Happy Holidays from RAM and Jeep!

Goodness, this is a very busy holiday season! Especially thanks to the latest RAM and Jeep spots shot by Klaus Obermeyer in snowy Aspen, which makes me want to grab a mug of marshmellowy hot chocolate and cuddle up a Labrador under a sparkly tree every time I watch them! 

Watch the RAM and Jeep spots and then I'll tell you how we did them. It's okay, I'll wait....

Welcome back! To answer the first question about the RAM spot that is on your mind: "Did they really build that house and is the last shot actually the house, completely finished?"  Answer: "Yes and yes!"

Both of these spots would not exist if we didn't have the Aero Jet. We were awarded both spots on a Friday and had a week to complete the shoot.  So Saturday morning, Klaus (Director), Lance O'Connor (EP), Michael Hartog (VFX Supervisor) and Greg Blair (Production Designer) all hopped on the Aero Jet in Santa Monica, CA, and were in Colorado Springs a few hours later hard at work prepping the shoot in Aspen.

We bought the house that is built in the RAM spot in Colorado Springs (as a kit) and then hauled the wood to Aspen. At that point we had 3 days to cast the spot, permit and source it and then the last 2 days to shoot and build the house. No small task, this! Plus we had to plant a tree for the opening shot, which is still living on the mountain, by the way. It's nice little reminder that Aero and RAM were there.

(Sadly, the house had to be taken down... but for 2 days, we could say we owned a house in Aspen, Colorado!)

Now, moving onto the Jeep spot!

To answer the next question on your mind: "Will that Jeep Christmas tree fit in my house?" 

Answer: "No, no it won't. But if you have your own mountain, go for it!"

Again, thanks to the Aero Jet, we were able to make Aspen our studio. Permits, locations all fell together and we got a beautiful commercial.

Aero’s in-house post division completed the editorial with editor Alex Hagon. We’re doing more and more soup to nuts these days which is fantastic not just for the creative, but for maximizing production budgets. Austin Smithard is in production now on a spot he’s directing and editing with Sam O’Hare as the VFX supervisor. The Aero Studios VFX team in NY is doing all the compositing and photo-real set extensions for this tour de force. Think Elizabeth: The Golden Age meets 300. I can’t tell you more about that now or I’ll be shot (or at least given a dirty look and a harsh email…) So you’ll have to stay tuned!

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CREDITS:

Client: Chrysler

Agency: Doner

Chuck Meehan, EVP Exec Creative Director
Sam Sefton, SVP, Creative Director
Jaime Perry, Associate Creative Director
Bruna Carmargo, Copywriter
Sarah Bills, Art Director
Brian Dooley, Head of Production
Diana Eagleson, Producer

Editorial: Aero Post
Editor, Alex Hagon

Asst. Editor, Tony Gentile

Aero Aerials!

We’ve told you a lot about the Klaus Cam and how it enhances Aero's Aerials, but its high time (see what I did there!?) to talk about the man that truly makes the Klaus Cam so impressive. (Not to toot our own horn but TOOT TOOT!  He does a good job.)  Please meet our helicopter pilot, Craig Hosking:

Craig Hosking

Craig is the guy who flies the helicopter and puts the Klaus Cam in dead accurate position for shooting. Imagine putting a camera a few feet away from your talent's face (most recently, Julia Roberts' face), whilst said camera is hanging off a 80 foot cable AND you’re flying the helicopter that the cable is attached to. Yeah, not a job you find on Craigslist!  But this is precisely the skill Craig (no relation to the list) exercises on a daily basis.  He balances the speed and the placement of the helicopter to make the camerawork smooth with perfect framing… and he makes sure not to bonk the talent on the noggin. (Which, as a producer, I am very thankful for... as is the talent, I'm sure.)

He was also at the helm (or whatever the phrase is for a helicopter) for a recent Chevy Truck spot directed by Klaus Obermeyer. (And while trucks don't have a noggin to whack into, it’s never good to have a camera and truck in a face off.  Which insurance companies all around are grateful for.)  Give this video a watch for some behind the scenes footage.  (Note: Craig is on the right and Klaus is flying shotgun.)

Eat Pray Love was Craig’s experience with Julia Roberts, where he and Scott Howell from CineMoves (Klaus Cam designer) went to Bali for 2 weeks of aerial photography to capture shots that were only possible with the Klaus Cam.   Many of Craig’s scenes were in the Eat Pray Love trailer, which I’m guessing you may have seen 3000 times as it apparently had the biggest media buy in history, so we cut it down to the good parts for your viewing pleasure (and sanity).  Additionally, Craig was the Aerial Coordinator on Inception, Dark Knight, Quantum of Solace, Aviator and countless others like Hot Tub Time Machine…? Oh IMDB, you air out everyone’s secrets!

"HOW did he get into this odd line of work," you ask?  Excellent query!  Craig got into the business following in his father’s footsteps. (Or "flysteps.")  He started flying when he was a teenager and moved into precision long line delivery for mining projects. That skill for precision flying translated into becoming a film pilot.  Craig has shot and flown in over 50 countries and loves nothing more than capturing a shot where people have no idea how it was done. The end shot in Eat Pray Love does that, as well as the snow plow shot in Klaus’s Ram spot where he had the camera suspended in front of the truck as it drives through virgin snow. Russian Arm can’t do it, regular heli mount can’t either… And THIS challenge is what keeps Craig flying.

See more of Craig’s work here!

Truck Of The Blank! (No, it's not a quiz...)

Truck of the Blank.  And no, "blank" doesn’t stand for a bad word!  It happens to stand for a million things that describe the new RAM spot directed by Klaus Obermeyer. This was an incredibly challenging shoot with lots of locations, travel, and every weather system you can think of. Thankfully, this is where Klaus thrives. 

Check out the full spot HERE!

The creative team at the Richards Group took a ton of gorgeous behind the scenes photos, so instead of me yammering on, I’ll let you enjoy the eye candy. As they say, pictures yammer 1,000 words which are far less annoying than my own.  (Okay, I might have a few words to say…)

KlausCam shows up for work.

And yes, it "drives" a helicopter.

Director Klaus Obermeyer.

AKA "The Big Grape."

The creative team is thinking about how their 

next project WILL be in Fiji...

Thankfully, this is not an accident...

nor was it set by the crew to keep warm.

"Yep, definitely next time in Fiji..."

"Or a bigger fire."

"We get hazard pay, right?!"

Setting up the shot...

Safely on the ground.

That's a wrap!

KlausCam is tired and needs its beauty sleep

for the next shoot.  Or so it says.

RAM Commercial Credits:

Ad Agency:

Richards Group/DAL

Art Director:

Dennis Walker

CD:

Rob Baker

CD:

Jimmy Bonner

Copywriter:

Ron Henderson

Producer:

Ally Tarter

Editor:

Peter Tarter  Radium/TX