How do you capture the arc of a life in 60 seconds? That was the challenge director
Ian Karr and creative boutique IKA Collective were tasked with for the debut of
Discovery Life Channel. The 60 image spot, Love Every Step, captures
the life story of a young woman from childhood to the birth of her own daughter.
“So many people are moved by this spot, I directed it and it still chokes me up,’
Karr says. “This was one of those great projects where the whole became more
than the sum of the parts, kind of like life itself. For this spot to resonate it couldn’t
just look like real life, it needed to feel like real life. Only we had to condense that
lifetime into two days using actors, lights, wearable cameras and visual effects.
That required an approach that looks deceptively simple, but in reality was
incredibly complex and nuanced.’
Shot on location in New Jersey and at New York-based production space Gary’s Loft,
Love Every Step opens with a POV shot of a baby in her crib while her
excited parents coo over her. From there we travel through a series of moments
that make up a young woman’s life – birthdays, friends, first kiss – until about 20
seconds in when, just as in real life, it takes a life-altering turn courtesy of a
serious car accident. The spot then adopts a redemptive tone as she recovers, falls
in love with the EMT who saved her, marries and starts her own family. The spot
ends with the woman and her husband watching their daughter’s first steps as a
female voiceover intones, “Life is a journey. Discovery Life, love every step.’
Concept and Casting Development
The creative for the brand spot was led by Matt Kendis, marketing creative director
for Discovery Communications, and Kyle Russell, senior director, marketing
production management, who oversaw the development of the POV concept with
their in-house agency creative team, led by Brett Krauss, senior art director and
Tara Belkin, executive producer. Senior vice president Doug Seybert is at the helm
of the Discovery Life Channel marketing team.
“Discovery Life is the story of life’s most challenging and rewarding moments. We
wanted to make sure our introduction to the brand was relatable, immersive and an
experience to remember,’ Kendis says. “Ian immediately saw the potential in the
concept and captured pitch perfect performances. The spot is hitting the exact notes
we wanted it to, and has brought more notoriety and interest to the network than
we could have anticipated.’
Casting by Elaine Del Valle would also prove a key component to success, especially
for Claire Hampsey, the unseen actress that is the heart of the spot. For Karr, much
would be riding on her ability to act while also wearing the camera rig that captured
her perspective.
“Because we never actually see her, Claire needed to deliver especially strong vocal
and physical performances to connect with the audience – all while controlling the
camera,’ Karr explains. “In a way I was directing her on two levels: one for her
acting and another as a camera operator, which wasn’t always natural from a
performance standpoint.’
Going GoPro
For Karr and his director of photography Bill Winters, getting the right tone for the
POV concept meant experimenting in pre-production with an array of cameras, rigs
and lenses. The one that worked best was the popular consumer camera GoPro,
albeit tricked out in a way few extreme sports enthusiasts that have made the
wearable camera so popular would ever do.
GoPros with modified lenses on a special headband rig recorded the action to a
Convergent Design Odyssey7Q recorder at 48fps. Recording ProRes at twice the
intended frame rate insured maximum quality, while a wireless unit was connected
to the recorder so Karr and Winters could see the camera moment and direct the
action.
“GoPro was the best solution because of its small size and light weight,’ Winters
says. “Our actress needed to wear the camera on her head for many hours over the
course of two days and anything larger would have impeded her movement and
performance. We wanted her to be able to move as freely as possible and not limit
her movements with a heavier camera and rig.’
He adds, “We also liked the look of the GoPro, which had a more authentic feel to
it. With higher end cameras, the footage felt too polished and produced. The GoPro
felt more real, and the combination of the modified lenses and the higher frame
rates added to the hyper-real feeling.’
Making sure that the “real life’ feeling stayed throughout the post process, Karr
personally edited the spot and supervised a detailed colour grading session with
Roman Hankewycz at posthouse Harbor Picture Company, New York.
Watch the Love Every Step commercial
