Final Cut Helps ONDCP Go “Above The Influence”

"When you give up the ability to decide for yourself, you give up what
makes you, you." This is the closing quote from one of the ads in a new
campaign for The Office of National Drug Control Policy, which was
edited by Final Cut. The spots developed by ad agency Foote, Cone &
Belding while working as a pro bono agency of the Partnership for a
Drug-Free America, are designed to help teenagers resist negative
pressure and introduce the tagline, "Above the Influence."

The commercials use wit and context to speak to young adults on a
peer-to-peer level without being too overbearing or dismissive of the
pressures they face on a daily basis. In "Fist In Mouth", a young man
sits in the nurse's office at school with his entire fist in his mouth.
The nurse speaks directly to the camera and translates as the boy
mumbles incoherently. The trouble began when his friends first told him
to smoke some pot and then dared him to put his fist in his mouth,
which he now can't extract. "I'm an idiot," the teen declares via the
nurse. "I'm under the influence of others and that ain't me."

Another spot, "Smushed," features a girl who has literally been smushed
to half her size by the pressures to be cool and popular and to drink
and do drugs. When the interviewer asks what happened to her, she
explains that pressure happened. "So, now what?" inquires the person
behind the camera. The crinkled, two-foot tall girl replies, "I don't
know, but this isn't working."

For Final Cut Editor Akiko Iwakawa, who cut four of the six spots, the
campaign offered a fresh approach to the anti-drug message. "It was
exciting to see the creative from the teens' point of view. While the
spots are anti-pot focused, their message applies to other types of
pressure that young adults face these days such as the need to fit in
or look a certain way."

Sarah Iben, editor on the "Awakenings" and "Transformation" spots, also
applauded the concept of the campaign. "Instead of talking down to the
kids, the ads present situations that empower teens to make their own
decisions. 'Above the Influence' is a positive slogan for teens to
embrace."

Each of the commercials uses a different tack and style to drive the
message home. "Fist In Mouth" has the appearance of a documentary film
complete with nervous camera movement, which Iwakawa maintained by
keeping some of the edits rough and the shakiness on camera. In "Tic
Tic," there is no immediately apparent link between the visuals of the
dog and the VO of the teen who claimed he smoked weed yesterday;
however, their relationship becomes clear during a slow-mo (and
somewhat comedic) sequence where the teen tries to outrun the dog as a
dare by his friends.

"Flat" and "Smushed" take on a performance-oriented visual approach.
"Flat" focuses on the friend of a pot smoker who communicates that
she's become boring as a result of the drug use and effectively
captures the silence and discomfort between the two friends. "I worked
closely with the effects team to make the situations look as real as
possible," concludes Iwakawa. "The concepts are so unusual that we
didn't want to detract from them. As such, we felt that smaller
movements with the camera carried more meaning for these two spots."

For "Transformation," Iben says the challenge was to select elements
from different performances and sequences and piece them together. Much
attention was paid to decide which characters worked together at the
same time and to ensure their actions and interactions complemented
each other. "It almost became a mathematical equation to combine the
various elements. I put together a rough cut in terms of what was and
wasn't going to work and then sent it to The Mill so they could
composite everything in a seamless manner. The agency was great in
providing general feedback on the edits, but allowing me to do my job."

Ad Agency: Foote, Cone & Belding/New York, NY
Chairman/Chief Creative Officer: Chris Becker
VP/Associate Creative Director: Keith Ross
Art Director: Keith Ross ("Awakenings," "Fist in Mouth," "Tic Tic",
"Smushed", "Flat"), Daniela Montanez ("Transformation")
Copywriter: Gary Resch/Heidi Hackemer ("Awakenings"), Matt Bottkol
("Transformation"), Tim Roan ("Fist in Mouth," "Tic Tic"), Heidi
Hackemer ("Smushed", "Flat")
Senior Producers: Liz Haberman ("Awakenings," "Transformation," "Flat,"
"Smushed"), John McAdorey ("Fist in Mouth," "Tic Tic")
EVP/Director of Broadcast: Andrew Chinich
Music Producer: Gregory Grene ("Awakenings," "Transformation," "Tic
Tic")

Production Company: Partizan ("Smushed," Flat," "Awakenings," "Transformation")
Director: Paul Goldman
DP: Alex Melman
Executive Producer: Sheila Stepanek
Producer: Susan Rued
Where Shot: Los Angeles, CA

Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks ("Fist in Mouth," "Tic Tic")
Director: Jeff Fleisig
DP: Scott Buttfield
Executive Producer: Shawn Lacy Tessaro
Producer: Darrin Ball
Where Shot: House in Van Nuys, Van Nuys Medical Center, Lumber Yard/Los Angeles, CA

Editorial Company: Final Cut/New York
Editors: Akiko Iwakawa ("Smushed," Flat," "Tic Tic," "Fist in Mouth")
& Sarah Iben ("Awakenings," "Transformation")
Assistant Editors: Patrick Coleman ("Smushed," Flat," "Tic Tic," "Fist
in Mouth") & Ashley Kreamer ("Awakenings,"
"Transformation")
Executive Producer: Stephanie Apt
Producer: Jennifer Hargreaves

VFX: The Mill/New York, NY
"Flat"
Flame Artist: Westly Sarokin
Assist: Nick Bennett
CGI: Wyatt Savarese
Producer: Melanie Wickham

"Smushed"
Flame Artist: Dirk Greene
Assist: Jeanette Williford
Producer: Melanie Wickham

"Transformation"
Flame Artist: Nick Bennett
Assist: Jeff Robins, Tara DeMarco
Producer: Melanie Wickham

"Awakenings"
Smoke Artist: Aidan Thomas
Producer: Lily Crowley

Postproduction Company: Company 3 & The Mill/New
York, NY
Colorists: Tim Masick@ Company 3 ("Tic Tic," "Fist in Mouth") &
Fergus McCall @ The Mill ("Awakenings," "Smushed," "Flat,"
"Transformation")
Online Editors: Aiden Thomas ("Awakenings"), Dirk Greene ("Smushed"),
Westly Sarokin ("Flat"), Nick Bennett ("Transformation") @ The Mill

Music Company: The Lodge & Fluid/New York, NY
Creative Directors: Andrew Stein, Neil McClellan @ The Lodge ("Awakenings" and "Transformation")
Composer: Matt Robertson @ The Lodge ("Awakenings" and "Transformation")
Composer: Judson Crane @ Fluid ("Tic Tic")

Audio Post Company: audioEngine/New York, NY
Mixer: Rex Recker