FLORIDA
LOTTERY
bright futures
- JB Carlin
TO BEGIN...
Growing up in Detroit, my father, an over achiever, was always asking me what I was going to be when I grew up. So I was constantly asking myself that question, which was usually in the classroom while my teachers futilely tried to hold my attention. My mind was off wondering, usually dreaming of playing for the Red Wings, or dunking over Jordan, or my favorite, being the lead singer in a grunge band. Not very realistic, I know. But I did think I sounded better than Eddie Vedder, at least in the shower. Yes, a dreamer I was.
So, as I read your scripts, I could easily imagine these teenage characters dreaming up their dream jobs, and it harkened me back to my own childhood experience. I want to recapture that emotion, the tension, the thrill of adventure, all told from an authentic and hyperreal viewpoint. Let’s share these life changing experiences with our viewer and make them feel like they’re living it too.
All our storytelling elements will help paint a picture that is truly real and believable — earnest performances, honest emotions, authentic locations, and a tension that builds and builds. So the viewer believes they’re watching this kid do something extraordinary until we reveal it was all just an eye-opening, mind-expanding, life-changing adventure told in their imagination. However… thanks to The Florida Lottery Bright Futures Program, these kid’s dreams are actually becoming a reality.
A LITTLE
INSIGHT INTO
MY PROCESS...
I’m a stickler for realism. I believe every aspect of our execution has to feel authentic. These teen's stories begin in their imaginations, then seamlessly transition us back to reality in a classroom training situation where they are living out their dreams. But because these dreams feel hyperreal to these young dreamers, we will capture their “dream sequence” in a completely authentic and realistic way.
The way I plan to achieve this reality starts with meticulous preparation. First, there’s casting where we will look for strong actors who can look and feel like real people. In casting, we’ll have the actors run through a real life demo so we see right then and there what they’re capable of. We’ll then let them improvise and play with the scene so we see their creativity and their ease in front of the camera. This improvisation is a great way to learn a lot about the talent's personality and in a short period of time. And I’m excited to scourer the great State of Florida with you and find just the right faces and personalities for these spots.
During our Tech Scout, as we walk through our locations, I will shoot stills with some stand-ins and begin to create my shooting boards. These boards start to give us a rough draft of our finished film. It will start to show us how the beats of our :30’s might play out. Right away we’ll get an honest feel for the blocking and pacing.
As my shooting boards evolve it will become our roadmap for our shoot day, creating a detailed plan that will help keep us focused, efficient and nimble, which is especially essential in the COVID landscape we’ll be playing in. It will be critical to our success and allow us to spend our time, energy and resources in all the right places, so we can focus on the performances that will make this spot, and the characters in it, ring true.
THE STORY ARC
The premise is clear, but worth restating: Bright Futures is a program that allows kids to not just dream, but to live out their dreams and realize their full potential. Because of this program, they will have the opportunity to learn a valuable trade and apply that learning to the real world.
What makes their stories unique, what gives the spots its emotional charge, is that we will really feel the life-changing impact of this experience through the earnest reactions from our teen actors.
At first there is tension because we see these kids in an intense scenario where we would expect to see an adult. So as viewers, we are immediately drawn into their stories. Then, as we seamlessly transition into reality, into the classroom setting, we see and realize a certain level of growth with each of our character’s journey – from them dreaming of the future to them actually working toward that dream in the present.
There’s a lot to discuss, and the following pages are just a jumping off point. As we move along through this process, through numerous conversations and discoveries, we will work together to flesh these scenes out even further so we make them the very best they can be. But, in the meantime, here are some detailed thoughts and ideas I have on how I see these scenes playing out.
EMT (:30)
With a handheld camera, we open on a city street at night to see an ambulance with its blue and red lights flashing. On the sidewalk, an INJURED FEMALE JOGGER sits holding her knee. A few PASSERBY’S stand nearby watching the intense scene. We cut in to meet —
Our TEEN EMT Girl (14-15), wearing a slightly oversized EMT uniform as she hurries onto the scene carrying her EMT gear — her ADULT EMT PARTNER trailing behind her. She hurries to the Injured Female Jogger. She’s vocal and in charge as she begins to comfort her patient, who we learn is suffering from a knee injury — nothing too dramatic, but she’s in a little pain (I know we discussed keeping this PG so I went with an injured knee, but there are many other ailments that will work as well, or we can make resuscitation work, too). We hear our VO, “The Florida Lottery is proud to support education by contributing billions of dollars to Florida schools, and awarding countless Bright Futures Scholarships.”
Right there on the sidewalk, our TEEN EMT assesses her injured knee while making her patient feel more at ease. From a low angle looking up, we see her turn back, reaching into her tool kit for something. As she does, the camera pans with her, catching a glimpse at a bright streetlight above and behind her, which briefly overexposes our image —
We use this “flare” as a transition into our classroom setting. In our classroom, we come off a similar bright light in the ceiling to reveal we are now in a completely different classroom setting with the same TEEN EMT, only now she is a student.
We MATCH-CUT her exact movement as she pulls an ICE PACK out of her tool kit and turns back to her now “dummy” patient in the classroom setting. This is where we realize she was only dreaming of being at EMT. The adult Passerby’s we saw on the street are now students her age standing nearby watching as she goes through a test situation on a pretend knee-injury dummy. Her teacher is there, standing over her, watching her as she begins to put a splint on the injured dummy’s knee. We hear our VO, “So Florida students can do more than just dream of a brighter future… They can create one.”
For our end logo, let’s pull back to a wide shot on this classroom scene as she continues to put a splint on the dummy. Over this wide image, the Florida Lottery logo and website appear.
Another idea to consider would be to use some of the characters from the classroom setting in her imaginary world. For example, instead of the test dummy, we see the same Injured Knee Patient from the street in the classroom. The Teacher could also play her EMT Partner. Some of her students could fill in as Passersby on the street. So it’s like her imagination is using some characters from the real world in her dream world. This isn’t something we would single out or try to bring attention to. We’d keep it subtle. But it is something that the viewers might pick up on after they’ve seen the spot a few times. This would not only be fun for us to play with, but it would be equally as fun for the viewers to discover these little hidden gems with repeat viewing.
METEOROLOGIST (:30)
We open in a real NEWS STATION STUDIO during a commercial break. There’s incredible tension as we —
Cut to a TV CAMERAWOMAN, focused, ready to record.
Cut to a NEWS ANCHOR as she nervously adjusts papers on her desk and looks over at something or someone off-screen.
We cut to the show’s PRODUCER as he uses his hand to count from 3…2...1, then he points to someone off screen, cueing the live taping to begin. During all this, we hear our VO: “The Florida Lottery is proud to support education by contributing billions of dollars to Florida schools, and awarding countless Bright Futures Scholarships.”
We cut to the ON AIR sign as it lights up, then —
We cut to reveal our hero TEEN METEOROLOGIST (14-15) standing against a green screen, dressed in a slightly oversized suit as he jumps right in, talking to the camera, giving the viewers a look at the days weather forecast — his confidence and ease in front of the camera radiates across the room.
We cut to a MONITOR where we see the actual weatherboard behind him instead of green screen. Behind this monitor however, in the background, we can still see the boy against the green screen as he continues with his forecast. We hear our VO: “So Florida students can do more than just dream of a brighter future… They can create one.”
We cut in closer to a handheld profile shot as the Teen Meteorologist steps toward the green screen, pointing at it. As he does, a stage-light from behind his head overexposes the image and we —
MATCH-CUT this bright light with a similar light in a totally different space. As we pan off the light, we reveal the same Teen Meteorologist doing the exact same thing — only now he’s not pointing at the plain green screen, but at handmade cutouts of a cluster of cumulous clouds strategically placed on a large whiteboard.
Wider framing reveals he is not in the news studio anymore, but in a classroom setting where he was only dreaming of being a real Meteorologist. We see OTHER TEEN STUDENTS and his TEACHER watching his presentation. He continues to give his forecast in front of the whiteboard, never missing a beat as the Florida Lottery logo and website appear.
Like the EMT spot, we could merge his dream world with his classroom reality by allowing his teacher to be the show's producer. In the background, where there are usually people standing around backstage watching, we could sprinkle in some of the other students — even if they only appeared as silhouettes in the background. Again, these are just ideas we can discuss and explore later.
TRANSITIONS
Our transitions are an integral part of our storytelling. Technically speaking, we will achieve these transitions in-camera with the use of a bright light and the proper lenses that help us create a significant flaring effect. This combination, when executed properly, we’ll do the trick.
To achieve the perfect flaring effect, the lenses in which we utilize are very important. Many newer lenses do not flare at all while some of the older lenses, especially older anamorphic lenses, create stunning bright white lens flares with little effort. Older anamorphic lenses also have more texture and render a more cinema “realistic” image, while at the same time creating a highly cinematic look and feel.
With the proper lenses, we will shoot a variety of “flare” plates so you will have some choices and tools in post to help the flare transition, if needed. This allows you to add more flare to your transition. There are other tricks to achieving these seamless transitions as well.
If you decide you want to use a little less flare and incorporate a little more of the match-cut to seamlessly blend these two worlds together, you can use a motion blur effect in post to help. There’s a natural motion blur that happens when panning or tracking a moving image. Using that motion blur can be an easy way to blend two worlds together in a totally seamless way.
To utilize the proper match-cut, we will carefully match our character’s movements on set so they blend together perfectly. There are also a variety of technical factors that we’ll utilize on set to help their movements match, like using the same lenses, focal lengths, lens distance, and lens height when filming to two scenes. We will also record the images on a monitor and have the ability to cross-fade the two images together right there on set, having the ability to toggle them, allowing us to see just how close the characters movements match.
However, a more dramatic lens flare that overexposes the image, even if only for a few frames, will help to hide the flaws in the characters movements, allowing you to blend the two worlds with ease.
In the end, the goal is to give you the proper tools and coverage so you have some nice choices once you’re in the edit, allowing you to create the most stunning transitions that captivate and wow the viewer.
Here are some examples of projects I’ve shot with anamorphic lenses. A few of these spots were also shot full frame, but then outputted later in HD (16:9) for broadcast.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
The life and energy of our subjects in their natural environments will guide us. The cinematography for this spot will capture the mood and tone essential for each poignant beat. The unifying look and feel will be authentic and cinematic, or as I like to call it — cinematic realism.
We will be mostly handheld, which will help us create the realism we’re going for, as well as to help us create a sense of urgency that will enhance the drama on screen. However, there may be times where we will want to put the camera on dolly or even locked off on sticks. The juxtaposition of these images will further engage the viewers and make the edit pop.
I’m honestly obsessed about cinematography. I am always looking for new perspectives, new angles and compositions, new ways to move through a scene, and I’m excited to do that with you on this project.
CINEMATOGRAPHY REFERENCES
We will remain consistent with our themes of energy and life. Bianca Cline is a DP I work with a lot. Her work embodies the raw energy and authentic playful spirit I aim to achieve in our films.
Casting is clearly a huge part of getting this right. The cinematic beauty we capture has to mix seamlessly with honest humanity. For our two hero teens, we need to connect with them. It’s all about being authentic — faces and body language that triggers something true in ourselves. It’s really about playing these scenes straight, finding a real and diverse cast, and keeping their performances honest and sincere. From my experience, we’ll know them when we see them.
It’s important to note that we aim to finish each spot in both English and Spanish. We will be mindful of this while in our search for a diverse cast, one which speaks to both the English and Spanish speaking cultures.
CASTING
Our locations are characters. Let’s embrace that by using practical locations that look and feel authentic and believable. If possible, let’s get into a real news studio with real equipment that they actually use on the show, and include a technical advisor from the show who can help us use the equipment properly. Same with our EMT. Let’s use a real ambulance, not a “picture” ambulance, and employee a real EMT so they can show us precisely how it’s done. This can’t feel staged; it’s got to be 100% real and authentic.
For our classroom setting, we will research what these classrooms actually look like and utilize the real props that one would actually find in the rooms. If need be, we can always supplement and appropriately include additional props as needed so we make the rooms look their best for the camera.
For the Meteorologist’s Weatherboard, the idea is that the students have to use their imaginations and create their own cutouts for their presentations. This gives us an opportunity to create a board that helps tell his story and gives the viewers a little insight into who he is. This will be a lot of fun for us to create.
LOCATIONS
MUSIC
AND
SOUND
While driven primarily by our VO with music underneath, the use of natural sounds will be a nice touch for these films. It’s a technique that really brings out the humanity and paints a fuller picture of our characters personalities. The music would act as a bed for the spots with the authentic, natural sounds and voices in these worlds layered underneath so they can at the very least be felt if not actually heard. It could be a great way to go for these spots.
CONCLUSION
This is an exciting project. For me, it all starts with the ideas, then comes the visualization, followed by the process, and along the way, we’ll have tons of discoveries, spontaneous reactions, and creative collaborations together. I love living and breathing this process from start to finish -- from our first phone call to edit – fixating on every detail to make sure we deliver something truly outstanding, effective, and memorable.
Because to succeed today we can’t be the thing that interrupts what people want to watch –- we have to be the thing they want to watch. My process, my approach, because we are open to discoveries, open to spontaneous reactions, and willing to collaborate creatively, we allow for this to happen, and we will create the work people will connect with. That’s how we move the needle, that’s how we make this campaign work for your client, that’s how we help to push the Florida Lottery and they’re Bright Futures brand forward.
Thanks for the opportunity!
-- JB
