John's Thoughts

Just when I was recovering from my spat of scoring gigs, and trying to get at least some gym and rest in before the X-Men 2 saga was to begin, I got a call from Bryan Singer, asking if I could edit the Skyy Blue Vodka spots he was in the middle of directing. (Directors make a crap-load of money doing commercials on the side, the bastards.) Editing? So soon!? UGH. Of course I relented, and actually ended up enjoying the experience. When you're used to editing an entire film sequence in a day, doing a 30 second spot isn't the most daunting task in the universe -- yet anything presents its own challenges. Luckily the creatives involved were a great bunch of people; what could have been a far more trying task was a pleasant experience. It's so nice when people have good taste! I also learned alot about the advertising post-production world, which was quite educational.

The idea behind the editing of the spots was simplicity -- to not fall into the typical trap of being overly snazzy, and to allow the style and laissez-faire feel to breathe onto the screen. A lot of commercials are overly cutty in the effort to squeeze in every shot, which often makes them confusing and less effective. It's a misconception that in order to tell a story in 30 seconds, you need to cram it editorially. I found the opposite to be true with the Skyy Vodka spots, and took a refined approach, which actually can be a difficult thing to do. I had pre-edited a piece of music from a European band for the spot, further adding to it's relaxed, yet hip feel. Then I altered the piece for each of the three spots. In the end, after much shuffling and attempts to use more conventional music by the client, two of the spots retained the European song, to our relief.

Out of the Skyy Blue experience emerged some good friendships with the people involved, which then led to another editing gig right off the bat ... "Making Love in Pongo Ponga".

Download the spots: (coming soon)
BOAT
POOL
APRES