Last month we received an email from the Marketing Director at Drury Lane asking if we’d be interested in doing their broadcast commercials for them. She had seen our work for Chicago Opera Theater and was hoping we’d want to do the spots. Of course we said yes! Follow the evolution below from the final video that is airing, all the way back to our original creative concepts.
Success is measured by the customer’s satisfaction and we know that Drury Lane was very happy with what we produced. Now let’s look back in time.
In this version, there is detail in the art that gives you a glimpse of the setting for South Pacific. You see planes and people in motion on the beach, throwing long shadows, creating interest and drama. The music is from an original recording of the musical, two snippets woven together to enhance the mood.
In this rough render, you see even more of a story being told. The silhouette of the couple embracing at the very beginning, not yet animated with the man pulling the woman closer, reflecting that romance is a part of the story. The trees aren’t quite as lush and at the end, we added a bit of humor with the guy singing in the shower. Sometimes, some good ideas hit the cutting room floor.
The images in the slideshow above, were the style frames we sent to Drury Lane for art direction. Establishing color, mood, framing and setting. We are especially pleased that the art direction we proposed carried through all the way through to the final video. Our resident storyteller, Sean Connolly (he’s a script writer at heart, among his many talents) put some great concepts together to pitch to Drury Lane. They asked for two, Sean wrote four. Distant but Intriguing was the concept they picked and the rest is now history as detailed below.
Pop-up Set A series of images unfold like a popup book, revealing a beach scene with a parked plane. We fly through as another series of images unfolds, revealing the plantation owners home with two place settings on a table, we fly through as another series of images unfolds, revealing a theater stage. A pair of half coconuts drops on centerstage. Title. Distant but Intriguing Looking up as a group of fighter planes fly over. The camera tilts down revealing a beautiful Polynesian beach. We can hear a group of men faintly laughing. The camera pushes past palm trees, revealing distant silhouettes dancing. Title and call to action. Zoom Around We are rocketing through a Polynesian thicket. We slow near the nurse’s station.The camera zooms past only to slow down by Billis’ bath club shower. We rocket past and slow down near a plane with drums of oil. Finally we shoot past the plane and end on a beautiful beach scene. Title in the sky. Plane Decals We see a P-40 Warhawk. We immediately focus on the pinups and decals. Depictedas a pinup, we see Nellie skip onto the nose of the plane. She holds her hand out aswe pan over and see Emile holding his hand out looking like Clark Gable himself. Wedrop down and see Bloody Mary dancing with sailors. She kicks one of them in thebutt. Pan over to reveal the title as a decal on the plane.
That's it! I hope you enjoyed this journey back in time exploring the broadcast spot production process for Drury Lane’s South Pacific.
