The Directors: Craig Rasmus
With experience acting, editing, and directing, Craig Rasmus is a triple threat. Winner of Young Director of the Year at Cannes in 2014, his short films and commercial work have received recognition from Vimeo Staff Picks, the Australian Cinematographers Society and The One Show.
With a background in acting and editing, Craig has an innate understanding of storytelling, be it visual narrative or performance driven. The common threads throughout his work are strong narratives, intuitive casting and engaging performances. He is as comfortable directing actors as he is real people.
Since winning Young Director of the Year at Cannes in 2014 for his UNICEF and Qantas Change for Good campaign, Craig has continued to receive praise for his work. His 2016 short film Atlantium: The Smallest Country In Australia was recognised both domestically and internationally, selected as Vimeo Staff Pick of the Week and gathered a slew of news coverage for the fascinating true story it uncovered. In addition, Rasmus has also been awarded by the Australian Cinematographers Society, AWARD Award, and One Show.
Working with leading international clientele including NRMA, Samsung and McDonalds; Rasmus is a compelling storyteller who is passionate about the work he creates.
LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?
Craig> I guess the universal answer would be a strong idea driving it. Past that, I think it starts to come down to taste. Personally I really love it when scripts show insight into human behaviour that might not get called out often, but we can all immediately identify with. Any script that taps into all the weird, selfish, awkward quirks we have as humans will immediately grab my eye.
As far as scripts that get me really excited to shoot - anything that feels like it is pushing the boundaries a little. I have a lot of respect for clients that are willing to take a bit of a risk and let the agency try something different. When campaigns like that come along, everyone from agency and production get fully-invested, working together to make it as great as can be. Those are the shoots I find most rewarding.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Craig> I always begin by breaking down the core idea. It is easy to get wound up in the details of the story, but the narrative is moulded around this idea, so I always like to focus on that as my starting point.
After that, I will delve into narrative. Much of this is done as I walk around the house, have a shower, muttering to myself like a madman. I imagine the world, focus on the key story-beats and what kind of interesting characters will bring it to life. Once I have start giggling to myself like a proper psychopath, I have enough of my approach figured out to start writing.
When laying out my vision, I’ll might push hard for a new idea if I’m confident it serves the idea but in other cases, I might just put it forward as something worth chatting about. I’m always mindful that the creatives might have been working on this script for a long time, so I try to make it clear that I am stepping to offer a new perspective, not to take over.
Once it’s written and laid out with in a slick presentation with dozens of thoughtfully curated images, I sit back and wait - praying that the job wasn’t lost because I didn’t use enough adjectives to describe the pack shot!
LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with / don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?
Craig> I think the main part of my research comes from asking the right questions in the initial brief. If you take the time to learn about where the brand has come from and where they want to take it moving forward, you will be a more effective partner to work with.
For instance, sometimes you might get a script and there will be a scene or line of dialogue that makes no sense to you - it really stands out. When you start questioning it’s merit, more often than not you learn it was something the client requested. If you take the time to understand the logic behind their request, it empowers you to offer up alternative options that still address their concerns, but in a much more palatable way to your approach.
LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?
Craig> First and foremost it is with the creative team. If you are all completely aligned in what you want the final destination to be, then all the decisions leading up to it come so much easier.
The guy operating the coffee machine and I are usually pretty tight too.
LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?
Craig> Most of my work is comedy so I obviously enjoy being able to get a smile or a laugh from the viewer. Stories that embrace the oddness of human behaviour, the awkward moments we often find ourselves in.
That said, I have also done some emotional PSA style work that I am also really proud of. I actually wish I had the opportunity to do more but it.
Ultimately, I would say that I am most passionate about work that invokes some kind of reaction from the viewer. I don’t mind if it is happy or sad, as long as it’s not indifference. Boredom is the true enemy.
LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
Craig> As an Aussie currently living in the US, I sometimes come across the misconception that most Australians wrestle crocodiles back home.
This is untrue. Children do however ride kangaroos to school…
LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?
Craig> I once did a pseudo-documentary for Samsung, launching their new water-resistant phone. It was set in two nearby towns in Australia that had a rivalry over who had the most rainfall in the country on average every year. These were really wet, tropical places. The whole film was reliant on seeing rain in the film - yet it didn’t rain once in the week we were there. We ended up bringing in water trucks from hundreds of miles away to get the ‘rain’ we needed to shoot many of our scenes. It was absurd!
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
Craig> I will happily incorporate a great idea into the film whether it is from the creative, client, DOP or even the PA - if it makes the idea or execution stronger, I am all for it.
It only becomes more difficult once you are being served up with dud ideas by someone whose role demands respect. At times like that I try and still keep the collaborative vibes going, but maybe try and use other members of the creative team (that are more aligned with me) to help form a ‘group consensus.’ If the dud ideas are still kicking about after that, that is when I start to be more assertive. Ultimately if you have too many cooks in the kitchen you end up with something that no-one loves.
LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?
Craig> For sure - but it is crazy to think that the learning would only go one way. People that are entering the industry now have had an exposure to such a diverse range of technology and media. They have lots to offer in news ways of storytelling.
LBB> How do you feel the pandemic is going to influence the way you work into the longer term? Have you picked up new habits that you feel will stick around for a long time?
Craig> The use of Zoom is the main change that will stick around. Getting in the room with key players is always nice but it does save a heap of time making many of the meetings remote. I do however miss all the nice pastries that would usually be present during those meetings…
LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)?
Craig> A little, but not much if I am honest. I always make sure what I’m filming looks best in a landscape format. That way I know it will work in cinema, TV and YouTube. If the agency needs something bespoke for Instagram in vertical format, we accommodate it, but usually they can get what they need from the landscape frame.
LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work (e.g. virtual production, interactive storytelling, AI/data-driven visuals etc)?
Craig> If you try and push back on new technology it will run right over you, so I will embrace anything that comes our way that makes our storytelling abilities better. That said, I am really curious how AI will impact us in the next few years. Some of it will be really useful. For instance, I am seeing images from Midjourney being used in creative decks to help sell-in an idea. That is pretty cool.
But then you see ‘Runway’ being used to animate these AI stills into moving image scenes. All of a sudden it isn’t too hard to imagine the next stage where films are being created with nothing but key prompts. Rather than the client requesting multiple drafts of a script, could it get to a place where they request, multiple versions of the actual film, shot, performed and directed by one operator using their keyboard?
To be honest, my brain boggles as to where AI might take us, way beyond its affect on the film industry. In the same way Steven Spielberg made people not want to go near the water again with ‘Jaws’, James Cameron’s ‘The Terminator’ freaked me out as a kid about AI. The machines are coming!
