American Cinematographer - July 1992 - 29

Commercial Production
Flavorful Ad

Opens Floodgates

by Linda Lynton
Turning mundane objects into
something special is the art of
David Griffiths. Griffiths special¬
izes in tabletop cinematography, a
filmmaking technique almost ex¬
clusive to commercial work. Table-

top work requires precision, atten¬
tion to detail, and an ability to use
photography to give consumer-ori¬
ented

products a magical glow.
Griffith recently applied

his talents in this area to a commer¬
cial that persuaded more people to

buy Dannon yogurt than any other
ad in the company's history. The
spot introduced Dannon Blended
Yogurt, but it was so successful that
sales of all types of Dannon yogurt
increased.
In the piece, close-up shots
of milk and yogurt pour, splash
and cascade around, over and un¬
der various strawberries, raspber¬

ries, peaches and blueberries which
themselves

bouncing, falling
rolling. When Grey Advertis¬
ing executives originally decided to
make the spot, they knew they
were taking a risk using graphic
product visuals rather than a more
traditional sales pitch. Grey had lit¬
erally just acquired the account
are

and

when "Dannon asked us if we'd be

willing to create

an introductory
commercial for its new product,"
said Robert Mizrahi, vice presi¬

dent/ creative supervisor. "We had
three weeks to do it from scratch.
David Griffiths always sees things
from an unusual perspective; he
has an ability to bring a certain life
to

a

product. You only have thirty

seconds in which to get people's
attention and he knows how to do
it."
In a welcome turn of

events, Griffiths had a chance to
collaborate on the visual ideas from

the very

beginning, rather than
simply being handed the story¬

Iff jespH

boards. Griffiths, Mizrahi, fellow
vice president/creative supervisor

Andy Bohjalian and

agency pro¬
ducer Steve Horton collaborated on
the storyboards. The goal of the

twofold: to intro¬
product and to em¬
phasize the product's quality and
uniqueness. "We also wanted to
campaign
duce the

was

m;

If m c;

gmc*
mJmss

new

Blended as only
Dannon' can do it

stress the freshness and healthful¬

of the ingredients, which are
all natural," said Mizrahi. Griffiths
ness

added, "We needed to bring a re¬
freshing life to it. The idea was es¬

sentially a celebration of the
product's ingredients."
Despite the overwhelming
success

of the first commercial,

Dannon wanted

made,

so a

some

changes

second production oc¬

curred six months later. The first
commercial had only featured

milk, and Dannon wanted shots
including yogurt in the picture.
Most of the elements of the second

production were very similar to the
first. Both featured a vibrant, ac¬
tion-filled frame depicting fresh
fruit being blended into the yogurt.

Tabletop directors usually
rely on specialists to create their
rigs, working closely with them af¬
ter the rig is built in order to run
tests and experiments. It's not un¬
usual for a two-day tabletop shoot
to be prepped for five or six days
beforehand. For the Dannon spots,
Griffiths worked with prop master
and rig specialist Peter McKinney.
The rigs were specifically designed
to accommodate the storyboards,
with an eye towards shooting with
a

close-focus, wide-angle prime

lens.
The rigs were usually
made of surprisingly mundane

July 1992

American

Cinematographer

27
American Cinematographer - July 1992

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