Director Matt Hodgson Taps "The Drums" for 2011 Lagoon / Coca-Cola "Endless Summer"

by Matt Hodgson—Director/Writer

“Endless Summer” — Part 5

Once we had decided to shoot Lagoon’s “Endless Summer” campaign on Widescreen SUPER 8mm the next hurdle was to find the right music. My goal was to shoot the campaign like a music video—meaning that I wanted the music playing on location as we shot each scene, so that our ensemble of actors would be reacting to the energy of the song while they told the story of a cool new surf-themed coaster coming to Lagoon. Finding the right tune and having it for the shoot was critical… and it had to be perfect. I wanted a song that had a quintessential 60’s surf vibe, that was somehow authentic to the Lagoon experience, all while being super hip and relevant for 2011. No tall order right?

I remember diving into iTunes in search of the perfect song and emerging many hours later having discovered the Drums and their smash hit, “Let’s Go Surfing." When I first heard “Let’s Go Surfing” I couldn't believe it. It was as if someone had looked at my storyboards and written a song specifically for my campaign. Better still I was completely blown away by their sound—it seemed timeless and familiar, but with a fresh vibe and a cool edge, it couldn’t have been more perfect.

I remember listening to the song over and over again and then writing this incredible vision of sun, surf and Lagoon into an introduction e-mail to the Drums management.

Within a few days of my e-mail, Jeff Miller (executive producer) at Vineyard Productions was following up with calls to the Drums management, and before long we were in negotiations. Everyone associated with the Drums was super cool to work with and willing to do whatever they could to make our campaign a success.

I’m still stunned that this all happened, and even more stunned that it came together in such a short amount of time. Thanks to everyone at Vineyard Productions and the Drums for your extraordinary effort on our behalf. Sometimes things are just meant to happen and this was definitely one of those times.

SHOOTING SUPER 8mm, LISTENING TO THE DRUMS

With the contract in the works we began shooting and everything went as I had anticipated. Playing “Let’s Go Surfing” as we shot each scene was key to capturing the reactions and energy we wanted from our actors. Even behind the lens, the combination of the music and the energy from the actors was motivating us to be more spontaneous in our shooting.

After three days on location at Lagoon and a day on the beach in So-Cal, the music and reactions were still just as fresh as they were when we started shooting. The combination of the Drums “Let’s Go Surfing,” our amazing actors and shooting widescreen SUPER 8mm allowed us to capture some of the most captivating, engaging, genuinely fun and totally memorable imagery that we have ever captured for Lagoon and Coca-Cola—honestly, I couldn't be happier.

THE DRUMS @ URBAN LOUNGE

As luck would have it, the Drums were finishing a show in LA and were headed to Salt Lake City at the same time we were finishing our final shoot day on the beach, so Matt Williams and I returned to Salt Lake to meet the band in person and hear them perform live at the Urban Lounge.

The Drums appeared with Surfer Blood (who were also very cool) and totally brought the house down with their live version of “Let’s Go Surfing”— Jonathan Pierce (Lead Vocal), Jacob Graham (Guitar) and Connor Harwick (Drums) were sensational LIVE! Their vibe was infective, the standing room only crowd was into them from the first note—the energy in the Urban Lounge was insane. If you ever get a chance to see the Drums LIVE... do it! If not, go to iTunes and check them out—their vibe, their lyrics and their tunes... rock!

Following the Drums performance we hooked up with Jacob Graham and he was totally excited that the Drums were going to be a part of Lagoon’s 2011 Campaign. We walked away from the Urban Lounge that night knowing that we had amazing footage in the can and a super cool smash hit by the Drums to go along with it. Lagoon’s 2011 “Endless Summer” campaign was going to be unforgettable.

To checkout the Drums visit… www.thedrums.com  or visit iTunes.

• All Photos Courtesy of The Drums

Director Matt Hodgson & Cinematographer Matthew Williams Choose Super 8mm For Lagoon / Coca-Cola “Endless Summer”

by Matt Hodgson—Director/Writer

"Endless Summer"—Part 4

As I set out to create the “Endless Summer” campaign for Lagoon Amusement Park and Coca-Cola I was determined to create a campaign that truly captured the essence of a classic surf film—which meant the look, feel and sound needed to be dead on.

Over the next three posts I’ll describe my thoughts behind shooting Super 8mm in a digital world, being lucky enough to team up with The Drums, and the amazing ensemble of actors who brought the “Endless Summer” idea to life.

THE SUPER 8MM VIBE

I knew I wanted to shoot this campaign on Super 8mm from the moment I envisioned it. I wasn’t trying to be novel, crazy or off-the-wall; shooting Super 8mm was just the right tool to use to accomplish the objective. Classic surf films have a texture all their own; they’re emotional, raw, sometimes gritty, always spontaneous and in most cases very personal—shooting Super 8mm just sort of enhanced all of those elements, while helping us to create this very inviting palette of imagery and colors.

As a director/writer I have always lived by the axiom that long after people have forgotten what they’ve seen or heard, they’ll remember how they felt. Creating that feeling, achieving that kind emotional and visceral gestalt is really my goal for every project I work on, and shooting Super 8mm was key to getting viewers into a space where they could have an immediate emotional experience with the brand story I wanted to create.

 THE GENIUS OF MATT²   (Matt Hodgson & Matt Williams) 

I’ve got to say that deciding to shoot Super 8mm was easy knowing that Matt Williams (cinematographer) was doing the shooting. Matt was absolutely giddy when I described the creative concept to him, because he had grown up shooting 8mm surf movies as a kid. Matt has shot every format from IMAX to 8mm, so knowing that he has the technical understanding for literally every conceivable format really allows us as a team to choose a format the furthers the creative concept, instead of just capturing it.

I know we don’t cognizantly go into every project with the idea that we’re going to make things tough on ourselves, but I think intuitively we have this shared mantra that if we’re not pushing ourselves we’re not trying. While we both knew that Super 8mm was the look we needed, there were a few hurdles to overcome before we could start rolling film. 

THE WIDE WORLD OF SUPER 8MM

For instance, we really wanted the campaign to run 16 X 9 to give it a more cinematic feel, while at the same time we wanted to take advantage of the HD broadcast signal, which meant finding a Super 8mm camera with a wider gate. Shooting normal Super 8mm would result in a 4:3 image that would be pillar-boxed on an HD television. We really wanted the nostalgic Super 8mm vibe with the benefits of HD. So Matt started researching cameras and before long he landed at Pro8mm in Burbank.

Even though he had driven by Pro8mm for years, Matt never stopped by to checkout the latest Super 8mm technology. Phil Vigeant @ Pro8mm was totally great to work with and really helped us make the choice to go with their MAX 8 Widescreen Classic Professional Super 8mm camera (which is Pro8mm's complete rebuild of the legendary Beaulieu 4008 camera), as well as their in-house processing and best-light transfer package.

Not only did the wider gate offer us a larger negative area to be exposed (which is never a bad thing), but it launched us into the world of a wider frame Super 8mm image. On the technical side, it also offered us an 8-64mm c-mount Angenieux lens, 16 X 9 frame lines, off-speed options up to 60fps, and crystal sync @ 24fps, which was important because we were going to be using HMIs for most of the shoot.

To compliment our cinematically hip/nostalgic look and feel, we used 200T and 250D Kodak stocks, because we liked the grain pattern better. We looked at the slower stocks, but the grain was actually too fine for our tastes, so we opted for the higher speed films. The added resolution from the bigger negative area really paid off visually. 

Another big first for us was that we didn’t have a monitor or video village for the shoot. There wasn’t a video tap on the Super 8mm camera, and really no good way to duel capture the footage for playback without it really getting in the way and taking a lot of time. We only had a few days to shoot the entire campaign and a huge list of set-ups.

It’s pretty easy to let how you normally work dictate how you always work. I was always used to having some kind of a monitor to direct from, use for playback, etc… and in this case, having that ability would mean kludging something together which might or might not have worked, or switching formats to RED, Super16 or DSLR—none of which I really wanted to do. 

Then in this kind of weird moment of illumination we both looked at each other and laughed. We had worked together for 15 years, we both knew what we were going for and we just trusted that we would get it. We both loved the same Super 8mm reference samples, we had storyboarded out each set-up, we had carefully art directed each scene, our cast was perfect, the wardrobe was spot on, and we had The Drums cool track, “Let’s Go Surfing.”  All we needed to do was what we did best… I directed, Matt Williams shot… and together our magical collaboration resulted in a campaign that you can’t get enough of. 

LESSON LEARNED

I can honestly say that from a director’s perspective—not worrying about playback and watching action from a monitor, but being right behind camera working with the actors was an amazingly freeing experience. There was just something super cool about having the Director, Cinematographer and the Actors in such close proximity to each other. We got into this really great rhythm; the chemistry was there… it was really very cool. I know that I’ll probably never be able to totally get away from having an occasional peak at a monitor—with shorts and features on the horizon, but I won’t be tethered to it the way I used to be, and for me… that’s really exciting.

Matt2 & Vineyard Take Beach Vibe To The Mountains

by Matt Hodgson—Director/Writer

“Endless Summer”— Part 3 

Once we had the green light from Lagoon and Coca-Cola we were on the clock. The goal? Take the So-Cal surf/beach vibe to Lagoon—located nearly 736 miles away in Farmington, Utah—and do it before autumn hit, temperatures plummeted and Lagoon transformed for Halloween. 

Matt Williams (cinematographer) was on the road the next day scouring his old surf haunts from Huntington Beach to Del Mar for surfboards and potential beach locations, then it was up to Burbank to meet with the team at Pro8mm to look at various film stocks and Super 8mm camera options.  

Meanwhile I was working with Cameron Gardner (art director) to design the look of our customized surfboards and our locations, then it was off to casting with Jeff Johnson (casting director), followed by a preview of the wardrobe stylings of Carolyn Leone. 

A few days later we all converged on the Vineyard Production offices in Salt Lake City. Matt Williams pulled up with a load of surfboards, I had successfully cast the commercials, designed and refined critical aspects of the campaign, and I was now ready for a location scout to determine where we were going to place multiple dump truck loads of beach sand throughout Lagoon. 

From the moment I had the idea for this campaign to the moment we started shooting, Matt Williams and I were committed to do everything we could to make this campaign look, feel and sound like a classic surf film. The surf vibe had to be authentic, the fun had to be genuine Lagoon, and we believed that if we stayed true to those two ideals we would end up with a campaign that would be totally engaging and truly unforgettable.

In preparation for the shoot we had dump truck loads of sand placed around iconic areas of the amusement park where we would show kids learning to surf, building rollercoaster sandcastles, playing beach ball and just hangin’ out—all in the midst of Lagoon’s wildly popular thrill rides. We also added authentic looking lifeguard towers, a few cheesy palm trees, colorful beach umbrellas, big overflowing tubs of ice and Coca-Cola, and yes, one inflatable shark… we loved the shark. 

As you might imagine, dumping beach sand all over Lagoon was not a popular idea around the park. Even though we were shooting during the week when the park was closed, we were creating a giant mess that needed to be cleaned-up before the park opened for the beginning of Lagoon’s Halloween season known as Frightmares.  Adam Leishman—Lagoon’s Advertising Coordinator was key to getting us into the right places, working seamlessly with Jeff Miller & Brooke Redmon of Vineyard, and Scott Arneman’s production team to get the sand dumped, locations set and then moving all of that sand to our final beach party location halfway around the park. Adam’s tireless coordination allowed us to move quickly and efficiently from one location to the next, shooting as fast as we could to get the shots we needed. It was a massive undertaking, but through Adam's on-park coordination we were able to shoot non-stop for three straight days, and Lagoon was still able to do everything they needed to do, in order to transform the park for an on-time opening of Frightmares.  In case I haven’t said it already, thanks Adam. 

The All-Star Team Behind Lagoon’s “Endless Summer”

by Matt Hodgson Director/Writer

“Endless Summer”—Part 2

It’s one thing to conceive an emotionally powerful campaign idea, and a completely different thing to realize it. I wanted to write a quick post today about the team that I have been lucky enough to partner with on this project over the past eight months. These are extraordinary artists and amazing friends, but more than anything I felt like I could trust them to help me fully realize my vision, and because of that trust, I was able to excel as a director and really tell the brand story I set out to tell.

If you work in advertising, film, events or entertainment you owe it to yourself to get to know the following people. Since I will be referencing them over the next handful of posts I wanted to briefly describe their roles and thank them for their incredible willingness go above and beyond, to help me craft this engagingly memorable campaign.

Matthew Williams, cinematographer

For years Matthew Williams and I have been joined at the hip, which has probably done much more for me than it has for him.  Matt is an amazing cinematographer, but beyond being brilliant behind the lens, he is also an invaluable collaborator, artist and friend. Matt understands light like no one I’ve ever met, he’s a brilliant storyteller and his scope of experience is unparalleled—Matt has shot everything from IMAX to 8mm, and has received national and international recognition doing it—just try and find that level of expertise at any production company anywhere in the world. If you haven’t worked with Matthew Williams you’re missing out on an unforgettable creative experience.  To learn more about the genius of Matt Williams visit www.matt2.net or www.williamsdp.com  or look for him on IMDB.

Jeff Miller, executive producer • Brooke Redmon, producer

Vineyard Productions

The new “Endless Summer” campaign really required every minute of my attention—given the tight turnaround, and I needed a production company who would catch the vibe of this new direction and then do everything in their power to help me realize it.

Jeff Miller, executive producer of Vineyard Productions, had just helped me with a creative pitch to Victoria’s Secret, he was helping me take next steps with some screenplays I had written, and it just felt like the right thing to do to turn to him in this moment of chaos and know that he had my back. As it turned out Jeff Miller and Vineyard producer Brooke Redmon allowed me to focus solely on the project and they took care of the rest. When they saw the scope of the project and the required attention to detail, they were right there with solutions and talented artists who could really help me achieve this stylized concept. I can honestly say that I’ve never been so freed up to focus on directing and crafting my vision… but that’s the Vineyard way. Vineyard produces everything from IMAX to Features to Commercials.

For more information on Vineyard Productions visit www.vineyardfilmproductions.com

Carolyn Leone—wardrobe stylist

I remember telling Jeff & Brooke that I wanted this campaign to sing from a fashion standpoint. Because Lagoon is a real family oriented park, we weren’t going to fill the frames with bikini clad beach babes. Every frame had to be tastefully designed, and every stitch of clothing needed to add to the emotion of the campaign. The colors, the textures, the layers, were all super important in helping us create a hip, cool, organic and somewhat nostalgic surf vibe. So when they introduced me to Carolyn Leone I was absolutely ecstatic. I showed up with my color palette and design swatches and she showed up with armfuls of fashion mags so that we could identify our wardrobe styles. Then we dove in and identified specific styles for all six cast members. When I met up with Carolyn and our cast that first morning of shooting I couldn’t have been happier with the way they all looked—it’s pretty cool when your expectations come to fruition. Thanks Carolyn.

For more information on Carolyn Leone contact www.vineyardfilmproductions.com or you can find her on IMDB.

Scott Arneman—art director/prop manager

Prior to working on Lagoon 2011 I’d never met Scott Arneman, and I really had no idea how hard I was making things on myself. Scott is unbelievably talented. It was so cool to be in production meetings with him and be able to tell him what I really wanted, and then have him say, “Cool, I’ll figure it out.” On the Lagoon 2011 campaign, as you’ll see in future posts, we had to customize our own surfboards, we had to cover certain areas of Lagoon with sand—to make it feel like an extension of the beach, we needed a sandcastle version of one of Lagoon’s big-time thrill coasters, a So-Cal beach-style lifeguard tower, a totally art directed beach party and the list goes on and on… and Arneman was always there with exactly what we had discussed.

For more information on Scott Arneman contact www.vineyardfilmproductions.com  or look for him on IMDB.

Jeff Johnson—casting director

Working with Jeff Johnson on Lagoon’s 2011 campaign was one of the real joys of the pre-production process. I had never worked with Jeff and his team before, again Jeff and Brooke from Vineyard were instrumental in hooking us up. I had very specific looks in mind as we began our search for this ensemble cast. I’ve spent a lot of time in casting sessions all around the country, but this experience was truly enjoyable and effortless. Jeff really caught the vision of the campaign from my detailed concept swatches, storyboards and breakdowns. By the time I showed up at the casting session he had already done significant pairing down. I remember only spending a couple of hours in the initial casting session—two days later I was in looking at a short list of amazingly talented actors in a callback. It all moved extremely fast, which was imperative, and I was super pleased with my final selects.

For more information on Jeff Johnson contact www.vineyardfilmproductions.com

 Jeff Tillotson — colorist @ Lightpress

One of the most enjoyable phases of any project we work on is the time Matt Williams and I spend in Seattle with renowned colorist Jeff Tillotson @ Lightpress. Jeff is brilliant. Allowing Jeff to spend time “color sweetening” a film transfer is like allowing Midas to turn anything he touches to gold. Jeff is always on the cutting edge when it comes to working with color, and the creative collaboration and energy the three of us share is amazing. It’s an incredible experience and I love every minute of it. I highly recommend a visit to Lightpress.

For more information on Jeff Tillotson and Lightpress visit www.lightpress.tv

Cameron Gardner—art director/illustrator

Cameron is a truly integral part of my creative process. Besides being an amazing art director he is also an extremely talented illustrator, which allows me to get my ideas visualized in detail so that a production can move forward. In a situation like the 2011 Lagoon Campaign, where we had to switch gears from one concept to another and then react in an extremely tight time frame, Cameron’s contributions were invaluable.

For more information on Cameron Gardner visit www.designcgs.com or www.hodgegarden.com

Matt2 & Vineyard Craft "Endless Summer" For Lagoon & Coca-Cola

by Matt Hodgson, Director/Writer

“Endless Summer”— Part 1 

There’s always a lot of excitement around the launch of Lagoon Amusement Park’s yearly ad campaign and this season is no exception. In fact, as Lagoon begins to celebrate its 125^th year in business and launch a new, one-of-a-kind surf-themed coaster named “BomBora,” the feeling around Lagoon, Matt² & Vineyard Productions is down right heady.

We really dig this new campaign; we’re giddy about our creative approach and the team we assembled to bring it to life. Nothing was left to chance, everyone on our team really worked to finesse every detail from pre-production through post and you can see it in the final commercials. They’re nostalgic, they’re hip, they’re a lot of fun to watch and when they’re over you want more.

Pretty amazing when you consider that we brought the campaign to life in three short weeks, including idea development, pre-production and shooting in Utah and Southern California.

A Change of Direction

From early August 2010 to the second week of September we had been developing and prepping a completely different campaign for 2011 that was heavily steeped in visual effects. But when I received the news from Lagoon that they would be launching a new surf-themed coaster for 2011 and that they wanted it to be the focus of their campaign, I had to scrap everything and start over. With only three short weeks before the weather turned from a balmy Indian summer to chilly fall temperatures and rain possibly snow, we had to move fast.

I remember telling Lagoon’s Marketing team that I’d be back in three days with new fleshed out creative campaigns that we would need to decide on immediately, with Coca-Cola’s approval, or we would miss our shooting window. We were really in a tight spot. To make things more difficult, no one at Lagoon could show me what the new ride was going to look like, because it was still in development. I was charged with creating a campaign around a new, one-of-a-kind, surf-themed coaster that no one knew anything about.

The Ideas Flow

For a day and a half I immersed myself in everything “surf,” trying to get a handle on how to mesh the Lagoon experience with the surf vibe, and do it in a way that would result in compelling messaging for Lagoon while communicating the essence of this new, one-of-a-kind surf-themed coaster.  Amid a flurry of really cool ideas, I kept thinking that this campaign needed to focus on two things: 1) what affect would this cool new surf-themed coaster have on this 125 year-old park, and 2) how would it make Lagoon attendees feel?  With those questions in mind it didn’t matter what the ride looked like… because it wasn’t really about the hardware at all. The new campaign had to connect the fun free-spirited vibe of surfing with the non-stop fun of the Lagoon experience, and it had to do it in an engagingly hip, memorable way—that’s when it hit me. I wanted to create a campaign of surf movie-like commercials that captured the nostalgia of classic surf films, that also had a cool stylized 2011 vibe—all choreographed to a tune that would convey the idea of sun-drenched days on the beach, surfing and riding roller coasters. A tall order to be sure, but we did it!

After sketching out some rough concept swatches I called Matthew Williams (Cinematographer) for his initial impressions and he was totally into it. Matt grew up in So-Cal surfing and making 8mm surf movies, so this was a concept that hit close to home and he saw the potential immediately. Cameron Gardner (Art Director) had the same enthusiasm for the concept and together we dove in to designing the look of our custom surfboards and concept frames. Then my amazing association with Vineyard Productions began as Jeff Miller (Executive Producer) and Brooke Redmon (Producer) bought into the creative whole-heartedly and began assembling what can only be described as an all-star production team. 

The Perfect Solution

Three days later, as promised, I returned to Lagoon’s Marketing team with a super cool campaign direction, an ingenious way of executing it, and a perfect little tune by (the then little known group) the DRUMS, titled “Let’s Go Surfing” to tie it all together. Both Lagoon and Coca-Cola loved he idea and approved it on the spot. Our “Endless Summer” campaign direction was now a reality, and we had about two weeks to pull it off.

The Rest Of The Story...

Over the next few weeks I will be posting the entire story behind the production of Lagoon’s 2011 “Endless Summer” campaign. It’s a story worth telling because it highlights the genius, talents and efforts of some amazingly talented filmmakers, artists and musicians who I feel privileged to have worked with. 

Finally, all of this would mean nothing if it weren’t for the incredible team at Lagoon—Dave & Kristin Freed (Lagoon’s Owners), Terry Capener (Lagoon’s Vice President/General Manager), Dick Andrew (Lagoon’s Vice President/Director of Marketing & Group Sales) and Adam Leishman (Lagoon’s Advertising Coordinator/Go-To-Guy) are truly the genius behind the success of this campaign. Their vision, trust and willingness to empower me and my team to craft this campaign is a reflection of their passion for fun and their amazing business acumen. It's a pleasure to team with them every year.

Thanks to all of you!

Next Post:             The All-Star Team Behind  Lagoon’s “Endless Summer”