THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE: Behind the Scenes

If you’ve watched any TV in the past few weeks then you’ve probably seen those cool NBA ads where they get two basketball players from different teams to do a cool split-screen commercial. Like this one:

Never one to miss out on a cool stylish bandwagon, Time magazine then came out with their own version of the “THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE” promotion….

And so it wasn’t long before Fred came downstairs to my office, plopped the magazine on my desk, and asked me, “Can we make a video like this?”

The look on his face when I told him “Sure” was like that of a child who just learned we were going to McDonald’s for lunch after church. Fred thought it would be fun to do a video parody of the NBA ads promoting The Get Up and Go Show. Fred and Lisa in a bizarre split-screen mash-up. I loved the idea as soon as I heard it.

I watched a couple of the NBA ads on YouTube for inspiration and then came up with a script of my own oozing with faux-This-Is-The-Most-Serious-Subject-In-The-World Over-the-Topness. Within 20 minutes I had the green screen background hung and Fred was shooting his half.

Lisa hadn’t left for the day and, not being the ham that Fred and I can be at times, I assured her she didn’t have to film her half of the promo right then and there. I think she was a little relieved and the next morning she was psyched up and ready to go.

The editing afterward was fun. Speeding up Fred while I slowed down the footage of Lisa - and vice versa - to match them up as close as possible. I found a couple of contrasting backgrounds (the lobby of a fancy-schmancy building for Fred and a hi-tech green room for Lisa) and inserted them behind my actors. Some dramatic background music and a slow zoom later, we had something close to a finished product. Fred suggested the slight sepia tint and after adding the graphics at the end we had something we were sure would bring a smile — and confusion — to the internet.

Or, as Fred says, “the internets.”

Enjoy!

–Eddie

Tags: ad, commercial, fred mcnaughton, get up and go, lisa landis, nba, parody, radio, there can only be one, time magazine, video, WJTL