Barbie

Written by: Bill Habeeb

You can think of her as an enduring cultural icon that has made personal and emotional connections with girls for the past several decades; a devoted friend who has never failed to keep her playmates entertained; or as a feminine Zelig who has taken the imagination of little girls from Malibu, to outer space, and hundreds of places in between… She’s Barbie, and in this story, we get a chance to offer another generation of young girls a Pink Passport that can take them jetting off to a limitless number of exciting locales. 

That’s the basic theme of the story, and part of what I love about it is that it’s as much about the toy as it is about the creative sense of play Barbie inspires. She doesn’t ask you to be a spectator. Barbie’s there to make you a participant in the fun of going to exciting places and doing adventurous things. She doesn’t dictate the way you play. She’s a spark that lights the fire of a kid’s imagination. 

That spirit of fun, imagination, and active involvement in play are what I want to bring to this spot. I want it to appeal as much to kids as it does to their moms, and I think the best way to achieve that is to tell an honest and engaging story that is rich with a sense of innocence, fun, and cinematic realism. 

The Look & Tone

As I mentioned to you on the call, I’m a father, and part of my goal with this campaign is to create a commercial that would appeal to me as a parent — and that I would like my child to see. I don’t want to pander, and I don’t want to scream. I prefer taking an approach that treats kids like little human beings, and that respects the intelligence of kids, and adults, alike.

Basically, that means telling a nice little character-driven story that is authentic, charming, and entertaining. I want parents and kids to see their own lives and personalities reflected on screen, and achieving that begins with using the casting, the performances, and the photography to instill each and every moment with genuineness and a good-spirited sense of play.

As a way of bringing the story a naturalistic feel, the home interiors will have a sun-lit look that is warm, comfortable, and inviting. I also think this lends itself well to shooting low contrast. It’s a subtle way of bringing scenes a visual quality that is modern, without it being distracting. As an added benefit, it’s a look that has a tendency of keeping the focus on the performances and product, while being supportive of the reality. 

In support of that, rather than feel stiff or locked-off, I’ll be mounting the camera on a tripod with a loose head that gives the scenes a subtle breath of life. Nothing overly shaky or disorienting — just a slight hint of almost imperceptible movement that helps to offer the scenes a look that feels authentic and well-observed.

Since this is a spot that features Barbie — I also think it’s important to treat her like she’s an active character in the story. We’ll make sure she’s lit well, and shoot her with shallow depth of field so that she looks her absolute best, while also seeing her from an emotional point of view evocative of how this little girl feels about her. She’s more than just another doll. Barbie is a friend and a companion, and we want personal connection to come across in the film.

The Casting

Searching for actors who can bring these performances a true sense of naturalism is key. For the little girl, we’ll want to cast someone who looks and behaves like a real kid — and not the Saturday Morning Television Commercial version of the same. If she has some of those wonderfully endearing little imperfections in her look — all the better. But what’s most important is to find someone who is sweet, charming, immediately likable, and who can lose herself in a world of imagination and play.

The age range we’ll be working with works well for this. Girls between the ages of 6 and 8 are still young enough to truly embrace playing with dolls — but old enough that they’re able to take some direction, and then just relax into the part and have fun with it. If possible, it’s always a good idea to search for someone who is slightly older, but still looks the right age — but that’s something that we’ll get a better feel for once we get to the casting.

In addition to that, I’d also like to find a little actress who could expand on the script and bring a hint of her own personality to the character. Once we’ve covered the lines thoroughly as written, it might be nice to let her play with the lines a little — just to see what she can bring to the role. 

For the sake of having a few editorial options, we could even consider coming up with a list of other places that we can have her talk about, like Chili, Not-too Chili, New Guinea Pig, The Taj Mahal, The Ancient Pyramids, Easter Island, Halloween Island…Ireland, Finland, Funland,, Monkeyland, The Unicorn Forrest, etc…

Or when she returns home with her new toys, she might make some pre-flight announcements to describe the flight path they intend to take. To help her along, we could even experiment with using a remote earwig to feed her lines- you never know how someone this age will respond to this but I suggest we have it on set.

When it comes to the mom, we’ll obviously want to find an actress who genuinely looks like she’s the mother of this little girl. Since the talent pool for kids is typically a little more limited, in my experience it’s best to choose the strongest child and use her as a guide to cast the mother.

Beyond that, we’ll want someone who is equally likable and natural, and who can convey the sense of being a good parent who’s involved in her little girl’s life. She should exude patience, a quiet sense of humor, and perhaps — an understated affection for Barbie as well. After all, she was a little girl once, too. Chances are she had Barbies of her own and used to love to play in the same way she sees her daughter playing right now. 

Art Direction & Production Design

You can tell a lot about people by looking at their home environment. The way it’s decorated, the clothes they wear — in fact any of the stylistic details that you see in any given picture can help define our characters, and because of that it’s important for us to pay close attention to our art direction and production design. 

We want the home to feel comfortable, nicely lived-in, slightly aspirational — but at the same time, achievable. The little girls’ room in particular, offers us a great opportunity for adding some interesting and illuminating details to the scenes. It’s part of the visual language used to tell the story, and working together, I look forward to creating a setting that is richly detailed, intricately personalized, and perhaps just a little bit quirky — to genuinely reflect the character of the little girl who lives in this space. 

Little Traveler

We open on a little girl,  in her pajamas playing with her Pink Passport Vacation Barbie in her sun-lit bedroom. The girl’s mother picks out some clothes for her daughter from a dresser in the background— sort of listening to her daughter recite the long list of places she wants to go.

GIRL: I want to go to Paris, Greenland, Blueland, Kangarooland…

Mom plays along, listening patiently and wearing a subtle smile. Even though her little girl continues to mention the almost endless list of places she want to go, Mom is never annoyed. This is her little girl, and she truly enjoys seeing her so excited about something while actively using her imagination.

Along with shooting the scenes in the boards, perhaps we could shoot a few additional scenarios such as seeing the two having lunch, on a deck, or patio, Maybe we can get a quick glimpse of Mom doing a little gardening in the backyard with her little girl sitting on the lawn beside her playing with Barbie while continuing to run through her long list of dream destinations. 

The idea of shooting these additional scenes, while not critical to my approach, will compliment the idea that this little girl’s list of places Pink Passport Barbie has inspired her to visit, is endless. Additionally jump cutting from location to location while making the girl’s dialogue feel like one long, continues, run on sentence will help enhance the comedic resolution paid off in the VO line, “The only place you’ll need to tell mom you want to go is Toys ‘R Us”……! 

Eventually we cut away to find the two of them in the car. Our little girl is still running through her list. 

GIRL: …Tokyo, Spain, the island with mermaids…

Mom remains happy to lend her daughter an ear, and perhaps while they’re in the car, we can reinforce this by catching a cutaway of Mom smiling as she looks up to see her little girl in the rearview mirror, or taking a quick glance at her over her shoulder. 

As they arrive outside the Toys 'R Us, I’d like to capture an exterior medium close up of the girl seen from outside the car continuing to rattle off her list of locales. Then, as the car rolls to a stop, we’ll see the Toys 'R Us sign reflected in the window. 

Moving forward in time, we find them in the Toys 'R Us, turning down the Barbie aisle. 

Technically speaking, the photographic approach taken to the store interiors will slightly differ to the home interiors. In these moments the camera angles (and perhaps the edits) will become a bit more deliberate and manipulative. We’re experiencing this scene through the girl’s emotional POV and because of that, we want to communicate her feeling of awe. 

This can be accomplished through low camera angles giving the shelf of Pink Passport products an awe-inspiring feel — which of course, will be pushed by the music, and our little girl’s performance. 

Our little girl hasn’t slowed for a second. Mom remains her happy self. But perhaps during this moment, we can get the subtle sense that Mom knows where they’re going, and is looking forward to seeing her daughter’s reaction once she realizes what this aisle contains.

GIRL: …Antarctica, England, Poland, Swizzleland…

Then — when her eyes land on the line of Barbie Pink Passport products — which is like being in the midst of a magical world all its own — our little girl is overwhelmed. It’s sensory overload, and all she can say is, Whoa… From her reaction, we can see that this is clearly a special treat. 

Along with capturing some nicely lit and composed shots of the products on the shelves — we definitely will want to get a great look at the expression on this little girl’s face when she sees all the amazing Barbie products. 

Mom takes advantage of this little pause to grab the Barbie Jet and Doll + Scooter from a shelf. Moving  the story forward, we could also see the products on the checkout stand conveyor belt. Adding a hint of humor and energy, we could choreograph a shot of the boxed Glam Vacation Jet moving toward the camera on the conveyor — so that it looks a bit like it’s taxiing down a runway getting ready for takeoff. 

We’ll also want to capture a shot of the little girl holding the Toys ‘R Us bag in her hand and walking — just so that we get that big smile and the look of excitement that any girl would have on her face after getting these toys.

Back at home, we find the little girl absolutely spellbound while playing with the Jet, Scooter, Barbie doll, and accessories. During these moments, we’ll search for some ways of incorporating a few of the little extras included in the set. 

We can see her getting her face down near the jet to explore all the details inside the cabin like setting down a tray for Barbie, opening some drawers inside the jet, or reclining the seat. It’s an incredibly well detailed toy, so we’ll just want to make sure that those little extras come across in the story, while still maintaining a natural and authentic look and feel. We don’t want these moments to feel like momentum stopping product shots. These moments of play should support the notion that the mother loves that her daughter’s imagination is inspired by these incredibly detailed Barbie toys.

Mom is looking on smiling at how much her daughter is enjoying playing with her new Pink Passport Jet, Scooter, and Vacation Doll — which clearly acts as a perfect complement to the enthusiastic spirit of creative play that our little girl has displayed from the beginning moment, through to the end.

AVO: The only place you’ll need to tell mom you want to go is Toys ‘R Us! The only place to get awesome Barbie Pink Passport toys. 

The Product Shots

There are a number of ways that we can integrate  Barbie and accessories seamlessly into the story. Along with the moments mentioned earlier, we’ll want to capture some naturalistic looks at the products in the midst of play. 

That can include a shot of Barbie held in the little girl’s hand, the Jet held aloft like it’s flying off to an exotic locale, a nice two-shot of the little girl and Barbie involved in some sort of conversation about an upcoming trip, and perhaps a clean over-the-shoulder shot of Barbie being scootered across the carpet. Endless possibilities here, I also want to allow for the opportunity to watch how our actress plays with the Toys and shoot close up footage of Barbie and the accessories that supports her own specific, unique style of play. 

The end product shot will be a little more“romanced” with a complimentary composed and lit tableau of the line of Barbie Pink Passport products on the living room floor. It will still feel very much in context with the rest of the spot as we see the girl, in soft focus in the background, busy playing with the line of toys as we hear accompanying VO, Barbie Pink Passport. Only at Toys ‘R Us”! 

Finally

This is a great spot. It’s an exciting opportunity to work with such an iconic brand, and a toy that has always been a favorite. It’s the type of product that appeals to me as a parent, and I want that concern for good toys that feed a child’s imagination to come across in the way the story is told. 

I also want this to be fun — because ultimately that’s what this is all about. We want it to be real, but at the same time we want to enjoy sharing in this little girl’s imagination, enthusiasm, and excitement for spending time planning an amazing trip to some far-off land, with her Barbie. 

That’s the spirit you’ve captured in the boards, and I want to make sure that same feeling of magic and wonder are intricately woven into the storytelling.

Thanks again for sending them my way, and I look forward to speaking with you further.