In This Report

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH TOP SPOTS WINNERS:

Direction/cinematography B3

Editing B4, B6

Art Direction B7

Animation B8

Sound B10, B11

Performance B12

THE YEAR IN SPOTS SURVEY:

Canadian commercial production houses B14

Canadian animation houses B20

* * *

Despite his towering media presence, one might have noticed that this year’s winner in the Top Spots performance category is not (primarily) an actor. As it happens, the performance that captured the second most votes from Top Spots judges also came from a decidedly neophyte thespian.

Hockey player Mark Messier’s engaging star turn in the eponymous Frito Lay spot from bbdo earned him accolades from judges and a prediction from the spot’s director, Mark DeCerchio of Radke Films, that the oddly striking center could be a bona fide screen star.

In a very different performance directed by Avion’s Tim Hamilton, Randy Perez gives an unflinching and warm account of the trials of living with a skin disorder in a spot for Accutane acne treatment from Anderson Advertising.

Messier lends his persona to a comedic spot which demonstrates the discipline-defying power of the salty snack and features the athlete playing with the hapless Pylons hockey team as the result of his inability to ‘eat just one.’

A compelling and slightly scary look, a maniacal laugh and great sense of humor are on show and are characteristics DeCerchio says would go a long way toward a screen career for the stickman.

‘The camera, in every cliched sense, loves Mark Messier,’ says DeCerchio. ‘He has an incredible look and he’s an incredible actor. I think he should be the villain in the next Die Hard movie.’

DeCerchio has experience in the art of showcasing celebrity talent, having directed the likes of Carl Lewis for Nike and former Cowboy head coach Jimmy Johnson for Miller Lite as well as directing the feature Celtic Pride with Dan Aykroyd, Damon Wayans and Daniel Stern.

In working with high-profile but low-experience actors, DeCerchio says it’s important to have creative leeway, particularly in comedy dialogue spots. ‘When you’re doing comedy dialogue, oft times what is funny on the page will not translate into the spoken word and it won’t be interesting,’ says DeCerchio, who has also sold screenplays in the u.s. ‘I’ve been fortunate in that I tend to work with people who understand that the script is a blueprint.’

DeCerchio says the experience of shooting the Frito Lay campaign was a rare case where everyone and everything was ‘firing on all eight cylinders.’ The material was shot in Montreal at two hockey rinks, and DeCerchio makes a point of citing the quality of the Montreal crew. Originally the shoot was to yield two spots, but with the footage captured, the campaign ended up as two 30s and a 60.

A hockey fan with ‘Canadian blood’ (family from Winnipeg and b.c.), the Detroit-born director says a good working relationship with Messier added to the spot. ‘I think he understood that I understood how to work with him on the dialogue and what makes him interesting so we were able to enhance that,’ says DeCerchio. ‘And the agency creative team gave me latitude to try things.’

The Accutane challenge

Casting for Hamilton’s Accutane ‘Interview’ spot posed some very specific constraints the talent had to have a serious acne condition.

‘The challenge was finding someone who was forthright enough and comfortable enough in dealing with this incredibly sensitive issue to come out and talk about it,’ says Hamilton.

The project was lucky to discover Perez, a non-actor and a user of the medication that sponsored the ad who Hamilton says also had a natural self-confidence and dignity and who carries the spot effectively.

Hamilton says he directed the spot to have a conversational tone and to integrate Perez’s own feelings and words as much as possible.

‘I wanted it as much as possible to be like a conversation between him and I,’ says Hamilton. ‘I asked questions and tried to make it as informal as possible, making the crew as inconspicuous as possible and trying to block the camera from his eyesight as much as possible.’ In doing so, Hamilton employed a technique whereby the performer was looking directly into the camera lens in the spot but was positioned to be talking to Hamilton during shooting.

Working with non-actors brings directing skills to the fore in making a person comfortable enough to deliver something natural, says Hamilton. ‘You’re trying to get them to relax. Since they are untrained you are trying to create a situation that’s as real and believable to them as possible.’

For Hamilton that also meant preparation in constructing an environment conducive to a relaxed performance. When Hamilton’s first-location choice, Perez’s own room, was ruled out, the director set out to construct a space in a University of Toronto dorm room that captured the performer’s personality.

‘I spoke to him several times about what his interests are, what he would have on his walls, what he would do if he were just hanging around,’ says Hamilton. ‘I wanted it to be as honest as possible and to try and create as much of a comfortable reality for him as possible so he wouldn’t feel threatened or be nervous or clam up.’

In this case using a non-actor provided an advantage in delivering a reality not achievable with makeup and the campy tone often used in spots for spots. The risk was making people laugh unintentionally, but Hamilton says Perez brought a natural dignity to the project.

Working in this situation also puts an onus of responsibility on the director. ‘There’s a responsibility from my point of view. Since he wasn’t an actor I felt an added responsibility to portray him in a dignified way and not to abuse his trust,’ he says. ‘It’s not a disadvantage, it’s one of those interesting limitations that helps rather than hurts a project sometimes.’