“It’s Like Sugar”: How BCAA Got British Columbians Levitating in This Kinetic, Craft-Heavy Ad
Sometimes, everything just comes together. Every so often in life, there are beautiful moments of serendipity where all your endeavours work out exactly as they should - you glide onto public transport, grab your favourite lunch with a tap of your debit card, and even clock off work in time to catch the latest film. Those moments of bliss make you feel light, almost like you’re floating in the air.
It’s precisely those moments that BCAA wanted to highlight and share in its latest campaign, highlighting the benefits of its BCAA GO Membership offering. The idea of convenience visualised by levitating is one the brand takes quite literally - and so, with help from the minds at the independent creative agency Rethink, Alfredo Films director Luboš Vacke was brought on board to bring the vision to life.
In doing so, Luboš was aided by the visual expertise at Artjail and Cycle Media. To find out more about how this ambitious (and disarmingly technical) campaign came to life, LBB caught up with Luboš as well as Rethink’s Jordon Lawson and Eric Seymour, BCAA’s James McDermott and Michelle Katrichak, Artjail’s Andres Kirejew and Gene Dreitser, alongside Cycle Media’s Rob Doucet.
LBB> First off, can you tell us a bit about how this concept of floating through BCAA’s various rewards offerings first came to be? Did you draw on any specific insights, for example?
James> For this spot, we really wanted to communicate the mobility and savings that BCAA GO provides people. BCAA GO is designed specifically for younger British Columbians who don’t have a car of their own, but still want to get together and (as the campaign says) ‘Move Better, Save More’. The idea that you can take this Membership anywhere in the province and get all these awesome benefits really stood out to us. In a sense, you can move through British Columbia with more ease. All of which led us to a whimsical interpretation that became our floating lead character.
LBB> And why did you want to communicate the brand in this way?
Michelle> Adapting to the evolving needs of people in British Columbia has always been key for BCAA's long-term success, especially when it comes to younger generations trying to navigate everyday costs and exploring different ways to get around the province. So in order to speak to this specific audience, we knew the spot had to feel a little more youthful than the master BCAA brand, which caters to millennials and above. It still needed to have the same brand personality and lighthearted, whimsicality of BCAA and youthfulness of their car-share brand, Evo, but we needed to give it a style of its own.
LBB> Jordon and Eric, How closely does the finished ad align with your initial visions at the outset of the project?
Jordon> There’s always a worry when you start to bring a script from page to screen. But in terms of what we had initially envisioned and the final product, it’s far above what we had imagined. We owe a lot of that to having the right team with Alfredo and director, Luboš Vacke, as well as collaboration with our client BCAA, to bring it to life and elevate the concept.
LBB> And Eric, what made Luboš Vacke the right director to bring this idea to life?
Eric> Luboš is fantastic. The playfulness and cinematic approach to his work stood out to us immediately. We were really after a director that could create a spot that was stylised, but still grounded in reality. He also really cared about every little detail of the spot in terms of the story, as well as how to pull everything off from a technical perspective.
LBB> Luboš, here’s a real sense of energy and movement that propels the spot along. From a production standpoint, what do you do to create that kinetic feeling for viewers?
Luboš> A certain level of movement and energy was already in the brief. My approach to capturing it and bringing it to the screen was in the well-thought-out action of the main character, which I visualised during the prep by making my own animatics - staring me!
It was also important to have cast Joe as the main talent, because he's a dancer and understood my direction for body movement. Plus, he’s quite energetic. If we had not cast him, the job would have been much harder.
LBB> So at what point did you know that Joe was the right pick as your lead?
Luboš> I have to say that the casting was really good, and we had a lot of interesting actors to choose from. The reason why we chose Joe was because of his perfect combination of acting skills, dance and movement ability, and charisma. As a bonus, I think he has an interesting look.
LBB> What about from a post production standpoint - Andres and Rob, what did you do to keep up that kinetic sense of movement and rhythm throughout the ad?
Andres> The goal was to use meticulously devised setups, planned choreography, and realistic yet stylized effects. The focus was on capturing visually compelling scenes in-camera whenever possible, using trick rigs, visual effects, and thoughtful framing.
However, for certain scenes, like the floating car or rollercoaster/theatre transition, an extensive use of 3d was essential to complete the shot. The overall aim was to make the magical power of the BCAA Go card appear convincing through a well-thought-out combination of tried and true on-set techniques and cleverly designed visual effects setups.
Rob> A lot of that energy comes from the performances and blocking, really - Luboš did a great job moving the camera in a way that brings you along for the ride. My job was to complement this energy by creating a rhythm and cadence that carried the action from one shot to the next, without getting in the way of the flow.
Finding the right music was also paramount. Chaka Khan’s 'Like Sugar’ was shortlisted and, after auditioning many, many tracks, proved to be the perfect choice to help drive the spot.
LBB> Yeah, that Chaka Khan needle drop is super satisfying and energetic. Jordon and Eric, how did you settle on that track to set the rhythm for the ad?
Jordon> The Chaka Khan track ticked a lot of boxes for us, complimenting the visuals without being obtrusive. It fits the BCAA brand personality of being a bit playful.
Eric> Plus, the track was recognisable and has been around for awhile. So it’s kinda been tested by the public already, and people don’t hate it. So that was a good sign.
LBB> And finally, what was the biggest challenge you all encountered - and how did you overcome it?
Luboš> This is going to sound a bit funny, but the biggest challenge was the design of the stores. We had to look like an average store, but we couldn't link to any existing ones. We had long discussions with the client and agency, and our production designer Caitlin Byrnes did an amazing job with all of her sketches and ideas. The downside was that in order to develop this look took lots and lots of time that I should have devoted to other aspects of the film - I ended up having to work long hours. But that’s okay - I am at my happiest when I’m working….
Gene> For us, the primary difficulty while filming revolved around the necessity of a large rig to smoothly move our main character through action-packed scenes with shifting backgrounds. Despite efforts to keep the rig as compact as possible for safety and seamless movement, it remained quite sizable. This posed a challenge as the noticeable presence of the rig had the potential to distract from the overall visual experience of the scenes.
Rob> For my part, the only real challenge initially was the runtime. I like to cut the first few roughs without any real regard to length, because that can sometimes help find the natural pace of a particular scene. The runtime of the first edit came close to :60.
Telling this story in 30 seconds meant having to be very deliberate in showing only what was absolutely essential, without losing the viewer. Peer reviews, especially in this case, are invaluable for gauging whether or not you’ve gone too far in compressing a story. I have to keep in mind that the agency and I may be sitting with a particular spot for days and weeks, whereas a first-time viewer isn’t able to fill in the gaps without the benefit of knowing what’s on the cutting room floor. After a few rounds of reviews with the client, we honed in on a really nice feeling :30. Then, in a career first, the client gave us the green light to finish a :60!
Eric> That’s right, the biggest challenge was making sure we had a cohesive 60-second spot that was modular enough to be cut down to 30s, 15s, and a host of 06s. It’s always something you have to keep at the back of your mind whilst you’re on set.
