Although the world has been sent on a spin this year, NAB was determined to get Australia’s finances back on a right angle with its new Straight Up card.
With Sydney Photographer Ted O’Donnell at the helm of both the stills and motion of this major brand campaign, Ted used his expertise in creative lifestyle and people photography to flip the idea of a finance ad on its head - Literally.
The creative centerpiece of the ad, the change in perspective through rotation was not a simple matter of twisting the camera equipment. During camera tests in pre production, it was realized that the talent would need a support brace to hold the position for long periods of time. Director of Photography Tony Luu also employed a MoVi rig to create the perfectly smooth camera angle change.
While primarily known as Stills Producers, Photoplay Photography has increasingly produced motion content with its roster of Photographers. As a frequent motion director of fashion and lifestyle films, Ted O’Donnell was well versed in bringing his brand of directing energy to the whole process, from casting the talent to on the day energy. One of the key shots of the campaign was actually improvised on set - Ted had the idea of one of the talent dancing for the motion shot, showcasing her previous experience as a dancer - This ended up being the take that NAB went with for the campaign release.
On the production side, there was quite a great deal of planning involved in putting all the pieces of the advertisement together. With multiple setups in many different Sydney based locations, the production involved a lot of location reccies and precise travel planning to fit the ambitious commercial into a two day shoot.
Shooting in many suburban areas was a challenge for shooting permits, with making sure the areas were cleared in advance. As specialists in location scouting, Photoplay Photography created a massive list of options, and then helped in development to refine the list of locations down to the best possible choices.
COVID Safety measures were in place from the beginning of the process, making the casting of talent with the right energy require an alternative to the more traditional in person approach. Photoplay Photography embraced 2020’s most popular video service instead, with initial auditions cropped from video auditions, and then subsequent callbacks took place over zoom, with Ted O’Donnell directing the talent live.
Catch Ted O’Donnell’s many projects at his instagram @tedodonnell, with fashion, lifestyle, personal, artistic, editorial and creative photography and motion content aplenty. Photoplay Photography represent Ted O’Donnell as agents and work as his producers, a collaboration that has spanned everything from online content to Television commercials.
