the Directors Film Company director Laura Belsey has a knack for bringing honesty and believability to spots about real people, often in real situations.

New York-based Belsey embraces concepts about people, which is what brought her to the attention of Anderson Advertising national creative director David Martin when he was looking for a director to helm spots for clients Rx&D and Alesse.

The ads are wildly different in presentation. Alesse’s ‘Lessons Learned’ controversial message for a birth control pill is an upbeat sort of ad shot on a chilly Toronto afternoon, in which young women discuss the universal truths they have come to know as they mature. Rx&D’s ‘I Believe’ is a dark, quiet spot, featuring a number of individuals afflicted in various ways and offers a sad hopefulness to viewers about breakthroughs in medical research.

Martin says despite the noticeable differences in the concepts, the similarities outweighed and suited Belsey’s directorial style.

‘They are ultimately both about real people and real emotion,’ says Martin, adding the ‘honesty of her filmmaking’ clinched it for Belsey.

‘I don’t feel as though we are being sold to, and that is one of Laura’s real skills,’ says Martin. ‘I think what Laura can do is find a way to attach the brands and products she represents in a very honest, realistic and believable way, and you don’t really feel a lot of advertising sell around it.’

Both he and Belsey agree the Rx&D spot was difficult for everyone involved, from the Anderson creative team of art director Enza Pitrolo and writer Terry Drummond to the director. In the ad, real people recount their fears and tribulations in battling assorted diseases, and talk about the progress medical research in Canada is making and the hope it offers.

Belsey says it was important for her to approach the shoot with sensitivity. It was an emotional and delicately produced spot.’They were unburdening some very personal stuff and were incredibly generous in how much they opened up.’

For ‘I Believe,’ Belsey met in advance with as many of the subjects as possible to get a sense of their various experiences with disease, and says these interviews made the actual shoot day much more comfortable for all concerned. To keep the subjects comfortable during filming, a monitor was set up by the camera projecting Belsey’s image.

‘Instead of staring at a cold lens, because they are not professionals, I had a video camera on me,’ she explains. ‘They are talking to the camera, but they are also talking directly to me. It was very important for me to not leave them feeling stranded, on show or on display. I have incredible respect for these people. I think they have incredible strength, and at the end of the day that is what [the commercial] is all about – their strength and their spirit.’

‘I Believe’ was lensed by dop Michael Duff and edited by Bob Kennedy at Flashcut.

For Alesse’s ‘Lessons Learned,’ the more recently filmed of the two, Belsey says she was impressed by the concept and was excited to team up once again with Martin. Alesse is a new brand of birth control pill and the spot presents several young women taking on ‘big sister’ roles, discussing the lessons they have learned over the years. It is the first ad for a birth control pill ever broadcast on Canadian television.

With creative by Martin (who acted as writer) and art director Monica Clara, the spot offers lessons in guys, breakups, playing hard to get and a number of little tag lines which could stick out in a young lady’s head as she wrestles with the inevitable choices in maturing.

Five young women were eventually chosen out of 60. Each of the five, in the eyes of Belsey, best represented the scenario, setting and ‘truth’ presented in the vignette they were selected for.

‘Each lesson is its own little film in a way,’ says Belsey, who was accompanied by dop Marcus Elliot on the shoot. ‘Each one has its own lensing, its own feel, its own lighting and its own style. In the end it is very coherent and eclectic because each one has its own logic, but it is varied enough so that each is different than the others.’

Adds Martin: ‘The brand represents a way to pass on those lessons learned and show why, in this case, Alesse makes sense for them.’

A 60-second version of the spot will launch in movie theatres in mid-May. A television campaign featuring a 30 and three 15-second versions of ‘Lessons Learned’ will begin airing soon thereafter. Peter McAuley at Axyz edited.