Rabbit and Tombras Nail New Spots For TDOT
Rabbit in collaboration with Tennessee-based agency Tombras Group is springing to life with a pair of new spots for the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office (GHSO). The two :30s, directed by Lieven Van Baelen, debuted on networks across the state in mid-June to introduce the Volunteer State’s Hundred Days Of Summer Heat traffic-safety campaign, a statewide effort to step up law enforcement against drunken drivers all season long.
In Nailed, one reckless driver after the next speeds through the countryside or along city streets, drinking at the wheel or spinning wildly out of control, when they are stopped dead by gigantic nails falling from the sky and impaling their vehicles. The nails are a can’t-miss metaphor for both the deadly accuracy of Tennessee’s law enforcement patrols and the drunk drivers’ potential for creating catastrophic wreckage.
To create a realistic vision of each car behaving as though it were hit, Van Baelen used explosives in the tires and hoods over the course of several takes, both with the hood on and off. Two practical nails on set could be placed through the cars to create the final frames. VFX company, Nozon, then assisted with CG to tweak the movement and texture of both the nails and the cars, including the impact as the hood is impaled. Nozon editor Alain Dessauvage, helped to complete the spot under tight financial and time constraints.
The Tombras Group, which is handling the overall campaign, is supplementing Rabbit’s spots with several on-the-ground efforts, including creating mobile displays of cars with giant nails affixed to them to reinforce the television spots. These advertisements will be placed on high-traffic streets and parking areas in Tennessee’s five major media markets, with the windows in each featuring the “Drive Drunk, Get Nailed” message. Additional campaign components include a series of radio spots and posters, coasters and tent cards in bars.
In the second spot, Everywhere, Trent Jeffcoat singing We’ll Be Everywhere is the energetic anthem for a relentless corps of Tennessee state troopers who ruthlessly halt drivers that have been speeding, driving while impaired, or traveling without a seatbelt. A treatment creates a gray, somber texture to balance the upbeat tempo of the soundtrack and underscore the dark consequences of serious driving violations. The only color in the spot is the almost ceaseless barrage of flickering blue police lights, a symbolic addition that acts as both a reassuring reminder that the police will break through the lawbreaking darkness and a warning to would-be violators that law enforcement will always shine through no matter how dark the world gets.
“What made these spots so successful was the incredible collaboration between so many talented groups,” noted Van Baelen. “Tombras was very open to new ideas and understood that the budget was tight, but we were able to come up with a great product. This was a really exciting opportunity to deliver a timeless message through a set of exciting, technologically sophisticated spots.”
“These spots were a real collaborative process, and Lieven and Rabbit were awesome to work with,” stated Tombras Group Creative Director Rob Simpson. “Lieven expressed real passion and openness to new ideas from start to finish. When the original idea of making the vehicles go from 50 mph to a stop instantly turned out to be impossible, Lieven’s understanding of bringing in-camera FX and post VFX together was critical to devising a new technique to make the idea work.”
The Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office (GHSO) has been running their 100 Days of Summer campaign for several years and wanted to inject it with a new creative energy. Rabbit and Tombras worked closely with GHSO to overhaul the idea and create the most comprehensive, effective campaign possible. Rabbit dedicated all their fees to the spot’s production, as the entire company strongly supports the agency and GHSO’s efforts and their eagerness to embrace a creative, nontraditional campaign.
The Creds:
Client: Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office
Spots Title: Everywhere, Nailed
Air Date: June 2009
Agency: The Tombras Group
Creative Director/Writer: Rob Simpson
Creative Director/Art Director: Paul Szary
Senior Account Executive: Amanda Lewis
Production Supervisor: Sarah Holtz
Producer: Mary Kondrat
Prod Company: Rabbit
Director: Lieven Van Baelen
EP(s): Douglas Howell, Anura Idupuganti
Producer: JD Davison
Editorial: Nozon
Editor: Alain Dessauvage
Producer: James Vanderhaeghen and Linda Van Zeebroek
Telecine: Nozon
Post/Effects: Nozon
Music: Howling Music (.Everywhere.)
Composer: David Grow
Sound Design: 740 Sound Design (.Nailed.)
Sound Designer: Eddie Kim and Andrew Tracy
Shoot Location: Nashville
About Rabbit:
Throughout literature, folklore and pop culture, the Rabbit is known to be a mischievous sort. An upstart. A shape-shifter. The loveable prankster. We created Rabbit as a rogue collective of directors, technologists, fine artists, writers, animators, designers and experience builders. Using emerging and traditional media production we create entertaining stories to promote engaging conversations between people and brands.
