Creative Focus: Dark Shadows

Fallon mixes Hollywood Gothic with Timex technology When Timex asked its longtime agency, Fallon, Minneapolis, to create "something bigger and more exciting than they had ever done before," the creative team of Joe Sweet and David Carter got psyched. Six months later, they were shooting a $2 million-plus production with acclaimed feature director Tim Burton in Prague. "We were looking for someone who is a visual storyteller," says Fallon producer Jenny Gadd Malmstrom. "We wanted it to have a very cinematic look, a Gothic, darker look, but slightly futuristic. That's when Tim Burton started feeling so right." Burton's action-packed 60-second spot introducing Timex's new i-Control feature began running in movie theaters last Friday before films such as Mission Impossible II, Gladiator and Shanghai Noon. The commercial, one of two spots in the estimated $15 million campaign, begins running on cable TV May 28. Burton, who makes his U.S. advertising debut with the Timex work, says Fallon's original concepts were strong. Of all the directors considered, say Sweet and Carter, Burton wanted to stick most closely to the storyboards. Sweet remembers Burton saying, 'I just want to make it as cool as possible.' " "The concepts were very simple. It was an opportunity for me to take a simply boarded concept and riff on it visually," explains Burton, who directed his first commercial in 1998, an animation-driven Hollywood Gum spot for Europe out of Paris agency Euro RSCG BETC. "My take on the boards was that you are right in the middle of a weird movie." Weird storyboards, 21st-century opportunity. "I-control revolutionizes digital watches," says Susie Watson, director of advertising, public relations and brand strategy at Timex. "What we needed with this campaign was a way to show the consumer benefit, rather than technology for technology's sake." In fact, the new i-Control feature is the Middlebury, Conn.-based watchmaker's biggest product launch since it introduced the Indiglo feature in 1992. According to Watson, most of Timex's media budget this year will support the launch, which will include cinema, TV and print advertising, as well as an online component that includes digital trading cards, designed by Fallon's Duffy Design and Interactive, that boast the characters from the commercials. To showcase i-Control, the agency wanted comic-book action-adventure, with the product as hero. In "Kung Fu," a man in a suit is chased through a dark city by a group of patent-leather-wearing villains. As phantasmagoric as characters in a Burton film, they have futuristic prosthetics, faces that look sewn together and the fighting skills of Bruce Lee. As the hero is chased off a roof and into an alley, he sets his watch while fighting the villains. He uses the alarm to throw off their timing and escapes. A second commercial, highlighting womens' watches, stars actress Lisa Marie, Burton's fiancee, who has appeared in many of his films, including Sleepy Hollow and Mars Attacks. In "Mannequin," Marie races through a cobblestone alley in a black vinyl cat suit. She hides in a warehouse filled with mannequins, placing her Timex i-Control watches on various dolls to confuse her assailant. When the last watch around her ankle goes off, she delivers the final kick that foils the assassin. (The spot will air this fall.) The action spots grew out of the tagline, "Ridiculously easy to use," which was the first part of the project the team nailed, says Sweet. Since the product was to be targeted to 18-to-35 year-olds, a slightly younger audience than Timex's traditional 25-to-49 year-olds, an action-adventure movie theme seemed appropriate. After making a wish list of feature and commercial directors, the agency team sent out comic-book-style storyboards to sell the concept. Burton, a big fan of Kung Fu movies, says one of the reasons he was attracted to the Timex project was the opportunity to direct fight sequences. "Most children, before they walk, are practicing Kung Fu moves," says Burton, who is represented for commercials by A Band Apart, Los Angeles. "I haven't [done] much, except for Batman." While locations in Australia and South Africa were considered, budgetary and aesthetic concerns led the agency to the Czech Republic. "Prague was perfect," adds Gadd Malmstrom. "It gave us a lot of production value. It also doesn't have a lot of recognizable landmarks, so we could own the look." Producing the two 60-second commercials, as well as additional digital footage required for the online portion of the campaign, required eight shooting days in March, five night and three day shoots. (The digital footage was directed by Sweet under Burton's supervision.) Although Burton says Prague is a beautiful city, he found it a difficult place to work in. It was so beautiful, he says, it didn't look real. "You always end up worrying that you are going all the way to Prague, and it ends up looking like it was shot on the Universal back lot," Burton sighs. "Even if you don't get the full package, you get a vibe." Despite Burton's concerns, the agency was so happy with the director's cuts, they signed off on his first edit. "I don't ever remember using the first director's cut," admits Sweet. "We did not change a thing." In the initial concept stages, the creative team envisioned the action in the commercials taking place in a dojo, but the visual atmosphere, Burton's casting, costuming and set design added a new dimension to the spots. "When you look at the spots, they have that look you see in Sleepy Hollow, the Batman movies. It's dark, and it's got a lot of texture. Even though there is some violence, it's cartoony. The look is very Tim Burton," says Sweet, who says the director was collaborative with the agency team and stayed closely involved--from the pre-pro meetings to the final edit and mix. "We were thrilled to work with him. It proves the old ad age: When you hire the best, you can rest," Sweet explains. The "best" wasn't limited to the director. Andy Armstrong (The Firm, Hoffa) coordinated the stunts, including a 60-foot jump from a building. The music was composed by the Dust Brothers (Fight Club), and the spots were edited by Angus Wall (Fight Club.) For Burton, the advertising experience was a nice change of pace from the longer feature world. "You get to play with different textures [in commercials], the way you do in film," notes Burton. "But it's something quicker and a bit more spontaneous." The director adds that even if his feature schedule would allow it, he's not sure if he would tackle another commercial. His perfectionist attitude may get in the way. "Maybe it isn't the best for my own mental health. It has to do more with me, with how I treat things," Burton explains. "It's a personal thing. I don't seem to get to a place where I won't have a heart attack. "If I want to go through that, do I want to go through that on a commercial," muses Burton, "or do I want to go through that on something else?"

Brand Marketing

Creative Focus: Dark Shadows

Eleftheria Parpis

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Eleftheria Parpis