Crayola

I know I mentioned this on the call, but I think it’s worth repeating because the more I look over these boards, the more I love them. The creative truly has as many layers as there are colors in a box of Crayola Crayons. The narrative is powerfully moving. The message is timeless — and at the same time more relevant that ever before. As the father of an 5th Grader, it connects to the personal journey I’m right in the midst of. And rather than simply promote or sell a product, the campaign chooses to speak out in support of a group of people who we place our trust and our kids’ futures in, each and every day. So, hats off to you guys for coming up with this work. It’s smart, needed, and it’s definitely long overdue.

When you add that to the brand that’s delivering this message — the result is a combination of story and product that couldn’t be more rich with humanity and emotion. Teachers have shaped all of us. They’re nurturing. Dedicated to the minds and hearts of our kids. They are the backbone of our communities, and are as intimately tied to growing up as Crayola Crayons themselves. I mean, who doesn’t remember the excitement of opening that lid to see that rainbow of tapered points; the feel of those paper wrappings in their hand, or the unmistakable scent of the crayons rising as you cover a blank page with color… 

It’s such a wonderful marriage of elements that’s completely evocative of innocence, hopefulness, and growing, and I want to make sure to bring that same emotional connection to the storytelling. I want to use the camera, lighting, casting, and art direction to celebrate teachers and the jobs they do, while creating films that are rich with a sense of honest and empathetic cinematic realness. That’s my goal, and here are some ideas on how I would like to help get that done.

The Look & Tone

These stories really insist on being treated with film that has an understated beauty and realness. I’m in full agreement with all of you that we want the visuals to be rich and authentic — as opposed to having an overly bright Saturday Morning cartoon ad feel. Or as you put is so well — not Punky Brewster. 

Rather than distract the eye with superficial flash, popping colors, and super-excited kids, we want to pull our viewers into the emotions of these moments. We want them to feel these films instead of just seeing them. 

With that in mind, I would take an approach that uses interesting and engaging compositions, naturalistic lighting, organic camera moves that constantly direct the eye to key elements in the frames, and a mix of perspectives that make the simplest of moments and actions take on a sense of significance and import. 

A supporting smile, a comforting hug, or a teachers’ willingness to do that little extra something to help make the day a little more fun and memorable — those all need to be part of the visual language we use to tell these stories.

Although I didn’t mention this on the call, we might also want to consider taking an anamorphic approach to the photography (similar to the look of the T. Rowe Price spot). The beauty of this is that it would provide you with the choice of finishing it in a letterbox format — or 16:9 — if that’s the look that you and the client prefer. 

One of the reasons that I think this would work so well is that it has a cinematic quality that I feel can help elevate the campaign. It takes us immediately out of the superficiality of typical advertising and toward a place that is more honest — while still feeling sophisticated. It would go a long way toward heightening the imagery and the emotion of seeing these teachers interacting with these kids. Ultimately, the choice is obviously yours to make, but it’s something to think about as we move ahead.

Location & Art Direction

Ideally, I would love to find a school that has a bit of history — and then support that with the details we gain through the art direction. A building that’s been around for a long time and that has some character in the architecture would be great. Those big windows, the older styled hallways, the light fixtures, clocks — and yes, blackboards or cork boards would help add touches of texture that really ground these scenes with a beautiful sense of richness and realism.

In support of this, we’ll want to decorate the classrooms with handmade artwork — nothing overly polished, slick, or mass produced. Depending on the grade level, we might catch a glimpse of some paper rainbows and cotton-ball clouds suspended from the ceiling with yarn, cubbies filled with backpacks, brown bag lunches with names printed on them, kids’ drawings clothe-pinned to a long string hanging on a wall, and textbooks protected with brown paper bag book covers that have been hand decorated by the kid using them… That’s the mix of images we’re after. It’s a schoolroom, and each and every angle we see, each and every glimpse we get, should help transport us to the emotional memories we have engrained in our minds. 

The Product Shots

I hate to even call them that, because all the things we associate with typical “product and pack shots” is totally antithetical to what we want for these stories. When we see the Crayola Crayons or Markers in frame, it must never feel presented to the camera, or in any way set-up, forced, or contrived. 

I want these moments to have more of a perfectly imperfect feeling of just happening to be there on the desk or captured in the hand of a kid or teacher. They are ever-present, indispensable parts of the showroom environment. They just happen to be there, and we just happen to notice them in ways that always feel natural, almost coincidental to the action, and nicely but casually observed.

That doesn’t mean we can’t get those great close ups of the crayons or markers. It’s just that when we do, they must be filmed and composed in ways that always feel like they are organic to the action. They are part of the story being told. They belong in the frames. And if they weren’t there — it would feel like something important was clearly missing.

Casting & Performances

In support of the level of reality, we’ll search for people who look and act as real as humanly possible. Our teachers shouldn’t look like models — or even actors for that matter. We want to populate these stories with adults who are smart, warm, caring, nurturing, and willing to go that extra mile to do something like dress in up in a costume, join in on a game, or reach out to one of the kids to help them feel like they aren’t alone.

The great thing is that this is something we’ve all had experiences with. We’ve all known great teachers. We’ve all been in classroom environments, and that means that the actors we cast will have a deep treasure trove of references, and emotional memories to draw from. That personal connection is always a big part of what I strive to find in the actors I cast. I encourage them to take ownership of their characters. I will point them in the right direction, but rather than being heavy-handed, I prefer giving them the freedom and flexibility to bring a bit of themselves to the actions we see on screen.

It’s a sort of holistic approach that creates a wonderfully cooperative spirit on the days of the shoot. It helps build more of a family vibe that helps people relax, enjoy the time they’re spending on the set or location, which also helps bring about moments of genuineness, honesty, and understated emotion.

As far as the kids are concerned — the same rule basically applies. We want real kids — not little television commercial actors. They need to come with all the goofy looks, shocks of unruly hair, sincere expressions, wide-eyed excitement, enthusiastic “call-on-me” hand-raising, or reserved shyness that any real classroom of kids would naturally have.

Since featured principals are an issue, I’ll also shoot in ways that will enable us to maximize the number of people we’re able to work with — using framing, choreography, and focal lengths to gain the sense of the classrooms full of kids — without always needing to actually see their faces.

Music & Sound Design

Just looking through these scripts brings a chorus of natural sounds to mind, and I think it’s critical to go into this with the idea of capturing a nice bed of live sound — just so that we have that added texture in the edit. 

We want to hear the bells ringing, the murmur of little voices, the shuffling and squeak of shoes on tile floors, the clattering and scuffling of chairs sliding, doors swinging open and closed, whistles blowing on playgrounds, and those verbal “oohs” of excitement uttered from kids who know the answer and want to be called on.

Musically, I think there’s a need for a nice score, but for a story like this I think it needs to remain subtle and understated. Something simple like a piano or strings that start slowly and build gently can be enough to help bring just the right hint of emotion to the narrative. But like all musical scores, the key is to use it in ways that complete the story — without ever competing with it.

Being a Teacher

I feel like we need to approach this story as a true team effort. The scenarios you’ve included in the scripts are all great, and we can expand on them by adding other ideas that might be inspired by the casting process or scouting the location. 

Once we’ve come to agreement on the scenes we want to capture, I’ll work with a nimble and expert crew to ensure that we can move quickly, and capture the maximum amount of footage in the time we have, so that we get great coverage of everything that’s scripted — and much, much, more. 

Taking full advantage of natural light, we’ll use the camera in ways that pull the viewer into the moments. I also like the idea of shooting at different times of day. Opening in the morning hours, just after the sun has risen over the horizon, we can capture a teacher arriving early in that soft morning light. The work taken home the night before is tucked under an arm or carried in a shoulder bag…

Inside, we hear the bell ring, and we’re immersed in a sea of activity. Little bodies rushing in, feeding into different classrooms, with a teacher holding their morning cup of coffee safely above their heads…

This takes us to the more intimate moment of looking over the shoulder of a teacher grading papers and inking personalized remarks on them using a Crayola marker. Maybe we can also cover this moment in a way that feels tied to the morning activity by traveling down an aisle to see the teacher passing out the graded papers. Or, we could see that task handed to one of the kids. This would allow us to see the teacher writing on papers, while the kid moves away in the soft focus background…

Adding visual variety we’ll see a teacher lining the kids up to take them outside for recess or to the lunch room. In another moment we’ll see a teacher dressed in a costume — making that little extra effort to make a lesson fun — and a little funny.

During these moments, the camera will be a bit looser, capturing the action while adding a breath of life to the scenes. We’ll also be supporting the action that each scenario is built on with ambient shots of kids reacting, hands raising, heads bent down over desks drawing or writing on a worksheet…

This will provide us with a number of organic opportunities to integrate the Crayola Crayons and markers into the story. We can see them in the hands of the kids, or with markers and crayons spilling out of an open box. They can be seen rising from a pencil holder resting on the teacher’s desk, nestled inside transparent pencil cases, peeking up from pockets, tucked behind ears, etc. It might even be interesting to see someone open the lid of a worn cigar box to see it filled with all these different Crayons that have been collected over the years. A little hand reaches in and helps himself to a couple…

We’ll peer in on quiet moments of comfort to see a teacher giving a student a hug, or drop in on a moment in which a teacher pulls someone who’s been left out into a group of kids — making a conscious effort to create those personal connections that can mean so much at this age…

Then, as we arrive at the end of the school day, we hear another bell ring. The hallway floods with kids excited to go home. In this sea of little bodies we see teachers standing by their open doorways, and take a moment to pause and capture one or two hugs quickly exchanged between a teacher and a few kids who can’t leave without first saying goodbye. 

I envision capturing this using mix of handheld photography, accented with some dolly moves. The dolly moves would work particularly well for the opening moment or closing scene. Ultimately I want this to feel as if we are making a short film, as opposed to an ordinary TV commercial. 

To that end, the blocking and shot list will be very well-thought-out and calculated to ensure that we have a strong plan that guarantees we’re able to capture all these set-ups. In order to move as rapidly as possible, I also see our art department and crew working ahead of us, so that when we walk into the next set-up, we are as close as we can possibly be to rolling camera. 

Teacher Heroes

I love the misdirect you’ve built into this story. It starts very naturally, with the Crayons acting as a visual metaphor for the kids in the class. Getting the camera down low and close, we’ll be able to capture the Crayons in beautiful soft focus. Directional light filtering in through the windows gives them an almost artful appearance. 

Shooting high speed, we’ll see one of those Crayons start to roll off. It’s the figurative sheep wandering away from the herd and into dangerous territory. The camera lingers on it — perhaps gliding gently back to lend the moment a little more energy and suspense. 

We see the edge of the desk. The Crayon is rolling closer and closer to it… We’re watching — waiting for a hand to reach down and stop it. But it continues to roll, getting ever-so-more perilously close to the precipice…

Finally it tumbles over the edge. We’re waiting for it to fall and crack on the floor. But in an instant, we cut to another angle to see a teacher’s hand reach in and snatch it form the air. Then in another fluid transition, we open up the frame to see that teacher place that Crayon safely back in the box with all the others. It’s an action that is almost second nature — barely interrupting the lesson she’s conducting.

At this point, we might use a subtle shift in light to bring the scene a more optimistic look. Nothing noticeable. Just a slightly brighter look that feels as if a little cloud has passed, and all is right again.

Responding to a question asked by the teacher, we see kids responding by raising and waving hands in the air — hoping to be the one called on to give the right answer. The camera dollies backward revealing hands in the air — and we end on a wide shot feeling a fully engaged classroom.

Summing things up… 

These are some of my initial thoughts, which hopefully can act as the beginning of an ongoing, open, and active, conversation. A project like this one calls for a true collaboration between the creatives, myself, and the client. It needs to begin in prep and be carried all the way through to the edit. All voices need to be heard. All concerns need to be considered. And all ideas given room to grow. 

Thanks again for sending this my way. I look forward to speaking with all of you further, and I would love to be involved in helping you bring this project to life.