It’s Manchester, Eng., 1949, and two Scudder investment researchers are led into the dim caverns of an aircraft research facility. In black and white, with exquisite plays on light and shadow setting a mood of dramatic expectancy, an inventor reveals drawings of a project 10 years in the making – the first jet-propelled engine.

The Scudder reps, expressing amazement as well as cynicism, watch as a test engine generates fiery flames, and, as the bright sparks fade, a pan up the dim bowels of the research center reveals the inventors, silhouetted by lamplight, nervously waiting to find out if Scudder will invest in their dream project.

Then the moment all are waiting for. A split-second shot of the jet’s shadowy profile against the darkness of the hangar, cut to a hand turning a switch, the faces of the Scudder reps light up, revealing their astonishment over the powerful piece of technology the viewer has yet to see. At last, a view of the jet shimmering brightly and majestically in all its force.

Kudos go to director Willi Patterson. The Kessler Irish Films spot for Scudder Funds of Canada also features impeccable shooting from dop Michael Buckley and perfectly timed editing by Panic & Bob’s David Baxter and assistant Wendy Lanning.

Conceptual credit for this scenario, loosely based on the invention of the first passenger airliner in Britain, goes to Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative director Peter Rigby, art director Bruce McKay, senior copywriter Henry Wong, senior broadcast producer Anna Tricinci and producer Nora Goodden. Ted Rosnick and Steve MacKinnon at Rosnick MacKinnon produced the music.

Influenced by the British film noirs of the early ’50s, Patterson set out to create not just a commercial but a mini-film. ‘A lot of commercials are made to look like period pieces but often fall short,’ he says. ‘I was determined to make this spot look like a genuine piece of melodramatic film noir.

Lighting was crucial in these British films so Patterson worked with Buckley to create strong contrasts that would build drama.

‘Working in black and white one tends to light out the shadowed areas, but we were going to go for broke,’ says Patterson, who let shadows continue to fall and areas of the set go into complete darkness. During colorizing and film transferring at Command Post, contrasts were driven up further and skin tones manipulated to create a porcelain effect.

An airport in Oshawa, Ont., built during the ’30s, provided an authentic setting. The problem Patterson faced was coming up with an airplane, on a limited budget, that would pass for the first passenger jet.

Recalling how the early Star Wars movies used toy plane kits to create spaceships, Patterson put together an 18-inch model of the prototype from toy plane parts. Buckley shot the actors against blue screen, then filmed the model with a close-focus lens against the backdrop of the Oshawa hangar. With the actors in position, a video switcher dropped them in, right in studio.

Another key to the high-quality production was focusing on the spot as a story. Patterson wrote up a full script for the actors and worked with them on character development, explaining that ‘if you put actors on screen with no motivation you can read it in their eyes.’

‘Talent and crews on commercials tend to work in remote control from doing so many day in and out,’ he adds. ‘With the actors thinking of this as a film, the whole crew got into this mind set. We forgot it was a commercial, we were making a film.’ CB