press release
SCANA 'Snap'
When Playing with Fire is Fun
Eyeball creates private dance party in three new spots for SCANA Energy.
NEW YORK October, 2007 - Pretending as if people aren't watching you, when you know they are, isn't easy. It's even harder when you're also supposed to be dancing with a floating flame that you can't see. Pulling off that feat is why Eyeball's three new television spots for SCANA Energy, a power company serving the Carolinas and Georgia, are all the more striking - they make the above scenario believable.
Connecting crisp finger snaps of dancers with the powering on of gas appliances in the back-ground, the new spots integrate the actors into a multilayered environment without distracting from the message of the spots.
"From the very beginning, Eyeball came with a well-thought-out plan and had all the resources available to execute it," said Bill Tomassi, art director of the commercials for JWT Atlanta, the ad agency on the project.
And with the strategy laid out early, creating a powerful and effective visual environment became the focus, allowing the creative team's ability to flourish without the shackles of conceptualizing on the fly.
"The job went very smoothly," said Limore Shur, chief creative at Eyeball and its founder. "Bill Tomassi and copywriter David Cohen are talented and terrific to work with, which made the job a great experience."
The positive vibes come through in the spots - lively montages of regular people dancing in their bathrooms, their living rooms, their kitchens. Music bursts with jazzy undertones that sound like a prolonged smile, while the voiceover and dancers' movements mesh perfectly with the soundtrack's rhythm.
But it took time to get it right. Shur worked out the timing issues with Alex Moulton, president of Expansion Team, which produced the soundtrack. Shur and Moulton linked layers one at a time, breaking down how the different elements would work best together.
"There were planes of information supporting the idea," said Shur. "It was an intricate way to communicate a simple message, so it was important that everyone on the project was fully involved, especially the client.
"When there is an open forum for communication, everyone is able to contribute their knowledge. We try to keep that throughout the process so it's collaborative, so the client has a voice, and it's a valuable voice."
It's a philosophy gleaned from experience. With Eyeball in its fourteenth year, they understand the needs of agencies and recognize potential problems, which are only made worse when a client is shut out of the creative process.
"If there's a hole in your message, the client will find it," said Shur. "Our job is to make sure there aren't any holes. We fill the gap between the agency and the final product. We think about everything - the print, the television, the Web. That's what agencies want, and the old ideas about confining yourself to certain niches don't work anymore."
This capacity to handle multiple aspects of a job allows Eyeball to fulfill a broader spectrum of its clients design needs, which was especially evident while creating the SCANA spots.
"The production was seamless," said JWT's Tomassi. "Eyeball produced everything in-house, not only directing and producing the spots, but also designing the effects. With a group of talented designers who were able to work on all the CG backgrounds, they made my job easier. They are very dedicated to creating work at the highest level."
