February 2019
INTRO:
We all have insecurities about money. Insecurities aren’t cool or sexy, which is why we tend to keep them to ourselves. For some, it’s a question of something small, a tiny purchase we want to make but feel like we shouldn’t. For others, their financial questions can be matters of life and death. This spot is about telling hardworking people everywhere, “We see you, we understand how confusing managing your money can be, and we’re here to help.” It’s such a sincere and empathetic message and one I’d love to help share.
TONE:
The power of this piece will come from developing an earnest emotional connection between viewers and the characters on-screen. Each of these characters is experiencing their own unique moment in their heads and viewers will get a chance to briefly peek below the surface into each person’s mind, like a stone skipping along a lake. Some things we see are humorous, like our salad guy who just can’t say no twice. Other stories are moving, like the moment our father character first realizes he’s having twins. Most of the moments fall somewhere in between, like the guacamole order, which gives audiences a glimpse into a moment where they can say “Damn, I’ve been there too.”
The human experience is not just serious or comedic. Life is a beautiful and surprising spectrum of experience, and questions of money can pop up in any part of that experience. At the end of the piece, we want viewers to leave emotionally connected to the moments they’ve seen, asking themselves “if one of those people were me, what would my question be?”
PERSPECTIVE:
By removing faces from the piece, the video not only takes on a new degree of intrigue, but that abstraction also enables the audience to empathize with these characters in a deeper way; actively searching within each shot to understand the context of each character and more easily imagining a version of themselves among the cast. I love telling stories through narrow visual conceits like this because it allows the viewer to quickly get into a flow, moving seamlessly through microstories and allowing them to focus on only what’s relevant to the story you’re telling.
VISUAL APPROACH:
It’s highly important that these spots have a style that is visually captivating without sacrificing sincerity. I want this campaign to not only look beautiful, but to be eye-catching. It’s hard to be as eye-catching as a pretty face, so our visual approach needs to be innovative. The more I read through the script, the more excited I’ve become about embracing the 4:3 aspect ratio. 4:3 has a taller, almost IMAX feel that really expands the scope beyond cinematic proportions. At the same time, 4:3 brings the environment confronting each character into focus, immersing us in their reality from the first glance. This is not a make-or-break aspect of the approach, but I strongly feel it would elevate the campaign. I’ve attached references to recent projects utilizing this same 4:3 aspect ratio, including a recent documentary short I made for POST-ITS.
Filming these shots from a slightly elevated angle in almost imperceptible slow motion (36fps instead of the standard 24) will create the sensation of floating behind the characters in their subconscious. These moments would either be captured statically or with a gimbal for subjects in motion like the jogger. Keeping the perspective at a slightly high angle puts the character in better context with space around them. Their bodies don’t fully eclipse the space ahead of them. Instead, this camera position shows the figure in relation to their world, making it more immersive and easier for the viewer to orient themselves. Rather than being directly behind the shoulder blades, the camera shows the top of the head to reveal what’s before them.
Lighting will always be motivated by a natural, practical source so that each environment possesses its own distinct color palette. Different environments, lit in different ways, with their own unique color temperatures will distinguish each character and space.
4:3 REFERENCES:
Post-It:
BOSE:
TIMBERLAKE / Dance:
SCRIPT:
Music plays. Melodic to set a contemplative mood. It’s a cool vibe that leaves you wondering where the story is about to take us.
A man looks out the window. The horizon is clear. Blue skies peek through patchy clouds. Over this, a graphic burns in:
To all of the people questioning right now…
Cut to a man unbagging a to-go salad at his desk and eyeing the receipt as the delivery man disappears into the background, “What kind of salad costs $20?” He shakes his head.
Match cut to a woman jogging in place before a picturesque craftsman house. “How do people just BUY a house?”
Cut to a man in a chair leaning close to his wife sitting on a bed right in front of him receiving an ultrasound from an OB/GYN. Beyond them, we see the monitors and accoutrements of an exam room, all slightly out of focus. We can’t make out the grainy image on the ultrasound, but what, at first, sounds like one heartbeat clearly becomes two. “Is that a SECOND heartbeat?” His wife’s head turn to him in amazement, revealing her face, but before both can fully react we cut.
Cut to a woman lying down in bed. The camera is 90 degrees and behind her, maintaining the framing of all the characters before. She is awake and fidgety. Her partner is asleep in front of her “Wait…am I supposed to be investing?”
Back to the office where our Salad Man, in different clothes, is removing the salad from the bag, ignoring the receipt altogether, “How am I now ordering this salad two days in a row?”
A group of friends at a circular table in a nice restaurant looks toward our character. Our woman holds the bill in her hand, wondering, “Should I put it all on my card and get the points?” The friends appear relieved not to have to do any more math.
Cut to a man in a bespoke suit with a weekender bag slung over his shoulder at the front desk of a luxury hotel. The courteous desk concierge looks on as the man wonders, “Should I put it all on THIS card and get the points?”He turns his head to the right.
Match cut on the Mom turning her head to the right as she stands behind the open gate of a minivan. A gaggle of children all approach from a house with suitcases and backpacks in tow as Dad locks the door of the house behind them. Mom asks, “How can anyone do this without points?”
A man stands across the street from the marquee of a concert venue. He peruses tickets on his phone, “Can I afford to miss this?”
Cut to a woman holding the hand of her husband sitting in a chemotherapy chair as an IV dangles from her arm. Her husband attends to her, giving her enough slack on the IV. “Can I afford to fight this?”
At the counter of a ‘design your own burrito’ restaurant, our character has just been asked for his order by an employee “Can I afford the extra guacamole?”
Match cut to an elderly retired woman on vacation, overlooking a stunning vista. “To all those questioning: Do I deserve a better future?”
She takes a deep breath of fresh air.
The voiceover concludes, “We’ve got your back.”
She walks out of frame. Mission accomplished.
Music crescendos. End cards appear over the beautiful vista.
For all your money questions.
Turn to the nerds.
Cut to card with the NerdWallet logo.
PERFORMANCES:
Every moment in the piece should feel like our camera just stumbled upon it. Maintaining authenticity and subtlety in our performances is vital and the relationship between subject and camera means these performances will rely heavily on blocking.
Once our shot is blocked and we’re ready to film, I work closely with every department to create an environment that puts our talent at ease. My crews avoid using production speak like ‘roll camera’, ‘all quiet’ or even ‘action’ so that the actors do not feel like they are on display as the cameras roll. This technique is especially vital for the non-actors we will cast in small roles here. Once we create an open, comfortable space for performers to work, they inhabit these characters and truly bring their scenes to life.
CASTING:
There is a large variety of human moments we need to capture in this piece, and these different types of performances will require different casting styles.
My philosophy has always been that the most real moments come from finding real people, and at Whitelist, we have immense experience casting and collaborating with non-actors. Working with real people is both a creative win for authenticity as well as a practical advantage for crafting complex scenes at a fraction of the cost. Not only will we cast real individuals, but the magic comes to life when we get to cast real GROUPS of people – real families, real friend circles, real couples. Our restaurant squad should feel instantly comfortable with one another and our vacation family should feel just as relaxed around one another.
At the same time, it will be just as vital to cast professional actors to breathe authenticity into our more staged scenes, such as the ultrasound and the cancer treatment.
Diversity is an absolute must. NerdWallet speaks to everyone and as such, all races and genders should be represented here. The US is one of the most diverse countries in the world and this spot will reflect that. Distinguishing our characters from one another will be crucial for the audience to understand they are experiencing the perspectives of many rather than a single person.
LOCATIONS & PRODUCTION DESIGN:
The environments surrounding each character reveal so much about their identity and background. As with casting, we want to scout locations with personality. These are not ‘cookie-cutter’ environments. They are fully fleshed, lived-in spaces. Once we’ve found the appropriate location for each moment, our production design can guide it towards our intended use. The production design should be so effortless that it’s unmistakably authentic. We aren’t living in these moments for more than a couple seconds so each set needs to be meticulously dressed within the frame so the viewer can determine where we are at first glance.
WARDROBE:
Exclusively seeing the backs of our subjects places greater emphasis on wardrobe, hairstyling and accessories to build character. Whether it’s a perfectly tailored suit, slicked hair, or a colorful dress complemented by brightly colored hairpins, every detail can say a lot about the character’s life, personality and even their socioeconomic background. We don’t have the luxury of seeing their faces. Wardrobe gives us a sense of seeing everything else about them.
EDITING AND TRANSITIONS:
I love this concept because it covers so much of the human experience. Viewers tend to tune out as soon as they feel like they’re watching an unrelated series of shots, which is why it’s so vital to maintain a clear and seamless flow from shot to shot. By framing each shot identically, every cut will be a match cut. A new character and location will replace the one that came before, but play as the next link in the chain rather than an unrelated vignette. The size of the characters in frame will match precisely for a seamless transition. That continuity extends to body movement. If a character turns their head to the right in one frame, the next character will continue the motion in that same direction.
THANK YOU:
Finances are such a complex part of life, and for a lot of people that can feel like an impossibly tall mountain to climb. NerdWallet simplifies matters. Giving normal people the confidence to take control of their finances, NerdWallet boils conventional wisdom down to common sense and in doing so, are able to solve a myriad of problems for working people. I would love to be a part of this project.
Thanks for thinking of me.
-RK
Patrick McConville 