Coke Spot, Mood

Mood and Tone are the top two things a good director thinks about. Within 30 seconds of seeing a film (opening credits aside) I can tell if its going to blow me away or suck a big one. The first impression is everything, and the movies that are great throughout have great openings.

Why?

Because the tone and mood are clearly defined.

Think about it.

E.T.
One of my favorite films. The music is somber and downplayed. The lighting is very natural. Its dark, a little scary and a little magical. We can sense something is afoot. The table is set tonally and nothing in the film bumps on it. Spielberg knew his tone and mood and stuck to it.



In the trailer to E.T., they're flat out selling the tone and mood. Notice how they tease the audience with the mood. Spielberg knew at the end of the day he had a cheesy kid film about an alien and family dysfunction. So instead of making it all shiny and happy and sanitized, he made it dark and scary and mysterious. Check out all the shots of mist and fog in there. Look at all the use of black as a color. The tone and mood contrast the lighter points of the story that could have turned into Velveeta.

Princess Bride
Just watch the very opening. First thing we hear is a coughing kid. Then we see him playing a lame video game. Fred Savage is glum and mom sets up Grandpa is coming. Fred states how Gramps is old fashioned and then they get a big joke. Grandpa is full of life and dashes into the room and pinches Fred's cheek. Its screaming at you to laugh at it, but its still funny. Its charming. Rob Reiner kept that tone throughout.




BAD TONE:

Van Helsing
Whew...It opens with black and white of villagers storming Frankensteins castle. Its very dramatic, and a little scary. But the rest of the film is a Gothic video game. There are no physics and lots of comedy. I didn't get that from the first minute. Inconsistent tone.

Chicken Little
It starts out as a farce on Disney storybook films, then veers off into Airplane style jokes, then sentimental subplots with a father and son, then aliens attack in an action bonanza. NO ONE knew what the film was meant to be. I know half the people who worked on it, and they still don't know. Had they stuck to a tone and mood and edited out every idea that didn't support that, it could have worked (aliens in chicken movies...why?)

Labyrinth
Check the opening out. It starts as some Ren Faire piece, then has cheesy acting, then some groovy David Bowie song. No humor, just cheese. I'm a huge Jim Henson fan, but I hate this film. I don't think he had a good handle on the tone. He wanted it to be dark but couldn't resist having the pun filled colorful humor he's known for. The Muppet movie keeps its tone (heart on the sleeve, vaudeville inspired jokes), but Labyrinth...its all over the place. It just doesn't work.


So as a storyteller, if you don't set the table and then stick to it, you're gonna lose your audience. You don't serve Mexican food, then halfway through dinner switch it up to French. That'll just piss off everyone, especially the French.

So for the Coke spot, the only way the magical aspect will work is if the world is grounded. If its a wacky, stylized world then the girl in the painting will just seem like a given. But if the world is natural and somewhat mundane, then the magical aspects have something to contrast with. Spielberg did this well with ET, Close Encounters, Poltergeist and Jaws. He stylized the world in a Norman Rockwell way. Made it feel mundane and then when the fantasy happened...it popped.

In college I asked Brad Bird (director of Incredibles and Iron Giant) how he maintained a tone and mood throughout the piece. He looked at me and simply said 'you just do'. I think it comes down to really understanding the story. My favorite films adapt a film making style that is essentially the POV of the main characters. Annie Hall has a film making style that's eccentric and neurotic, much like Alvy Singer. Heavenly Creatures is fast and spastic, much like the main teenage girls in that. Grease is bubblegum and sexual, just like the teenagers discovering sex depicted in that film.

A great story adapts to the mood of the protagonists.

In the Coke Spot, I'm going to aim for really selling the charm and magic of the world. The protagonist is the Coke. Its nostalgic and wholesome and American. Its a Norman Rockwell painting. So the mood needs to be charming, a celebration of day to day working class American life. I can accomplish that with lots of faded colors and antiques. I plan on using vintage props and bathing the set in a diffused glow. I see dust in the air. I see light beams streaking throughout the place. I hear the hum of the fans...the sizzle of the stove...the passing of cars and trucks outside. Its got to feel hot and realistic but with a slight bit of style and whimsy. Balancing all that comes down to feeling the story and the tone and the mood.