Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 18 - Index

On a sunny day near the
entrance of Chicago’s iconic
Navy Pier, assistant director Keith
Weatherspoon proclaims, “I’m
with the band!” as he, producer/
director David Hudson - both of
D. Hudson Productions (Chicago)
and creative director Tom
Keathley of Keathly Advertising
(Akron, Ohio) prepare interviews
with General Electric spokesman
Brice Cooper to shoot four web
spots for GE’s main websites.
The web spots are part of a large
advertising campaign called
“What’s Your Lighting Style?”
The plan is created by Keathley
Advertising and the project is in
support of Energy Star and the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Keathley describes the message
as to educate people about how
to save energy by integrating
different elements into their everyday lives. The idea is to
have people take a pledge to use one collusive bulb with
every regular light bulb they would normally use.
The campaign is designed to help people design their
homes to be roomier. Using their main website, customers
can learn through interactive design how light influences
their homes and can take a quiz to determine what lighting
style works for them. The campaign is very much tied into
Navy Pier, which in October will have a haunted house
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David Hudson, Tom Keathley And Keith Weatherspoon Find Out “What’s
Your Lighting Style”
By: Mark Carr
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exhibit called the “Energy Star
Laboratory.” The lab is a haunted
maze where kids can use special
glasses to see ghosts and has
different stations where you can
determine what light is right.
For the web spots, Hudson
and Keathley both took the
approach of a concept plan of
“no plan.” What they did was
ask curious passersby questions
about the environment and
improvise questions about how
GE bulbs can save both money
and energy. The questions were
written in a humorous fashion
with a few jokes and included
an ink blot test with two GE Bulbs
side by side. Keathley recalls that
it’s a dangerous approach to
do; the team created a script
for different situations with the
thought of giving a fun approach
to it. He realizes that GE has different target audiences
who view the spots with both their left and right sides
of the brain - some are interested in the message they
are communicating and others are just looking for an
entertaining video.
The team used a Panasonic HVX 200 for the shoot. The
camera has an HD P2 card running at 24 frames per
second, which Hudson describes as a “rockin’ cam” for the
production. The plan is to take all 100 hours of footage from
all the interviews, review them and
work it to create 20-second to fourminute
spots.
The shoot took place in two
locations at Navy Pier: The front of
the pier, with interviews overlooking
Chicago’s Loop in the background,
and the front steps near the symbolic
Ferris Wheel. The set was optimistic
and the cast and crew enjoyied
themselves. Parents and children
walked by the set with curiosity and
excitement of the display of the
scene. Weatherspoon, a longtime
collaborator of Hudson’s, tells how
it’s a very creative, fun environment
even though the team is there for
business and to get a job done.
//www.dhudsonproductions.com
//www.whatsyourlightingstyle.com