From 30 seconds to two and a half hours -the leap is, indeed, a huge one for ad film makers who turn film directors. The medium may be different but a lot many ad makers are increasingly taking their ideas and creative visualisations to the big screen to convey stories.
Mollywood, has seen an influx of ad-men turned directors and all of them univocally agree that the technical edge that they have while creating ads is a big advantage as also the training process which remains the same despite the format difference.
Sharath A. Haridaasan, the director of 'Salala Mobiles' starring Dulquer Salmaan and Nazriya Nazim has innumerable ads to his credit, including Mammootty's first Kalyan Jewellers ad, Johns Umbrella ad, Dhathri Fair Skin Cream ad etc. and also international ads for Kenya Tourism and a French commercial.
Talking about the advantages of being an ad filmmaker, Sharath says, “Technically, we have an edge and perfectness, because of the familiarity with the digital culture, the storyboard idea, the shot style and the framing. There is a stigma attached to ad filmmakers that they have a problem with timing, which is not true."
Talking about stigmas, they are accused of being more stylised. Sharath laughs, “My story is about a middle class character played by Dulquer and the most I can do to incorporate style is bring in dream sequences. Ultimately what the story needs is more important!"
The director and writer of 'Bicycle Thieves' Jis Joy has worked on some big ads like Nirapara, Kalyan Silks etc.
At the onset he opines, “Ad films and cinema are extremely opposite in nature! In ad films a thirty second time frame is what we get to convince consumers to buy a product. In cinema one shot takes a minute and no cinema school teaches anyone about the length of a shot; that depends entirely on the film's director!"
Jis says that be it an ad film or a full length film, he takes care to see that the core point is enhanced and retained. “If you look at my film, you will see that every scene has an idea or a purpose, be it an expression, a murmur or a look. No doubt, the experience in my ad films helped," he says. He also negates the point that ad filmmakers go for overly colourful frames and says that he has never followed that and that he has given the treatment the product deserves.
While catching consumer eyeballs is what ad filmmakers constantly worry about they also have several aces up their sleeve as film directors. “We find an idea for every problem probably because we have burnt our fingers early on and can come up with out of the box ideas. We can also think in a linear and nonlinear way," adds Sharath.
Director Premchand who is coming up with the upcoming film 'Behind the Scenes' opines, “Ads are actually minicinemas and the time frame is the one big difference. The technological experience that I have in making ad films, along with the fact that I have worked with celebrities for my ads, makes my leap to film direction very easy."
