A new addition to the roster of Zoo tv, Canadian director Bradley Walsh recently scored a slam dunk on his first commercial job. His series of street level spots for NBA Canada were picked up for airing across the u.s.

The five spots, for a line of official nba on-court and practice wear by Champion, Nike and Starter were created out of Publicis-BCP Toronto and were designed to hit the desired market where it lives, on urban basketball courts. The campaign features a huge nba-branded truck which shows up unannounced courtside and the extemporaneous musings of amateur players who are invited to sample the new gear on board.

Spots were edited by Ross Briggs at Chameleon.

For On The Spot Walsh chronicles his spot debut and the particulars of working in the unscripted cinema verite style, using an array of camera methods and talent to capture the feel of the game.

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on the first morning of the shoot I woke up and organized my thoughts over a bowl of cereal. This quiet time is one of the rare moments I have to myself during a shoot. It’s the one last opportunity before the camera rolls when I sift through my shot list, script and storyboards, none of which I had in my hands. Why? Because there are none! Just some personal notes and a fiercely memorized list of objectives and key ‘moments’ I want to capture.

I quietly muse to myself that ‘This is going to be really different today’ and I rehearse my strategy and tactics over and over again. I read at the top of my notes: think hard, think fast, be alert, play their game.

I’m thinking back to the days when I was a competitive basketball player and remembering what I felt back then. Who would have figured that today I’d be the guy who got to play in the nba.

Day one was definitely the test. We were all really anxious to see how this commercial concept would play out on film. I felt strong walking onto the court knowing the weeks of research and preparation had given me the knowledge and confidence to gather the elements required.

Even before the cameras rolled the vision was coming to life. It began with the nba van.

Designed and art directed by Alexander Nietschborovski, the van was the perfect marriage between a Hummer and an ice cream truck. A souped-up delivery van complete with locker room wall papered with the skins of deflated basketballs and a deejay booth with turntables. A player and fan’s fantasy jacked up with the very latest in nba product and apparel.

This commanded the type of attention and respect that we required to properly deliver the gear to the kids. Our Trojan horse if you will.

These days kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for and can smell a hoax a mile away. Basketball has become as much about a lifestyle as it is a sport. It has helped to spawn the culture of hip hop. We arrived court-side with the attitude and understanding of hip hop culture needed to get the gear into their hands in a way that was cool and authentic. The van made our job that much easier. Nice one Alexander.

While Alexander was mucking about I spent many hours researching and photographing various courts around Toronto and talking basketball with the locals. Not giving away the purpose of our visit we found out the Who, What, When, Where, and How of basketball in Toronto. With this knowledge in hand we mapped out a strategy and a schedule.

The plan was to take our van around to the various courts and seek out real responses from the kids as they reacted to the gear and our arrival. Beyond this initial premise I conceived about a dozen different scenarios that we would cover off during the six days of shooting. Each of these scenarios was designed to address the objectives of the campaign and the image of the nba while maintaining a documentary look and feeling.

The absence of a traditional script and storyboards meant only that we had to be even more prepared than normal. And adaptable.

Arriving on court we exercised our strategy with military precision. Each of the four camera operators had an assignment and they swarmed the court documenting the action as it played out unrehearsed before us.

The combination of their talents would create the ‘tossed salad’ approach that I wanted to bring as a stylistic element to the project.

‘A Camera’ was Jeremy Benning, a dop specializing in steadicam cinematography. As our main camera it was his responsibility to record all of the dialogue interaction between me and the kids. I chose Jeremy for his flexible mobility, strong camera esthetic and acute awareness, a must for unstaged action documentation. Jeremy’s understanding of the nature of this shoot was a crucial part of its success.

‘B Camera’ was Michael Morrow, a talented director/ cameraman and fellow athlete. What Michael brought to the table was the passion for the athleticism and energy that he shared with the kids. Michael was laced in inline skates throughout the entire shoot, skating through the action and responding quickly to the events as they unfolded.

‘C Camera’ was Stephen Chung. A photographer/dop, Stephen’s responsibilities were to double as both a stills shooter and a dop. As he is perhaps my favorite photographer, Stephen was the logical choice for this role. His work is both emotional and provocative. His assignment was to deliver this mood and atmosphere on motion picture film and in his stills.

‘D Camera’ was Christofer Mills, a director/videographer/ editor who, unlike the other three operators and unbeknownst to everyone but a select few, had never used a motion picture camera before. This is not to say he is less qualified, quite the contrary. I selected Christofer knowing that he would bring to the party the fresh innovative perspective seen in his own work, and a few surprises.

Collectively the five of us sat down and became very acquainted with the strategy and style of shooting that was required.

Selecting over 20 different film stocks, I felt we would ensure the tossed-salad esthetic I was shooting for. That alone was not enough. I asked the three Bolex operators to experiment with the various features of their cameras. Looking to capture the textures and in-camera effects that the synch sound `A Camera’ would not, the Bolexes allowed us to hand-crank, double expose, flare, back wind, shoot a variety of different speeds and other great tricks that would create the ‘schmoo’ that I wanted between the bits of dialogue.

Creating these effects here rather than in post would give the film an authentic and edgy look that our documentary approach allowed.

I knew during the shoot that things were going well. Some of these kids were truly amazing athletes and orators. Future role models. I didn’t allow myself to really enjoy that knowledge until later. I was too busy trying to keep on top of my guys. However, as I looked at the dailies my excitement was reinforced by the client’s and the crew’s enthusiastic response.

After the third day when I had the rushes back at my studio, the crew would assemble and drink a couple of cold ones while enjoying the rushes, laughing and awing at each other’s work. That was cool. It’s not often that rushes alone can entertain anyone let alone your own crew.