What do advertising and cinema have in common? Both employ similar filming and editing techniques, including shots, angles and camera movements, montage, special effects, and editing to generate emotion. Moreover, both fields combine creativity with commercial objectives. After all, while one aims to sell products and ideas, the other seeks to sell tickets (or streaming subscriptions). Therefore, it’s not surprising that some of the most famous film directors actually began by making advertisements for big brands. This leads to an intriguing question: what makes advertising such an excellent cinematic school?
Why is Advertising a Good Place to Start?
The answer lies in the challenges and learning opportunities the advertising sector offers. On traditional TV, advertisers need to tell a compelling story in 30 seconds. This forces directors to refine their storytelling techniques to convey the message in a radically concise manner.
This time can be shorter online, as the advertiser only has five seconds to convince the visitor to watch the entire video. This requires a great deal of creativity and an innovative approach to each visual piece. It is also necessary to understand the target audience, their desires, pain points, and the type of language that resonates best with consumers. The networking opportunities that advertising offers should not be underestimated either. Cinema and advertising are closely connected, and in this way, it is possible to make important contacts in both industries. Finally, by working in agencies such as Sunday Treat, future filmmakers gain access to state-of-the-art equipment, accumulating hands-on experience with industry-standard tools.
Directors who Started in Advertising
There are numerous examples of talented filmmakers who started in advertising. Get to know some of them.
Ridley Scott
Before becoming world-renowned as a film director, Ridley Scott gained fame in advertising. In 1968, he founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), one of Europe’s most successful agencies. There, Scott directed several commercials in which he experimented with different techniques and styles. His commercials were noted for their visual flair, atmospheric lighting, and cinematic quality.
If you’re over 40, you probably remember the famous “Bike Round” commercial. The story is simple: a boy climbs a cobblestone hill to deliver bread. But Scott’s storytelling skills turned this seemingly ordinary tale into one of the UK’s most famous commercials.
Another advertisement directed by Scott is for the Apple Macintosh, broadcast only once on American TV, in 1984. Inspired by George Orwell’s book “1984”, the production aired during the Super Bowl break and helped place Apple in the American collective imagination.
Michael Bay
Do you also love Michael Bay’s action movies? Bay’s style of filmmaking, known as “Bayhem”, began in advertising. Bay directed numerous successful commercials, infusing each one with his energetic, visually captivating, and dynamic approach to filmmaking.
A great example is the “Got Milk” commercial. In it, a man tries to win a large sum of money by answering a trivia question on the radio. The problem is that the poor guy couldn’t answer the host’s question because his mouth was full of food, and he had no milk to clear his throat. Comical!
Bay’s success in advertising led producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson to invite him to direct the blockbuster “Bad Boys” in 1995. From there, Hollywood and the world became addicted to the director’s high-budget action movies.
David Fincher
In an era when MTV was akin to a deity in the music industry, music videos emerged as the most potent tool for boosting sales of records and concert tickets. Essentially, they were extended commercials designed to amplify public interest in bands and music. It was against this backdrop that David Fincher embarked on his illustrious filmmaking career.
Fincher applied his dark and gloomy style to videos for Madonna, Aerosmith, and Nine Inch Nails, aiding these artists in ascending to global fame. However, he achieved pop stardom himself by directing films like ‘Aliens,’ ‘Se7en,’ ‘Fight Club,’ and ‘The Social Network.’ A common thread among these films is their ability to weave enthralling narratives featuring psychologically intricate protagonists.
The director also made TV ads for Nike, Levi’s, and Coca-Cola.
Zack Snyder
Before making a name for himself in the film industry, Snyder honed his craft by creating commercials and music videos, which significantly influenced his development as a filmmaker.
His advertising work is characterised by an abundance of slow-motion scenes. Furthermore, Snyder consistently employs vibrant and contrasting colours to enhance the visual allure of his productions and capture the audience’s attention.
His most acclaimed advertising projects include ‘Frisbee’ for Jeep, which garnered two Clio Awards and a Gold Lion Award, and ‘Eb Beer Generals,’ a contentious commercial that, mildly put, depicts militaries in unorthodox behaviour. This ad was ultimately banned from television broadcast in Poland but gained considerable popularity among audiences who could view it in cinemas.
These are just a few of the directors who started in advertising and then transitioned to cinema. Ridley Scott, Michael Bay, David Fincher, and Zack Snyder used advertising not only to sell brands but also to refine their own techniques and aesthetic sensibility. They exemplify how the ability to tell stories in a concise and visually appealing way can be translated into a rich and engaging cinematic narrative.
