Tropicana | Directed by Samir Mallal
Director: Samir Mallal
Producer: Michael Haldane
Director of Photography: Christopher Mably
Editor: Ross Birchall
1st AD: Jerald Shoenroth
Production Company: Filmgroup
Agency: BBDO Canada
Operator: Pete Sweeney
1st AC: Julie Kim
Gaffer: Phil Lanyon
Key Grip: Derek Teakle
Balloon Light: AirStar - Brian Collins
Colorist: Eric Whipp
Go to northern Canada during the winter, when the sun never rises, and bring the “sun”. We shot in Inuvik NWT with Samir Mallal directing. He had come from a documentary background, and used that skill set thoroughly in prepping the job, spending lots of time meeting locals weeks prior to our shoot. By the time I got to Inuvik, he already knew a lot of the locals, and that personal connection proved extremely helpful in making the shoot have a truly authentic quality to it.
The key prop to the commercial - the “sun”- was the worlds largest lighting balloon, flown over from AirStar based in France. It was 32’ in diameters, and took an 18 wheel flatbed full of helium tanks to fill up.
There were lots of issues that we had in prepping this shoot: -50ºC temperatures, logistics of shooting north of the arctic circle with limited supply runs, and the balloon itself had never been tested properly until we started shooting because of a bunch of logistical issues.
We shot with 2 cameras on Super 16mm, using Arri 416s. We had three sets of lenses to help us move quickly from inside to outside with condensation. Everything was hand held. Even the last shot, which B cam op Pete Sweeney pulled off by making friends with the local fire department and allowing him to stand atop their firetruck ladder, while they drove down a road with that great vista! For Canada’s 150 birthday, TIFF selected this spot the #1 commercial in Canadian history.
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