I don't usually participate in Internet memes'.
Never did the Ice Bucket Challenge, the list of influential books, or the more recent Sibling Day. I certainly don't take part in Facebook's Throwback Thursday, mostly because I have a face for radio.
But today I am indulging.
Out of curiosity I did a Google search on some of the Directors I had worked with in the past. Sadly, I had discovered that one of my favorites, Henry Sandbank, had passed away. Henry was distinctively old school.
He started as a still photographer in the Mad Men days and graduated to film, making some of the more classic spots of the 80's and 90's. We were honored to get him to shoot a demonstration spot for the Nissan Altima.
This was one of my first shoots and because of its destructive nature, one of my favorites. Mind you this was before CGI and many of the special effects we see today.
Henry rigged up a special 25,000 frame per second camera that would capture all the live action on film. And there was plenty of live action. We rented a warehouse out in Riverside and had the client supply us with TEN brand new Nissan Altimas. We hooked the Altimas up to a cable, not unlike the cables used to launch planes off aircraft carriers.
And then we let em fly.
It was an orgy of smashed metal, flying glass and ripped leather. I believe we captured what we needed on film by the fourth wrecked car, but since we had them on set, decided to pummel them all. You know, as a safety.
Sadly the client wouldn't let us show all the glass shards, twisted metal and splintered wood, which made us all wonder why they green lighted the spot in the first place. Nevertheless it came out ok, better than most of what passes for advertising today.
You see, car companies don't make commercials like this anymore.
Clients are happy to shoot a car on a winding road, slap on a popular song, surround it with a cacophony of digital nonsense and call it a day.
You're not missing much, Henry, not much at all.
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