Face to Face with... Steve Hudson

Pictures of diseased lungs on cigarette packs and harrowing images of ex- or even current smokers draging oxygen tanks around with them may be hard-hitting but people seem to pay them scant attention. Subtlety, it seems, is the way to do it and this new cinema spot from Hungry Man director Steve Hudson, called Younger Longer, has subtlety at its core.

Playing before the new movie release, 50/50, starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon Levitt which is about a young man diagnosed with cancer, this seemingly simply but very striking film plays on people's vanity.  Here, Hudson explains the spot, the idea and how it was put together.

What was the brief from the client?

The brief was 'to remind teenagers of the consequences of smoking'. In this case appeal to their vanity as most teenagers think they are impervious to danger.

How did you come to the idea for the spot?

The idea came from simply watching an old man taking an enormous drag on a cigarette in the street.

How did you cast the actress and what was the audition process like?

When it came to the casting I wanted to find a girl that was young looking, cool and striking. Someone who would appeal to males and females. The other great thing bout Sophie [the actress in the spot] is she wears her hair short, like some old ladies do, which adds to the impact, I think.

How complex was the post production work in the film?

Post production was very tricky and took hours upon hours. First I shot the Sophie and then immediately shot an older lady in her 60's who had similar bone structure. Paul O'Brien of Framestore then painstakingly drew out the lines from the old lady and 'hand patched' them on Sophie's face. Any post production person will tell you that human faces are the hardest to deal with, but I think you'll agree he did a fantastic job.

The effects in the film are, initially, very subtle; was that always the plan?

The idea behind the effects was to draw people in slowly. The first inhale is very subtle. You sense something might have just happened but before you get a chance to analyse it, it disappears. Then the next you realise you didn't imagine something, something is definitely happening to her face. The last one totally confirms it. This was always what we planned. we knew it was going launch as a cinema ad so we played on the size of the screen and also the fact that we had a captive audience.

The sound design is a strong element of the spot too; tell us a bit about that?

The sound design is very exciting to me. It was done by Tony Rapaccioli at Wave. Its Dolby surround so Tony took advantage of the centre speaker and created a low hum that actually can make you feel a bit queezy, so both visually and aurally you feel uncomfortable. It kind of like brainwashing!

Is it hard to make a charity spot that is impactful without being too preachy?

Charity ads have become extremely hard to do. You just cannot preach anymore. People are numb to harrowing images, especially teenagers. With smoking you cant tell someone not to smoke and hope it works, all you can do is just remind them its a bad idea and let them come to their own decision.

There’s an accompanying app for this spot; can you tell us a bit about that?

There will be an app that will acompany the ad. You take a photo on you phone of a friend who smokes and tell them to blow their cigarette smoke into the speaker/microphone on the phone. It then ages the photograph to show you what will happen to your face if you continue to smoke. Obviously its a gimmick but it gets the point across!