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

Taking Credit

Today Lisa Landis left her keys in Production Room 2. I was sitting at my desk working away and Kristi Leigh came in. She saw the keys laying by the sound board and said, “Hey, whose keys are those?”

I turned behind me and told her I didn’t know.

“I’ll bet they’re Lisa’s. Look at that huge Honda key.”

I grabbed the keys and gave them a quick once-over. There was a gym membership card on the keyring and I knew it was Lisa’s gym. “Yep,” I said, “These are hers.”

I paused.

“How did she get home?” I wondered.

“She drove the other car today,” Kristi answered. I knew this was true but I was still confused. I also hoped she didn’t go to the gym. Or Borders. Or the grocery store.

I did my good deed for the day and called Lisa to let her know her keys were there. And then, in an inexplicable fit of smarminess that was totally uncalled for, I got within earshot of Kristi and left this voice mail:

“Hey Lisa, it’s Eddie. You left your keys here but it’s OK. I found them and I knew they were yours because of your car key. And Kristi didn’t help at all.” And I just kept going on and on from there. Of course, Kristi is in the background shouting her objections the entire time. It was one big long mess of a message but it was kinda fun at the same time.

I just feel bad for Lisa, who has to make something out of that whole garbled shenanigan-fest.

-Eddie