As most beer commercials are usually shot in one location, in a bar or at someone’s house, with characters typically licking foam off their upper lips, Kim Geldenhuys of Egg Films’ take on Molson Canadian beer presents viewers with quite a different approach to their favourite beverage.
Taking audiences on a worldwide journey where people talk about their fun experiences with Canadians, the commercial travels to Berlin, Dublin, Cape Town, Tokyo and Australia. However, all of these locations were cleverly filmed in Cape Town, for example Rondebosch near the station was used as Dublin while “shooting in Japan’ took place under the highway on Table Boulevard at the Foreshore.
The ad, which was filmed over three days in early December 2012, features a convincing cast. “We had great casting directors and had very specific references and briefs for the people we were looking for. As much as possible we cast people of the right nationality for each role, to achieve the look and accents,’ says Geldenhuys.
The creative team from Rethink in Toronto, Canada executed the commercial’s elegant script; and the inspiration for this ad came from blog sites that captured the energy and relevance of the youth today with the concept that no one can “outfun’ the Canadians.
In Berlin, a pretty, edgy blonde implies sexual innuendo after her encounter with a Canadian; in Dublin a friend tells of crowds cheering on a Canadian; super human strength is displayed by a Canadian in Cape Town; Canadian superpowers baffle two mates in the Outback while in Tokyo, the conversation focuses on a highly entertaining Canadian. So, what happens when Canadians get together? Extreme fun apparently.
“The time frame in which we had to produce the commercial was very tight as the casting was a massive task and the need to shoot more than we could to ensure enough “found’ magic in the edit made the project challenging,’ elaborates Geldenhuys.
“The entire commercial was shot on Canon 5D MKIIIs using our own Zeiss lenses. For the underwater scene we used the 5D MKII with an underwater housing. The camera gear mostly came from Photohire, the grips belonged to the key grip and Panalux supplied the lighting,’ says Geldenhuys.
Although a couple of stock shots were used to locate the scenes no post-production visual effects or CGI were used. Post-production was done in Canada.
“I enjoyed the performances and getting the energy right in each scene. Keeping it real was a particular challenge of creating a commercial that has a “fun’ reaction,’ concludes Geldenhuys.
By Martie Bester
screen africa magazine – march 2013
