Into the Library with Jaron Albertin

Harley Davidson - Breathe

There couldn't have been a more iconic brand to work for than Harley, and we had to do it justice. Riding a bike demands your full attention, a rare state in today's world. The concept revolved around the battle for attention, where technology attempts to divert us from engaging with our surroundings, and Thom Glover's copywriting truly elevated this idea.

While it's often tempting to experiment with angles or cut away to create more drama or action, for this project, our strength lay in restraint.

We needed a biker to speed through Prague with a heavy 16mm camera rig attached to the bike. Balancing the rig was a constant challenge as its weight disrupted the bike's stability, requiring us to continuously tweak and adjust our rig setup.

Converse - Lunch Money 

During the early days of drone technology, I proposed shooting the entire commercial with these drones, despite their limited five-minute flight time and restricted manoeuvrability. New York City's drone ban posed a challenge, but thanks to our project manager, who had connections as the mayor's relative, we secured a last-minute shoot location in Jersey City.

On the first day, we planned to fly the drone between row houses, but things went awry. Upon launch, we lost control and reception, witnessing the drone veer off course, collide with power lines, and crash into a gated power station. This mishap resulted in the loss of both the camera and the drone, and unfortunately, we had no backup. Day one was a complete disaster, leading my producer to swear off drone shooting forever.

Despite the setback, it was the unscripted voiceover by the creative, Dan Shapiro, that truly made the spot special. His spontaneous delivery inspired me to consider shooting it upside down.

Chrysler - Body and Soul

I often find that copy is the most underrated element in commercials. It's paradoxical – heavily scrutinised yet frequently diluted to the point of losing its essence.

This particular spot marked a turning point in my appreciation of the power of copy. It's not just about the words themselves, but also how they are delivered and the perspective from which they are framed. A stroke of serendipity occurred with this project. The copywriter, Dave Mooring, at The Richards Group at the time, initially recorded a scratch voice-over for the edit. His delivery was so fitting and effective because it was his own words. We found it impossible to find a better match, so his voice became the one we used in the final spot.

Shooting Spike Lee, whom I've long admired, was a nerve-wracking experience. Working with celebrities is one thing, but collaborating with a legend of his calibre is an entirely different ballgame. Initially, I had a scheduled call with him that kept getting postponed, adding to my nervousness. My task was to tell his story, incorporating archival footage from his first-ever movie, ‘Last Hustle in Brooklyn’, which chronicled the beginning of his career during the New York City blackout of '77. When I finally got on a call with him and presented my pitch, he simply said, "I'm down.”

We knew we had limited time with him, and we had just one day to shoot the entire spot. Our filmmaking approach was to incorporate as much archival footage as possible and seamlessly blend it with carefully crafted vignettes to create a cohesive narrative. The rich palette of 16mm and 8mm footage from 1970s New York added an unmistakable vibrancy to the project.

This shoot stands out as one of the most liberating experiences I've had in commercials. We had a talented dancer and the entire streets of London all to ourselves. However, it was an idea that proved simpler in concept than execution.

Securing the empty streets of London for the shoot was no small feat, requiring six weeks of intense permitting and planning. We had narrow shooting windows from 4:30 to 5:30am, just before the city came to life in chaos. These half days spanned four days.

For the final scene, our setup continued through the night, to capture the dawn. If anyone has ever spent an entire night at Piccadilly Circus, they'd know it's a unique world of its own. Around 1:30am, the area was filled with drunken tourists. By 3am, the club-goers emerged. As we approached 5am, a more sombre mood settled in with people leaving the casinos.

Having grown up in the mountains, I believed I was well-prepared for this shoot, but it turned out to be the most physically demanding one I've ever experienced. The entire commercial was filmed at night on an exposed mountain, with the entire scene illuminated by drones and athletes clad in reflective white suits.

As soon as darkness fell, the wind speed could increase dramatically, with gusts reaching 60-70 kilometres per hour one night, effectively halting our progress and forcing us to take shelter. The temperature plummeted to -18°C, causing our camera to freeze, and our drone team suffered frostbite, resulting in a trip to the hospital. In the world of adventurous filmmaking, you're constantly challenged to think on your feet and adapt your strategy. I'll never forget the sheer number of heating pads we used just to keep going.

A few months away from shooting my first film, I was preoccupied when this opportunity landed on my plate. However, the challenge of authentically portraying Gisele Bündchen, the iconic supermodel, drew me in. It involved a single shot, no music, and something magical happened on the day when Andrij Parekh, my DP, switched from the Steadicam to the handheld.

In our industry, it's common to begin with grand artistic ambitions, where your ego references the likes of Kubrick, only to see these lofty ideas unravel, resulting in cinema that fails to translate into effective advertising. However, this project became a pivotal learning experience. It highlighted the power of effective advertising, demonstrating how smart messaging and a novel approach to engagement can ignite meaningful dialogue and achieve cultural impact.

John McKelvey and Hannes Ciatti, at Droga5 at the time, were the creative directors, while Felix Richter and Alexander Nowak [now CCOs of Mother London and Berlin, respectively] were the creatives. With such a team, how could it have gone wrong?

From the very beginning, we sensed the potential for something deeply impactful. Securing access to Tupac's voice and poem, a first for his estate in advertising, was a significant achievement. I firmly believed that the spot should embrace simplicity, avoiding the tendency in advertising to overcomplicate things in the pursuit of excessive cleverness. Sometimes, this overcomplication can feel like a façade to mask a lack of genuine substance, but this project was steeped in authenticity.

Filming took place in the South Side of Chicago, an experience that profoundly humbled me through the resilience I witnessed in the community. Initially, we had a significant casting preference for a kid who played basketball and resembled a young Derrick Rose. However, we discovered another kid who exuded a unique presence, grounded honesty, and happened to be from the area. I was convinced the agency would opt for a more typical athlete, but the creatives Rob Doubal and Laurence Thomson [now co-CCOs at McCann London] embraced this kid, Honor, because he was genuine.

I quickly learned that nailing the right tone in commercials can be tricky. When you build everything around tone, it can unravel easily. Early in my commercial career, I faced this challenge because once you remove the chosen song, vibe, or grade, there isn't much left. This was my second commercial, and it primarily focused on establishing the right tone. The team at Wieden, with Alberto Ponte, Jeff Williams and Tyler Whisnand as creatives, really allowed us the freedom to explore this aspect.

Guitar Hero marked my debut in the realm of real commercials during a time when the idea of viral marketing was just starting to emerge. I vividly recall sitting at home, sharing it with my girlfriend, who laughed in disbelief. She never imagined that something I would do could ever go viral. To our surprise, it became the number one viewed clip on YouTube for an entire week. The momentum didn't stop there; it made headlines, stirring controversy as people were duped into believing it was real, even though it wasn't. It was a job well done, and it was a lot of fun. Those were the simpler days of YouTube.

While watching Philippe Grandrieux's ‘La Vie Nouvelle’, I was deeply captivated by the infrared scene he had masterfully created. This scene became the driving force behind my video concept, set on a surreal beach in hell. Collaborating with Emily Haines, who generously granted me creative freedom, played a pivotal role in bringing this vision to life.

What intrigued me was the revelation that immersing hands in cold water made veins visible through infrared. To achieve this captivating effect, we had to push the boundaries of innovation. During that period, high-resolution infrared cameras were predominantly accessible to aviation and government surveillance agencies. However, our serendipitous encounter with FLIR, a company specialising in rudimentary SD cameras for the manufacturing industry, became a game-changer. It's worth highlighting that we spent more time figuring out a way to upscale this video than we did on anything else.

Circlesquare - 7 Minutes

I challenge anyone who dives into this music video to stay engaged until the very end. During the early years of my filmmaking journey, it was just me, a camera, a computer, and an abundance of time. I dedicated months to painstakingly frame-by-frame motion tracking, manually plotting points because motion tracking wasn't available in After Effects at the time.

This project was a labour of love for a friend, the artist and musician Jeremy Shaw, and it marked the first time I truly connected with my work, feeling a strong personal resonance. Although it may seem a bit dated now, it catalysed my directing career. This piece led to my signing and set me on the path I continue to follow. It remains one of my all-time favourites.