Ice Breakers Frost "This Magic Moment"

Click here to watch.

Director: Tom Grabon
Copywriter: Alex Harvey
Producer: Becky Train
DP: Richard Darge
Editor: Joe Uhlarik
Sound: Fletcher Alliston
Starring: Brian Lloyd, Kelly Dolan and Sophie the Golden Retriever
VO: David Light

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a director?

I chose this script because I loved the twist in it.  The reveal gives the concept a bit of an edge, which I always like to have, and most of the humor leading up to it comes from a place of discomfort.  Alex's script is really funny, misleading and almost surreal until the big punchline and twist.  And it also has a dog, and dogs are consistently awesome.    

What was the casting process like?

The casting process was fun, but it was a bit strange for this concept because we were never playing the lead guy against an actual dog.  We didn't want to overwork Sophie or her owner Lauren, because they were doing us a favor by agreeing to the spot at all.  So for casting, we had human couples run through the scene, with the girl doing the nuzzling and snuggling that a dog might do.  We didn't make any of our actresses lick the actors' faces, though.  But that meant we had to take the actors at their word that they wouldn't have a problem with a dog going to town on their faces.  Brian and Kelly were actually a couple during our initial auditions, then we mixed up most of the couples for callbacks, but we realized they had worked really well together, so we reunited them for the shoot.    

How did you search for/lock a location?

I only asked three people if we could shoot in their living rooms, because my apartment is too boring and doesn't have the right look.  The first two said a polite no, and the third was Becky, my producer.  She came through huge on that and on everything else.  Her house and furniture are really nice and charming, and she didn't even charge insurance or location fees.  Thanks again, Becky and roommates.    

How did you select your DP, crew?

I've worked with a lot of the same key crew for most of my specs.  I met Rick the DP and Joe the editor while we were all at USC, and they have great senses of humor on top of their skills.  I love that they help provide a consistent feel to these spots.  Rick shot with his Red Epic, and he's constantly booked, so I'm surprised he wasn't too busy to help me out again.  More about Joe below.    

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

The main challenge was finding a rhythm while filming with a happy but hungry Golden Retriever.  Sophie was great, but she was distracted at first by seeing her owner/mom, Linda.  So Linda actually offered to go off-set and read a book near our crafty and make-up areas.  And as long as we kept plenty of cream cheese on the side of Brian's face, Sophie was happy to participate.  The hardest part was getting her re-set to her starting marks, because we filmed most of her takes in series; we didn't want to lose her attention or energy with a lot of downtime.  Brian did a great unsung job of nailing his lines, putting up with messy cream cheese and dog tongue, and wrangling Sophie during takes.  We gave him a wrap gift of mouth wash, a lint roller and whiskey.   

Tell us about editing and finishing. 

Joe did a great job with the edit.  He put a good rough cut together right away, and he was really patient and willing to go through the footage with me to find some unexpected solutions.  He basically built the dog's "whoa" moment from a take that I had thought was our third or fourth best option originally.  Now, that's the moment I keep laughing at the most.  Things really started clicking when Joe laid the music out and edited the lyrics to match our gags.  Suddenly, our pace got a lot better, the spot had a lot more energy, and we were able to fit every moment from the script into an actual :30, which I really wanted to nail this time. 

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

Brian and Sophie finally did have a quasi-rehearsal the day before we shot.  But I still should have done a better job of preparing Brian for how we were going to shoot in lots of series, and I should have warned him better about how unpleasant that repeated sensation would get.   

Any other thoughts?

I just want to thank Alex again for his great script.  He and I talked a lot and collaborated closely the whole way through.  He was really open to trading ideas back and forth.  We even changed the product in his script from Ice Breakers Pacs to Frost, because Frost is a brand new product.  Alex was also open to using a different song, which I thought I might actually end up doing.  But it's a credit to his script that "This Magic Moment" worked perfectly as the music, and that's what he had built into the concept all along.Why 

Australian Open "Roddick's Coming"

Click to watch.

Credits:

Directed by Whiskey Tongue

DP: Kunitaro Ohi

Producer: Spang TV, Jordan Rodericks

Tennis PLayer: David Meadows

Edited by Matt West

Colorist Matt West

Sound Design Andrew Uvarov

Custom music by Jody Boyd, Red Amp Audio

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

We love tennis, and we loved the idea of combining comedy elements into a sport/action concept. It was a great way to show how we like energy and motion, but at the same time be focused on performance elements and telling a story. I love spots that tell stories as well as deliver a message. As far as the vision, its all about the story. I am more interested in that than just making people laugh or cry or cheer. If you can do both, then that's the best combination.

What was the casting process like?

We looked for someone who was a regular joe, but you would believe could walk onto a tennis court. He had to be fit, able to actually hit a ball with a racket, and perform while doing the actions. So we went for an actor first with tennis skills being a second requisite. If we just used a tennis player, the struggle of the character wouldn't have worked. We pulled talent from outside of our region, so we had little chance to audition them. I would call them and just strike up a conversation with them after they had seen the script, and really had to choose based on the instinct that the actor could not only pull it off, but also take direction very well.

How did you search for/lock a location?

We had quite a few batting cages in the area, but most were very old or tacky looking.  We found one that had the cages up on a hill away from a driving range.  It allowed for a nice wide void of space with great stadium lighting as the back drop. This way when you first established the scene it really could be a tennis club or court area.

How did you select your DP, crew?

Kuni is a DP I work with regularly, and he was also looking to do some great night action sports work so he volunteered to help us with the project. The crew was a collection of favors from the normal crew base we work with on a regular basis on other commercial work.

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

The biggest challenge was actually safely hitting a baseball with a tennis racket. We went through 20+ rackets. I tested the different speed cages first when we location scouted to see which speed was the safest and easiest to read on camera. The actual fast ball launcher almost broke my thumb and ripped the racket clean out of my hand. So we ended up using a 50 mph cage.  It still broke the strings and in some cased cracked the racket.

Tell us about editing and finishing.

We shot a ton of coverage. So editing was more about finding those best quick moments. We started with a 60 second cut that told more story had more of a build up, but in talking with the writer, the 30 second cut was more pure, told a more concise story and after getting his fresh eyes on it, his notes made a big difference in helping finish a 30 second version.

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

I would have loved to had the budget to do a few high speed shots of the ball actually shattering a stunt racket, but that required more money and fabrication than we had the chance to do. But other than that, it was exactly what we wanted to accomplish on our budget.

PGA "GPS"

Click to view spot on YouTube.

Director: Jason Smart

Producer: Natalie Pohorski

Director of Photography: Peter Borrud
Editor: Jason Smart
Copywriter: Andrew Lincoln www.visuallygifted.com

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

I tend to gravitate toward comedy when it comes to commercials and I thought this spot would fit in well with the kind of reel that I wanted to build.

What was the casting process like?

Kiel Kennedy played the lead role. He was in a short film that a friend of mine did and he had also done some stand-up in the past. I saw one of his routines online and thought his demeanor and way of delivering lines would fit in really well for this spot. Also, he was hilarious in between takes which made it a lot of fun.The girl was played by my friend Natalie who was also the producer on the project. We've worked together a lot in the past so it just worked out very nicely.

How did you search for/lock a location?

Originally the script called for shooting in an intersection at a 4-way stop. We didn't have the resources to pull that off so Andrew (the writer) and I decided to move it to a driveway. Some friend's of mine lived in that house at the time and were kind enough to let us shoot there for a few hours. It really took the pressure off and allowed us to get a lot of takes and try different things with the performances.

How did you select your DP, crew?

My really good friend Peter Borrud who is amazing to work with was kind enough to come out and shoot this for me. We were roommates several years ago in college and had wanted to work on something for awhile. Everyone else on the crew were friends from film school. We found our make-up artist through CraigsList and she did a great job and was fun to work with.

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

The shooting went great! We all had a great time and shot the entire spot in less than 6 hours. We had to move pretty quickly because we didn't have the budget for any lights whatsoever so everything was lit by the sun and some bounce boards here and there. Toward the end we had to make adjustments to compensate for the sun starting to go down but Peter did a fantastic job of getting the lighting consistent throughout. We shot on the 7D with Canon lenses so it allowed us to move really quick as well.

Tell us about editing and finishing.

I edited this spot and did the coloring myself. Normally I like to work with an editor to see what they can bring to the project but we were also submitting this for an online contest which had an immediate deadline so we didn't have that option. My good friend Molly Jenson provided the voice for the GPS.

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

I'm always the guy who will look at a piece after it's been shot and think, "Why didn't I have so-and-so do that!" or "I should've had such-and-such move his hand this way instead of that!" I think it's just the way I am. For this spot specifically I think I would've probably changed up the girl's blocking slightly and widened up a bit on some of the coverage. Also, this was my first crack at directing a commercial and in retrospect I think I would've played around with different lines while shooting. I think it would've given me more options in the editing room. Other than that I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Las Vegas "Campground"

Click to watch.

Director: Karni Baghdikian

DP: David Mahlmann

Producer: Camillia Monet 

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

I have a lot of faith in initial instincts, and my feelings for this one were were very strong, right away--I literally fell in love at first read.  There were a few other scripts I had tossed around, and I was actually prepping to shoot another spot when this one landed in my inbox.  I requested it within 30 seconds of reading it, and the stars lined up quickly...we shot it a couple weeks later.  

As for my vision as a commercial director, well, I enjoy shooting slightly sinister comedy, and I like strong choreography.  So it was really important that the spot be funny, a bit dark, and something that was relatively easy to execute without a lot of firepower.  I also wanted it to feel like something I hadn't really seen much of in the spec world, which this most certainly was.  Finally, there was the timing component.  With a :30, you have to be very specific, and this spot had to be executed like clockwork to reach its potential.  I had a stopwatch around my neck, and timed each take, so we knew right away if we had it or not.  That was a new approach for me, and I was pleasantly surprised by the consistency of the actors' timing.  I think the delta was 2.2 seconds for 40+ takes.

What was the casting process like?

In this case, there were two actors – Chris Pauley and Stephanie Little – who I had known for a while and had long hoped to work with, that I really felt were a good match for the material.  It's not always the case, but when you read something and feel it right away, for me, it comes back to trusting that first instinct.  Thankfully they were available and extremely supportive in the realization of this spot.

How did you search for/lock a location?

We wanted a campground that felt a little shabby, to juxtapose against the luxury of the Vegas experience that appeals to our core audience.  Finding wooded landscape in LA is no easy task, so my wonderful Producer Camillia Monet reached out to as many of our friends as possible for leads.  At one point, we considered trekking up to Big Bear, but didn't want to do that to a crew; we wanted to be able to shoot in one day and not have to spend half our money on gas.  We looked at public parks like Malibu Creek, but the permits and fire trucks were a bit too pricey.  Pretty late in the game, we wound up getting a little lucky, in that I had AD'd a short film a few years back that was shot on a private property up in Topanga Canyon.  We got in touch with the property owner and he hooked us up.

How did you select your DP, crew?

A director is only as good as the people around him, and I'm extremely fortunate to have had such a great crew.  My DP David Mahlmann and I have been working together for a few years.  He lensed a short we shot with the RED ONE in 2008, and we've had a terrific working relationship ever since.  He's usually the first person I call when I have a new project, and when I don't, he's the first person I call for those pep talks that every filmmaker occasionally needs to keep things in perspective.  Dave usually crews up camera, grip and electric with his own contacts; most are people we've worked with in the past, but he never amazes me with his ability to find great new people when we're in a pinch.  He's a magnet for the right kind of crew member.  As for art, makeup, wardrobe, that was all Camillia.  She knows lots of great people, so she knew what we needed right away.  

  

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

Shooting went well; it was a relatively easy day all-in-all.  The only real challenge we faced was – brace yourself – losing light.  When you shoot in a canyon, you lose light really quickly in the afternoon, so Dave had his work cut out for him in keeping things consistent.  We didn't have a very big lighting package at all, I think we primarily used bounce boards and 12x12 silk to cut the sunlight, with some HMIs on reserve, just in case.  We started at 8AM and were wrapped by 4PM, a pretty nice day, and the lights stayed on the truck.

Tell us about editing and finishing.

Editing is when you cut the shots together in a timeline, and then you mix sound and color grade picture to finish.  Sorry, I couldn't resist.  I generally like to cut my own material, it's just something I've grown accustomed to, as I've been editing for years and really enjoy the process.  I think it was born of an indie filmmaker's need to keep things as cheap as possible and learn by doing.  Now it's the quickest way for me to figure out what works, and what doesn't.  I've worked with editors as well, and that's good and fine, but I'm a very hands-on guy and have a computer arts background, so for something like a spot or a very short film, I'm happy to go it alone.  Sound design was a big one on this, because we had to sell the idea of a swarm of bugs that you can't actually see, and aside from choreography, that was the biggest creative challenge.  I have a great sound mixer in Pat Lydon, who always brings a little extra creativity to the table.  He's another person I've been working with for a few years now, and I enjoy finally getting down to the mix so he can take that track I've heard over a thousand times in the edit, and take it to new and exciting places.

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

As I mentioned there was a specific choreography to this spot, and we were all really focused on that, and I think the actors were tightly wound at first as a result.  With a :30, you're always going to get a ton of takes and different ways of saying "this" and "that," but I think the real gold came when we let the actors go off a little bit and just have some fun with ad-libs.  Chris and Stephanie are tremendously funny and quick with improv, and had us in stitches for a few laughers – you can only imagine the kinds of outtakes you can get with Vegas as your subject matter.  So they loosened up a bit, and I think that helped, because when we returned to the script, everything gelled and it came together quickly from there.  It was a great reminder to sometimes let things come naturally instead of trying to force it.

Any other thoughts.

This one was a a lot of fun.  We had tons of coverage to work with, plenty of great audio.  A relaxed set.  Lunch was good.  I think this was about as smooth as a shoot can go, and when that happens, you just have to thank your lucky stars, because that always comes down to two things: great collaborators, and a little bit of magic.  

Agent Provocateur "Eyeball"

Click to watch. 


Director: Patrick Ortman
Writer: Britt Benston
Producer: Kathi Funston
Production Designer: Pam Chien
Visual Effects Supervisor: Greg Anderson


Patrick Ortman:

I'm attracted to story, and this concept – created by Britt Benston, and then honed by myself and my producing partner Kathi Funston – really hooked me. It's perfect for the brand, which is high-quality, but edgy. Of course, Britt's music choice was perfect, too. 

Casting was huge on this one. Britt had a visual effects supervisor look at the script, and he warned me when we first met that it'd be a tough commercial to make. He was right. I ended up firing two visual effects artists over this spot – one of whom told me the 'money shot' in the piece was just not possible to do. Well, they were wrong. I ended up doing the VFX myself, and it turned out just fine. I think it's because I'm better able to think outside the box, sometimes. That's a good thing, since the whole point of this commercial was about making your own way – 'do your thing, whatever it is,' right? 

We shot on RED MX, and I DP'd, Kathi Funston produced, and Pam Chien was our production designer. We shot the whole thing right here in my studio, we just moved out the edit bay and desks, and brought in stuff we bought on Craigslist. 

I'm really happy with how it turned out.


Britt Benston:

I can't believe how well Patrick turned the concept into a story, and on top of that, how he showed the weirdness of it as truth. 

The money shot was done perfectly. It's funny – a couple of years prior another director had seen that script and approached me about making the spot. After looking into producing it, that director sought out a simpler spot instead; a more known quantity. 

Then a year ago, Patrick came around and approached "Eyeball" fearlessly. He called me and requested a meeting, and after a chat, I knew he had the breadth of skills to take it on. Patrick is an artist and a production/post-production polymath. Then I had few more conversations, first with Vis Effects Director Greg Anderson and then with Patrick, who plunged head-first into production. This was all while he was in various stages of completion in his own short film and two other spots. An amazing feat!

In the end, the gorgeous spot is made for either TV or the digital age. It deserves to be spread around and it really could sell the Agent Provocateur brand and its lingerie in appropriate (and inappropriate) style.

Stride Gum "Global Warming"

Click to view.

Director: Justin Foia

Writer: Hunter Fine

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director? How was working with the writer?

I was attracted to spot based on the opportunity to direct more visual effects based material.  I find myself increasingly going in that direction as doing VFX (and motion graphics) is what I do for a living.  I already think in those terms of how things can be done in post, so I want to focus more on that kind of spot.  VFX driven storytelling and/or comedy is a pretty popular genre, so I hope to find more work there.  The script was elegant and simple and I thought it could lend itself to a more cinematic visual style -- something more hyper-real in terms of the arctic environment as well as the "thermostat" prop to be specific.  I told the writer that if it was okay I was going to push the production value higher because that was the real substance of the story.  Hunter Fine, the writer,  was great.  Super easy to talk to and work with.  I'm on the West Coast, but I got a chance to meet him in NYC this October and we spoke about the spot face to face before I started drawing boards.  This was a new and very cool experience for me, as doing spec work has meant largely collaborating with the writer on the phone or online.  In this case, an in person meeting allowed me to pitch how the production design was going to work.  We bounced various references around and I think we landed on the same page pretty quickly.

What was the casting process like?

I originally cast another actor for my lead, but due to scheduling it wasn't going to work.  I reached out to an actor who played a supporting role in a short film I directed this past year.  I knew he could nail it, so that part was easy.  I also ran it past Hunter so we were both happy with the choice.  My news caster role was recommended by another actor/director friend of mine and she was terrific.  I think that if you can cast people you've worked with it helps, but mostly it's good to have great actors no matter what.  That's more than 50% of the spot in my opinion.

How did you search for/lock a location?

The location was actually my brother's house.  But I chose it because of the character and not just convenience.  I was prepared to go elsewhere if the DP told me it wouldn't work.  On a budget those choices are easy, but I believe that location is very important.  Go the extra mile to get the right place.  In this case, it just had the look I wanted and a great window set up for lighting.  We were pushing warm tones, and the walls and blinds just meshed really well.  Also, set dressing it was key.  As to the "snow scenes" that was good old backyard green screen shooting.  We opted for an outdoor setup for natural light.  I have shot similar things on a sound stage with chimera lighting, and frankly, this worked out better for realism.

How did you select your DP, crew?

This was my first time working with the DP who came recommended by a director friend.  I saw their short film they did and was sold.  We met up a bunch of times to discuss the tone and look and felt we spoke the same language.  He was awesome.  The production designer came on via the DP and she was amazing.  We all did a tech scout to see the location then moved into pre-production.   She built this beautiful prop and set dressed everything.  I wanted a "LOST" type of technology that controlled the Earth's temperature, so she went in a retro direction with the build.   It was great.  The crew was really small but that helped to move fast.

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

Shooting was easy except that our smoke machine broke, so we couldn't get the haze I wanted.  We opted to smoke about five cigars in a closed room until it was hazy enough.  True story.  I felt like we should have been playing cards.  The outdoor stuff was challenging because of light -- whereas we wanted real light, it failed to be overcast, so the DP and his AC had to do a lot to block out the raw sunlight.  Other than that, we were on schedule the whole time.

Tell us about editing and finishing.

I cut the spot and did the post work.  I had some consulting help on editing, and Hunter and I went through several cuts before we settled on the final one.   The story changed slightly in the structure of the spot, but this version felt the most solid.  I had done several matte paintings and plates for the post, but since I had done a spot similar to this before, I was ready for it.  The post on this spot could have it's own breakdown for VFX so I will just leave it at this. 

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

I would have gotten a little more coverage here and there for acting options, but I see that as a lesson for any spot going forward.  Just shoot it so you don't need it later.

OC Fair "Fair Farmer"

Watch the spot here.

Director: Stephen Schuster

Writer: Dan Sorgen

Producer: Steve Owen

DP: Ezra Migel

Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?

I found this script appealing due to the whimsical nature of the script and the humor I found in it personally. I thought it was somewhat absurd that the farmer grew these deep fried and unhealthy foods on a farm for the fair where as you would normally find healthy fruits and vegetables. The father also intrigued me. The "how" of farming the funnel cakes. Ultimately I think the spot reflects my vision as a director well - absurd and somewhat subtle humor with a mix of the fantastic - the desire to make people laugh.

What was the casting process like?
The casting process is one of my favorite parts in doing commercials. You have the opportunity to meet extremely talented individuals that come close to fitting the part the minute they walk into the room. My friend Yasmin over at Jane Doe Casting did an amazing job at pulling some great selects for me and though there was some great casting choices - I ultimately settled on Daegan and Louis. Daegan came into the room and went for it on every take and from there I tweaked his performance on set so as not to go too hillbilly - just keeping it in the slower speed of farm life. He is also great with inflections in his voice and gave us alot of variations to work with. Louis is a friend that I met on a Alice In Chains video I shot. Great look and super talented and it is always a good combo to have the ability to work with people you have worked with before and know they will give you exactly what you need. I think there is a relationship of trust that can form between a actor and director which makes the shoot that much easier and enjoyable.

How did you search for/lock a location?

I had two friends that were going to help me produce the spot in the beginning but due to scheduling conflicts they were not able to see it through. One of them was with his family for a day out and they ended up at Underwood Farms up in Moorepark. He worked out a possible deal with the farm and then I went up and scouted to see if it could work. That of course was in the beginning of June. The farm was amazing. I found some unbelievable crops to shoot and had alot of details worked out in my head. In the end we shot two months later and all those crops had been cleared and empty fields replaced them. It was a interesting process but I think our team made it work.

How did you select your DP, crew?

Shooting crew? Ezra Migel is a very talented DP that I have known in passing for years. We had actually never worked together before this job and as he was just coming off of a tour for a documentary he had finished, he was going to be in town. We sat down and went over the ideas I had and everything clicked. It felt right. I met Steve Owen, the producer on the spot, through my wife. Ezra brought a few of his normal crew with him and Steve finished out all the rest of the crew - art department, food stylists and catering as well as dealt with all the gear rentals we needed. Both Ezra and Steve were key factors in this spot ever getting shot.

How did shooting go? Any challenges?

Ha. The day started out at 4:30am with clear skies at the farm. We had a crew call time of 6am and talent at 7am. About 545am the fog rolled in and whited the place out. You could not see 10 feet in front of your car.

The fog was the only challenge really - the only unknown. Some days it can last til 2 in the afternoon which would have basically ruined our day.

Ezra and I scouted other possible shots that we might be able to pull while we waited for the fog to clear and each time we found a setup and got ready to shoot the fog moved. By about 730am we actually started shooting. Day went smooth. We had alot of talented pros on set that made the day possible and of course it goes by pretty quick once it starts.

Tell us about editing and finishing.

Dean Gonzalez handled the editing. An amazing editor that I have had the opportunity to work with several times before. Dean and I had cut an animatic based off storyboard frames before so we knew for the most part where things would be going. It was finding the perfect shot for each part and then finessing all those details that Dean is great at.

While Dean was working on the edit, Dror Revach was working on the powder sugar machine. An exceptional 3D/CG artist that has gone above and beyond on every one of my projects he has worked on. We went through a couple of variations and in the end he nailed it - a "believable" and working machine!

Joshua Smith of Hydro74 did the logo for me for the OC Fair. I come from a design/animation/cg/vfx background so I helped with some of the lesser animations but it was Kevin Prendiville on Flame that brought it all together with sky replacements, final composites, and color correction. He tweaked so many details that the viewer may never see.

As I wanted every piece of the spot to better the whole, the final clincher was Mic Brooling who scored the spot for me. I knew I did not want to use any stock music as wallpaper though there are some great tracks out there. As soon as I showed the spot to Mic - he had the same idea for music that I had but much more elaborate. The score is amazing as the guitars work really well for the initial misdirect and then we plunge into a more Danny Elfman type machine sound - bridge into orchestral for the 3 food reveals and then wrap it up again with the guitar. The audio really adds to the humor - it doesnt just fill a void.

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

I think with any project there are things that could have been done differently but the project got finished and its getting a lot of great feedback and in the end THAT is all that really matters to me.

Any other thoughts.

A big thank you to Dan Sorgen, the writer on the project, who allowed me to interpret his script and to Specbank for making that connection possible.