture as much of the action as possible on camera, Stylewar’s Holmedal and Moore Selder took on the ambitious task of having a mini-apartment complex with exposed piping built on a soundstage in Prague. It was two stories high, with three rooms across each level. Two additional rooms were built at ground level.
The structures, which took two weeks to construct, had to be safe and sturdy as actors inhabited each of the furnished rooms during the shoot. Each room was wired for lighting, and a framework of connecting pipes was attached to the front of each of the structures.
DP Damien Morrisot shot much of the action via a camera attached to a crane. “It was a little tricky to direct,” Holmedal said. “You needed to be down on the ground to watch it all happen, but at the same time you needed to tweak all of these things in each of the rooms at the right time.”
The main structure was re-dressed twice to depict the various apartment dwellings seen in the spot..
In addition to capturing a complicated stunt, getting sympathetic performances was also crucial. The young couple had to be likable and charming so that the audience would care whether they got their ring back, Holmedal explained, noting that he was pleased with the actors’ sweetness and chemistry.
After six days of shooting, the Stylewar guys were confident they had what would be needed by editor Gavin Cutler of Mackenzie Cutler, New York, and the visual effects crew at New York’s MassMarket.
The editing process wasn’t as painful as you might imagine, Hahn said, pointing out, “Stylewar gave us a lot to work with, so once we found the rhythm of it, it just all came together.”
As for effects work, “We were striving for realism in everything, and MassMarket did a great job,” Holmedal praised. “There are a lot of cheats hidden inside the spot, but I think it is hard to spot them.”
Among other things, MassMarket put together the sequences involving the ring bouncing along through the pipes and built the scene in which the “It” ring is ejected into the sea through a combination of live action and CG elements.
While careful preparation and planning yielded a great-looking spot, finding the music to accompany “Ring” was a much more esoteric process. Songs with English lyrics distracted from the story being told in the spot. Other songs were so busy that they interfered with the sound design track created by sound designer Lewis Herrin of Mackenzie Cutler.
Hower ultimately came across Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” on his iPod. The team, exhausted after a long search, tried it out, and it worked. “It just clicked to picture. It was a weird thing.
“We were all really tired and not sure it would work the next morning, but it did,” Hower said, “and it makes the spot a lot bigger.”
AICP’s Matt Miller Looks To Build Support For Production In L.A. After Devastating Wildfires
Editor’s note: AICP president and CEO Matt Miller issued the following statement addressing the wildfires in Los Angeles and how the industry can help this key production market--a hub of major resources essential to the health of the overall commercialmaking industry:
Who Needs Los Angeles? We Do.
By Matt Miller, AICP president and CEO
One doesn’t have to be a statistician to know that there are fewer commercials being shot in the U.S. today for the American market than ever before, and a dramatic decrease in L.A. in particular. In the last five years, as reported by FilmLA (the office tasked with issuing permits), L.A. commercial production has dipped 31 percent.
But here’s the thing: This doesn’t mean that L.A. has lost its importance as the production center of the world. Production in L.A. is vital. It is the go-to. It’s where you can count on access to exemplary crews, a support infrastructure second to none, varied location and backlot options, a large population of on-screen talent and (fairly) predictable weather.
The fact is, with overall decline and now the devastation of the fires, we’re on the brink of losing this mainstay resource. Without employment opportunities and now many without homes, talented and trained crew are bound to leave either the industry or the L.A. area for other opportunities, unless there are enough job opportunities to sustain a solid living.
Now is the time when we ALL must support and bolster this community.
Production is needed in L.A., now!
Of course, advertising is a business, and marketers’ money should be spent as efficiently as possible, BUT we have to think beyond each production and know that if we lose the... Read More