Day 22 - Robert Carlyle Johnnie Walker Advert
What is my favorite fandom thing of the day? A commercial about whiskey! And I don't even drink whiskey. *g* However, this particular commercial features Robert Carlyle walking and talking at a brisk pace through the Scottish countryside for over 6 minutes and was done in one-shot. So we not only have 6 minutes of Robert talking in his natural Scottish accent (the man isn't big on voice work so it's hard to find much of him just talking), but we also have a video that is interesting from a technical point of view.
A 6 Minute film about the history of Johnnie Walker whiskey. Starring actor Robert Carlyle and directed by Jamie Rafn.
*It was all shot in one take.
*They blocked it out in Hyde Park with a small HDV camera and then in Scotland with some index cards marking where the props would be.
*The take used was the final one they filmed at 8pm on the last day of the shoot (Take 40).
*It was shot near Loch Doyne in Scotland.
*The Steadicam operator was George Richmond, who was sat on the back of a rickshaw being pulled up and down the hill by two grips.
(HD version available: HERE)
(From an interview with Jamie Rafn in Shots Magazine) What were the key things you wanted to achieve from Robert Carlyle's performance? What was he like to work with?
The key thing I was concerned about when we started rehearsing was making sure that the audience remained engaged with the story Robert was going to tell. Six and a half minutes is a very long time to be walking and talking without any cutting. It is also a very long time to be essentially talking about whiskey.
The other thing I was concerned about, having never worked with Robert before, was how he was going to handle the shear technical feat that is shooting a six and a half minute single take. As soon as we started rehearsing however I quickly realized that Robert is an utter genius. Not only was he (as you'd expect) absolutely professional and determined to get it just right, but he also had this abundant natural charisma. He just filled the screen and possessed it. Robert is a natural story teller, and between takes had me utterly rapt with tales from his extraordinary career. I knew as soon as we started shooting, that we were in very safe hands.
What was the most challenging element of the job?
By 5pm on day one we hadn't managed to do one complete take. We therefore had nothing. We soon worked out that the reason for this was the huge bank of TV's which we'd placed 2 meters in the wrong position. Robert was having to slow down his walking and speed up his talking in a way that was artificial and was throwing him. There was nothing we could do but rebuild the TV's which meant wrapping and starting again the next day having achieved nothing on the first day. The following morning there were a lot of anxious faces and murmurings of "fixing it in post". Then Robert turned up and did the very first take of the day in one. As I said - the man's a genius.
Also, while looking up info on the video, I found an interview he did last year where he talked in detail about his childhood for the first time. This rather difficult to listen to since it talks about some terrible times in his past but it does give insight into where he came from and what has made him who he is today:
Walk with Giants: Robert Carlyle
Okay. That was REALLY more about Robert Carlyle than I have time for today! I must finish getting ready to leave tomorrow!
This entry was originally posted here and has
comments. Comment here or there.
A 6 Minute film about the history of Johnnie Walker whiskey. Starring actor Robert Carlyle and directed by Jamie Rafn.
*It was all shot in one take.
*They blocked it out in Hyde Park with a small HDV camera and then in Scotland with some index cards marking where the props would be.
*The take used was the final one they filmed at 8pm on the last day of the shoot (Take 40).
*It was shot near Loch Doyne in Scotland.
*The Steadicam operator was George Richmond, who was sat on the back of a rickshaw being pulled up and down the hill by two grips.
Click to view(HD version available: HERE)
(From an interview with Jamie Rafn in Shots Magazine) What were the key things you wanted to achieve from Robert Carlyle's performance? What was he like to work with?
The key thing I was concerned about when we started rehearsing was making sure that the audience remained engaged with the story Robert was going to tell. Six and a half minutes is a very long time to be walking and talking without any cutting. It is also a very long time to be essentially talking about whiskey.
The other thing I was concerned about, having never worked with Robert before, was how he was going to handle the shear technical feat that is shooting a six and a half minute single take. As soon as we started rehearsing however I quickly realized that Robert is an utter genius. Not only was he (as you'd expect) absolutely professional and determined to get it just right, but he also had this abundant natural charisma. He just filled the screen and possessed it. Robert is a natural story teller, and between takes had me utterly rapt with tales from his extraordinary career. I knew as soon as we started shooting, that we were in very safe hands.
What was the most challenging element of the job?
By 5pm on day one we hadn't managed to do one complete take. We therefore had nothing. We soon worked out that the reason for this was the huge bank of TV's which we'd placed 2 meters in the wrong position. Robert was having to slow down his walking and speed up his talking in a way that was artificial and was throwing him. There was nothing we could do but rebuild the TV's which meant wrapping and starting again the next day having achieved nothing on the first day. The following morning there were a lot of anxious faces and murmurings of "fixing it in post". Then Robert turned up and did the very first take of the day in one. As I said - the man's a genius.
Also, while looking up info on the video, I found an interview he did last year where he talked in detail about his childhood for the first time. This rather difficult to listen to since it talks about some terrible times in his past but it does give insight into where he came from and what has made him who he is today:
Walk with Giants: Robert Carlyle
Okay. That was REALLY more about Robert Carlyle than I have time for today! I must finish getting ready to leave tomorrow!
This entry was originally posted here and has
comments. Comment here or there.