ON ANY GIVEN DAY I FIELD at least one call from an agency creative or producer about reality-based spots and how they work. Although such projects often excite agency creatives, they can also strike fear in their hearts.
What do you do when a concept needs to capture a certain feeling, a momentous personal event or a day in the life of real people-not actors-interacting with the product or revealing their positive feelings about the client’s service or product? Indeed, what do you do for "documentary style"?
There are two ways to go. Seek out a commercial director who often works in a documentary style, or find a filmmaker who has earned a reputation in documentaries and can apply that craft to the art of the commercial.
How do you cast and find the right locations? What are the logistics and how do you build in the guarantees that usually come with an approved board and script? There are those who think that the documentary approach (and surely the art of the documentary) has only to do with a director being "in the right place at the right time" or acting simply as a "fly on the wall."
Although there is a grain of truth in that notion for many directors, it is not at all true with documentarians who have distinguished themselves in their craft with either long-form or spots. The intense amount of preparation and the director’s experience, instincts and filmmaking skills all come to bear to allow the seemingly fly-on-the-wall stuff to achieve success in the commercial arena.
Casting has to be very different from traditional spots. Different situations call for different approaches. It’s not enough to know that the prospective "talent" looks great on camera, is gregarious and wildly enthusiastic about the product. A doc filmmaker looks for more. Who are they? What are their lives like? Spouse? Kids? Extended family? Dog? Cat? Snake? Hang-gliding and swing dancing for hobbies? Bake sale and tattoo work in their spare time? It’s not that the spot necessarily calls for that information, but it’s another part of the equation that allows the director to get close to the talent and use the information to determine where the story really is with that particular person.
During the casting process, the doc director likes to spend time with the talent and wants to see them at home, at work and "in" their life. The director wants to "go home" with the talent.
Casting helps dictate logistics, particularly when the director determines what location will allow the talent his or her optimum comfort level-the place where they’ll come across on camera the best, the most authentic. This is where the fly-on-the-wall myth begins to be shattered.
A true reality-based filmmaker and commercial director puts a great deal of thought and planning into how and where it will all play into the commercial’s message. Who are the best people to portray? Where? And how will the director go for the story inherent in each spot? This is usually the part that makes the agency and client nervous.
Recently, I was talking about a bid on the phone with an agency producer, discussing how the director actually captures the moments we all were going for. I joked, "You know, the director and crew just hang out in the bushes, and, when the moment is right, they just jump out and start filming." There was a long silence on the other end. He thought I was serious.
If the homework is done right-the casting, the location scouting-you’re where you want to be. However, the reality-based director only uses this as a starting point. Now the director begins to use his or her experience not just to capture what is happening in the moment but to stay one step ahead of where the moment is going, to maneuver the spot in the right direction.
No matter how large the crew, the documentary-based director will keep the visible crew to a minimum. Video assists remain out of sight, perhaps rooms away or in the mobile home. Directors work with hand-held wireless video assists. Agency people and clients screen the shoot on hand-held monitors. The talent-intimidation factor is kept minimal, providing them a comfort level that in turn allows the director to build on the rapport already established.
Fundamentally, it’s about director-talent rapport-the trust that motivates a person to open up and reveal his or her feelings. Whether the intent of the spot is serious or light, the director makes choices geared toward the ultimate tone and message, and, contrary to some beliefs, actually directs the spot.
