Bacon
nt e m t a re T s l l e DIRECTOR’S w TREATMENT o H y e rn a B lovers PAUL MIDDLEDITCH
ANZ - ONE DAY
INTRODUCTION BACON: The salty seductress. It has been known to turn vegetarians back to carnivores. The mere smell stops you in your tracks. Curer of hangovers, enhancer of burgers, it is scientifically proven to be the greatest and most loved of all foodstuffs (see flowchart here http://bit.ly/2X3pl0 )
It’s no wonder that a man’s mind will fixate on the idea of sweet sweet bacon, to the exclusion of all other thoughts. These hilarious scripts for Red Rooster are a great opportunity to show that when there is a quiet moment for reflection, a man will dwell meditatively on the salty promise of those delicious rashers. It doesn’t matter what situation he’s in, or what wonders there could be to distract him. Once you’re in the zen-like state of bacon-fixation, the background volume of the world is turned right down. BARNEY HOWELLS TREATMENT
I would love, through this treatment, to present an executional route to achieve two incarnations of this great concept. One that has a “wow” factor containing something visually arresting and one that has the more simple story of a man ignoring carnal desire to be with his own porky-thoughts. The chance is here to create something that will spread like butter on hot toast, if there is that golden pass-on-able WTF factor. I believe that the strongest of the scripts is “Fire Truck.” The setup is perfect for the concept. The guy dreamily looking out of the window. The wife’s gentle enquiry as to what thoughts have him so absorbed. His P.O.V out to something remarkable, followed by his nonchalant reply that he’s thinking about Bacon! The question mark is what remarkable occurrence is unfolding in front of our gazing guy. Within the practicalities of the production we will be able to represent the burning fire-truck with a post-production process. I have a concern that within our means the route available to us may not yield results that have a level of believability and authenticity that the script calls for. We are making enquires with post companies, and will share results. A secondary concern is the notion of something on fire, and the subtext this may have with cooking, the response of “Bacon” needs to be totally tangential in order to have the comedy impact. I would, therefore like to suggest some alternatives to the burning fire truck that will fit within the same excellent framework of the script. One thought is that in order to tap into the demographic of young males and their content sharing habits, we must be aware of what gets the attention of this group and engage with them on this level. BARNEY HOWELLS TREATMENT
SUGGESTIONS Schadenfreude is a good start. Amongst the millions of Fail blogs and funniest home videos is the simple truth that people like to see other people’s misfortune. With this approach our guy would be looking out of the window and one of a myriad of bizarre and amazing fates could occur. Some suggestions are. • Our guy watches a woman walking her dog. A water main erupts, sending the pooch into the air on the top of the powerful jet • A young man clambers out of the window of a neighbour’s house as a car pulls into the driveway. He is in a state of undress as he topples into the bushes and legs it in the nude down the street, away from an irate looking husband. • We hear the screech of tires before we see the aftermath of a crash. A bedding company truck filled with downy products has collided with a construction vehicle carrying road tar. The occupants of the vehicle and the surrounding passers by have been comprehensively tarred and feathered. • A jogger runs down the street. Passing by an assuming house, he is accosted by an unlikely animal which emerges from the bushes. Perhaps an Ostrich, an Alpaca, probably not a puma.
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•A potential pick-pocket thwarted by an ass-kicking old lady. It taps into the rich vein of YouTube heroes, the unlikely warriors that beat back the bullies. •Instead of a Fire Truck on fire, we see an Ice Cream van on fire, the giant plastic cone melting down the side of the truck. We may have some similar practical problem with a flaming Ice Cream truck (namely setting a fire on a suburban street,) but with an Ice Cream truck we could have more scope for where we position the vehicle to allow for us to achieve more of an in camera effect Whatever we settle on as the event that is taking place in view of our guy, but without his full attention, it must play out quickly and cleanly, and in the short time frame allowed, it must have a big impact. The duration of these spots as primarily 15 seconders means that we have to be focused with the execution. Tight story-boarding will show that the setup and payoff is achievable in the allotted time. I’ll lay out here a simple shot-by-shot explanation for each execution to demonstrate the simplicity I envisage.
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FIRE TRUCK We open wide. It’s the morning in a modern, but lived in kitchen in an attainable suburban apartment. A mid- late 20’s guy is stood at the window in his striped dressing gown. He gazes out, lost in thought, holding a mug of steaming coffee. Sat at the table in foreground, his girlfriend is idly flicking though a magazine as she nurses her morning cuppa. She looks over to our guy, who is deep in meditative thought, and asks “Babe, what are you thinking about” We see over our guys shoulder and out to the street. (For the purposes of this, we’’l assume the Fire Truck execution) There is a Fire Truck parked out on the street in front. A fire that was being dealt with by the brigade has spread to the truck, and flames lick around it. At the moment we see it the firefighters have their hoses trained in the wrong direction, tending to the original incident. One of their number alerts them to the blaze that has started on their rig and they turn their hoses on to it. We cut round to see our guy, in close portrait. He is mesmerised. He simply and casually utters the word “Bacon” (n.b, I would recommend capturing longer reads of the response, a more drawn out “I’m thinking about bacon,” just in case the bridging shot of the action between the girlfriend’s question leaves us in any doubt about his response.) We cut to the food sequence, showing the delicious bacon cooking, and then to the range shot of the appetising selection of Red Rooster favourites. As I mentioned earlier, I’d love to produce a second execution of this idea, a simple version that dispels the myth that men think of sex all the time, they sometimes think of bacon instead. BARNEY HOWELLS TREATMENT
WEDDING NIGHT (Variation.) We open on a close shot looking down at a guy in bed. He lies on his side looking at the doorway to the bathroom. It’s evening and his girlfriend appears in the doorway. We cut to see over his POV over to her as she sashays into bed wearing a cute little neglige. We cut to see him, he looks transfixed She peels back the covers, and slides in to bed next to him, we see a wider version of the top-shot, as she cosies up. He has not moved from his position. She whisper’s seductively in his ear “What are you thinking about” (n.b as a variant I’d like to try a read where she asks “Guess what I’m thinking about” He turns to her and, in a matter-of-fact manner, answers plainly. “Bacon.” The moment spoiled she looks dumbfounded by his lack of tact. (For the alt. read, perhaps he answers “Bacon?” in a hopeful upbeat tone, maybe she is thinking what I’m thinking)
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Again we finish this ad with the cooking bacon and wonderful product sequence. Casting is of fundamental importance. The guy is the trickiest of the roles. Someone who can convey this dreamy sense of being “elsewhere” when the real world is so fascinating. He will ned to have open expressive features and a nice naivety for the comedy to work. We can massage the timing in the edit, but the delivery has to be pitch perfect. His response needs to not be too laboured as to appear as a stoner, or too flat to appear bored. It has to have the right balance of wit and pragmatism. It’s deadpan comedy, and needs a talented actor to weight it just right. The girlfriend is the foil, or straight-man. She must play the setup, and reaction with honesty and believability. Physically she should be a healthy good looking woman in both executions, but with a real-world look. With a careful eye for timing, both in terms of the comedy and the structure I believe we can craft some really eyecatching TVCs that cut through and grab attention. I look forward to discussing them further Barney
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