A TV Ad Saves the Day for Nursery Rhyme Lawyer Michael Goose
Telling the story of Michael Goose, a passionate and devoted lawyer struggling to build his business which deals exclusively with nursery rhyme related injustices, Happily Ever After sees business booming after investing in a TV commercial.
In this interview, we speak with animation studio Blinkink’s Jonny and Will, along with tenthree editor Nick Armstrong to dive into the craft behind the Thinkbox ad and what it was like working with their cast of talented puppets.
LBB> Tell us about how the concept for Happily Ever After first came about - what were the early discussions you had with Thinkbox and what challenge were they looking to address?
Jonny and Will> The client needed to show how after investing in a TV commercial, a business can really take off. The idea of a nursery rhyme lawyer dealing with unusual clients appealed to us straight away. It was immediately clear that this was a fun concept to run with. We worked with the agency developing the script and writing silly jokes.
LBB> Blinkink, tell us about the visual development, storytelling, characters, design and technique used on this ad? What was your creative vision?
Jonny and Will> Our initial take on things was to make a film which was visually very cinematic and rich, creating a world which would balance the silliness of nursery rhyme characters. Casting the lawyer was key to keeping it all believable. We managed to get Matt Green, a great comedic actor, who played Michael Goose with the perfect balance of a guy fighting for what’s right, while caring for the little guy.
For the little guy, Incy Wincy, and the other nursery rhyme characters, we wanted to create puppets with a slightly ’lived-in’ look, which would sit well in a real world office situation. By puppeteering the characters on set, and in-camera, we were able to capture real interactions and spontaneous moments between the actors and the puppets.
With so many possible characters to choose from, we narrowed it down to Incy Wincy the spider, and Humpty Dumpty’s wife, while cramming in as many other nursery rhyme references and bit-parts as we could in the background.
From the outset we wanted to treat the script less like a documentary, and more like a slick Hollywood movie, framed in 2:39, where tilts, whip pans and split-screens up the pace, and add a layer of dynamism to the film.
Shooting with DOP Will Bex was fantastic, he brought so much knowledge and filmic experience to the table.
LBB> And Nick, how did the use of puppets change the way the ad was edited? What were some of the different considerations you had to take into account that perhaps you do not come across so often?
Nick> There are two parts to cutting a film like this. The first pass is like any other project, selecting the takes for actors and assembling a cut that works as a structure.
Then there is the puppet performance pass which I like to do with the guys, and in particular, Jonny. He has an acute eye for puppet performance. It comes from the fact he had built and performed the characters.
I have a fair bit of experience in editing with puppets as I cut a six part TV series for Channel 4 called ‘Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared’. It’s definitely something I feel I thrive at.
LBB> What were some of the challenges you came across during production and post and how did you solve them?
Nick> Tone was the tightrope we had to walk in the edit. We needed to keep the performance of Michael Goose straight as it was a normal day in the office for our protagonist and let the humour play out due to the bizarreness of the world around him.
Jonny and Will> It was important to show that, since putting out his ad, Michael Goose’s business was booming. We initially envisioned seeing a busy waiting room bustling with nursery rhyme characters, but working within the limits of time and budget, that evolved into the silhouettes in Michael’s frosted glass window.
In general, we tried to keep the majority of the puppet work in-camera, with a few bits of digitally painting out rods and puppeteers. The main work for post-production was the ad within the ad which was a blue screen shoot of Matt and two puppets to be set in a magical cloudscape with a palace in the background and a twinkling moon. We had the backgrounds beautifully painted by Helen Castelow, and they were layered and comped together to create the ‘Happily Ever After Law Associates’ advert.
There's a 60’’ and a 30’’ cut, one of the biggest challenges was fitting all the ideas and characters into the 30'’ version. Knowing we had to express the 'business was bad, now it's good’ sentiment, show the advert our lawyer has made, have the end frame and supers on screen for 4-5 secs, introduce the lawyer, show a couple of interactions with clients, land some nursery gags… suddenly 30 seconds does not feel like a long time at all!
Finding a good balance was tricky, but it ended up working well as it pushed us to explore the idea of split screens and made life in the busy office feel cool.
LBB> What is your favourite scene from the ad and why?
Nick> I really like the split screen sections. This was an idea Will brought in during the shoot, covering extra shots, in case we wanted to add energy to the edit.
Once we had a first assemble edit it turned out that’s exactly what it needed. These sections along with the grade and the music gave it a retro genre vibe.
Jonny> My favourite was the Mrs Dumpty scene - the look of despair on her face is so ridiculous.
Will> I like the waiting room shadow moment - looks so old school and really captured the fun mood of the shoot.
LBB> How would you describe your collaboration?
Jonny and Will> It was a really fun project to work on. The agency creatives had a strong concept and funny ideas, and Thinkbox were really up for letting us make a striking, memorable film.
The whole crew was fantastic, from our favourite costume designers and makers, art director and DOP, to our actors, and puppeteers, everyone came together to make it a really enjoyable experience.
When cutting we were keen to inject a slick, brisk feel to the flow, our brilliant editor Nick Armstrong did such a great job landing the gags and wrangling the split screens and wipes.
Nick> I think all the departments, agency and client really aligned on the film and it was one of the quickest edit processes to sign off I’ve ever been involved with. As for my collaboration with Jonny and Will, I think we share a comedic and musical sensibility that chimes when it comes to putting their vision together.
LBB> Any other creative insights you’d like to share?
Jonny and Will> Make sure you surround yourself with exciting creative people who share your vision.
