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.”
Review: Director Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked”
It's the ultimate celebrity redemption tour, two decades in the making. In the annals of pop culture, few characters have undergone an image makeover quite like the Wicked Witch of the West.
Oh, she may have been vengeful and scary in "The Wizard of Oz." But something changed — like, REALLY changed — on the way from the yellow brick road to the Great White Way. Since 2003, crowds have packed nightly into "Wicked" at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre to cheer as the green-skinned, misunderstood Elphaba rises up on her broomstick to belt "Defying Gravity," that enduring girl-power anthem.
How many people have seen "Wicked"? Rudimentary math suggests more than 15 million on Broadway alone. And now we have "Wicked" the movie, director Jon M. Chu's lavish, faithful, impeccably crafted (and nearly three-hour) ode to this origin story of Elphaba and her (eventual) bestie — Glinda, the very good and very blonde. Welcome to Hollywood, ladies.
Before we get to what this movie does well (Those big numbers! Those costumes!), just a couple thornier issues to ponder. Will this "Wicked," powered by a soulful Cynthia Erivo (owner of one of the best singing voices on the planet) and a sprightly, comedic, hair-tossing Ariana Grande, turn even musical theater haters into lovers?
Tricky question. Some people just don't buy into the musical thing, and they should be allowed to live freely amongst us. But if people breaking into song delights rather than flummoxes you, if elaborate dance numbers in village squares and fantastical nightclubs and emerald-hued cities make perfect sense to you, and especially if you already love "Wicked," well then, you will likely love this film. If it feels like they made the best "Wicked" movie money could buy — well, it's... Read More