Working with big-name sports icons adds credibility to any production, but making the shoot a reality may be more difficult than you think. Knowing that nothing is impossible if you have the right contacts, there’s less red tape if you plan everything well in advance. Here’s how Marketing Works, an advertising firm in York, PA, produced a PSA using the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ John Lynch with little hitches.
Marketing Works contacted Dan Miles, a veteran producer and director with JPL Productions, also in York. The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) was creating anti-violence PSAs for the Justice Department. “The concept of the spots is men taking a pledge against violence—saying they’ll never condone, commit, or tolerate domestic violence,” said Miles. The spots were to feature a mixture of everyday people, people in leadership and respected roles (police, firemen, school superintendents), and well-known personalities. In this instance, the personality was John Lynch of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Marketing Works was able to get Lynch for the commercial thanks to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who would also be in the 35mm spot. Ashcroft’s office connected Lynch with Marketing Works. Even better, the Attorney General and Lynch were available on the same day. The only glitch? Lynch was in Florida and Ashcroft in Washington, DC.
Logistics
A crew from JPL went to Tampa, FL, on a Monday afternoon to scout the location. Having only received the job on the previous Thursday, a crew was pulled together on Friday. Greg Ressetar, assistant camera from Harrisburg, PA, met the JPL crew at the Harrisburg airport and flew in a private, seven-passenger jet to Washington’s Dulles Airport to pick up the DP and the camera gear. The HMI lights were rented from a local Florida grip who knew the stadium and was extremely knowledgeable in film production.
Weather conditions obviously play a factor when shooting outdoors. Because the window of opportunity was so narrow, JPL developed a plan B in case its morning shoot was rained out—and showers had been forecast for that morning. The stadium personal had joked that in Tampa it only rains in the afternoon and having to be in Washington by 3:30 for that shoot, that wouldn’t have been a problem if the weather cooperated.
Plan B involved shooting up in the press box looking down over the field. Plan C was shooting in the dark tunnel under the stadium. The exterior shot on the field would make the most attractive shot, so that was considered plan A.
The crew was fortunate in that there wasn’t anything they were told they couldn’t do—except walk on the field. Putting wood under the HMI legs kept holes from forming in the sod. Power cords were run from the lights to outlets by the stadium seating. Lynch’s people approved the script but wouldn’t allow him to be in uniform for the shoot. Instead he was to wear a Buccaneers polo shirt with a logo.
The Shoot
The stadium people said the crew couldn’t get into the area until 8:30am Tuesday. There would be no one available before that time. Believing that wouldn’t be enough time to set up all of the equipment, Miles decided to arrive with the crew at 7:45 that morning. The stadium security knew the crew was supposed to be there, and let them in at 7:45—giving them some sorely needed extra time. “Sometimes showing up early and asking never hurts, they can always say no,” said Miles. “We may have showed up at 7:30 and they may have made us wait until 8:30, but it never hurts to push the envelope slightly. If they say no, no means no, and that’s fine. If we would have waited until 8:30 that would have put that much more pressure on everything and that extra 45 minutes saved us.”
Deciding to take a gamble on shooting on the field with overcast skies, the camera equipment was set up. The sky was a least three stops brighter than the talent, and the HMIs helped slightly as front fill. Ressetar wished he had graduated filters to lessen the sky’s illumination instead of letting it blow out.
The split second the film camera had been erected and set in place (which is quite a feat in 35mm), a light rain began to fall. “Having such a tight time frame,” said Miles, “There was no way we were going to be able to move up to the press box and still get on the airplane by noon at the latest.” The tunnel was too unattractive and luckily the light rain subsided and really wasn’t visible once the shooting began.
Miles acted as director during the shoot. A few different camera angles were used. “He [Lynch] was perfectly willing to do whatever we asked him to do,” he said.
Once again, working within his narrow window of opportunity, the DP had to get as much coverage as possible, not knowing what else might be needed in post. But having a crew you know you can trust, takes most of the pressure away. Everyone was a professional and did more than was expected of them.
The crew finished shooting by 10:45am and was on the plane by noon. Arriving in Washington at 2pm, they had to set up in the Attorney General’s office by 3pm. The extra 30 minutes saved in Tampa turned out to be crucial in Washington. The routine began again, this time indoors.
Afterthoughts
Of course, hindsight is always 20/20. Miles said, “It would have been nice to have a football in his hands as a prop. Because he wasn’t in uniform, the ‘prop football’ would have been a nice touch.” It was also difficult to tell the crew was shooting in Buccaneer Stadium. Most identifying marks weren’t seen in any shots, and Lynch could have been in any stadium. But because everything happens so quickly, it’s difficult to make everything work before the shoot. Using an ID on Lynch will quickly identify him to anyone who may not be familiar with him from the Campbell Soup spots.
Working with celebrities is really no different than working with anyone else. “I treat all people the same—because they are,” said Ressetar. “They’re just like anybody else. John was great with his lines. He memorized them and when we made a few changes, he went with the flow.” The only noticeable difference between shooting a celebrity versus a non-celebrity, according to Ressetar, is that the crew always acts differently when a “name” talent is on the set: “They seem to get quiet and start speaking more formally.”
If this sort of shoot ever comes up again, do as much of your planning on paper and by phone well before the shoot date. If this luxury doesn’t apply, get the best people you know for the crew and hire local people when in a distant city—they know the lay of the land and will keep your headaches to a minimum.
