Face to Face with... Simon Ratigan

We’ve all pondered the wonder of aviation and cooed at the incredible engineering that allows us to travel around the world in just a day. Most of us haven’t, though, wondered whether we could make a washing machine fly, and even fewer have tried to make it happen.  

Featuring barbecues, stereos and all manner of appliances soaring above the earth like birds, Avios’ 100 per cent in-camera spot, Fly, first aired at the weekend. We caught up with HLA director Simon Ratigan to find out how he got a petrol pump airborne.

Where did the idea for the ad come from and what were your thoughts when you first read the script?

I had no idea what Avios was when I first saw the script and so the whole thing seemed bizarre to say the least. The idea had come from the agency, 101, who explained that Avios was a new reward scheme that allowed people to buy just about anything to earn flights. Augusto Sola and Richard Flintham at 101 had distilled that into the concept of ‘Anything Can Fly’ and, once we took the project on, it was simply a question of trying to prove it.

Before seeing the making of it’s a surprise to hear that everything in the spot was done for real. Why did you want to do it all in-camera?

We didn’t know how we were going to get the objects off the ground or how they would behave in the air or even if any of our ideas would be possible, but we did know that doing it for real was going to produce some surprising, if not surreal images and so that was our approach from the outset.

The whole process proved to be a series of weird, wonderful and totally unexpected moments that we simply filmed and edited together. Of course, there was much discussion about composition, camera angles and lighting conditions, but once things started to fly, the plans went out the window and we just shot what happened.  Looking at the final film now, I can see how it benefited from that mix of careful preparation and complete randomness and that’s only possible when you do something for real. 

How many machines were built/used/destroyed in the process?

It was easy to write a long list of the objects we wanted to fly. But the real issues were what was possible and who was going to make it happen. Through a contact at 101, we stumbled upon Rupert Brandon-King, an agricultural engineer living in the wilds of North Devon. He seemed only too happy to have a go and brought in professional remote control display pilot Jason Platt to help. Together, with a small team of friends, they worked crazy hours over a couple weeks to see what they could achieve.

The fact that they agreed to do it suggested they were either very gifted or that they hadn’t really understood the brief. We didn’t know what to expect. Then, after a painful series of setbacks, spectacular crashes and wasted ‘all-nighters’, they finally emerged a few days before the shoot with a dozen objects that could fly brilliantly.

Many had been broken, rebuilt, broken again and rebuilt once more just to get them up in the air. Keeping them there was another problem altogether. In the end, they worked miracles and, as a result of their determination and inventiveness, we were able to capture the great shots that we did.

What was the most difficult part of the shoot? Was it a bit like working with kids/animals in the sense that, ‘if the actor/flying barbecue gets the take right we have to use it, so make sure you’re ready to get the shot’?

There was a huge risk factor on the shoot, in that we were filming in the mountains with only a few hours of direct sunlight available to us every day. We had a limited number of flying objects, none of which were replaceable and the steep valley was prone to strong northerly winds. This was a real concern because the slightest breeze would make the objects uncontrollable in the air.

On top of that, one of our main cameras was to be flying around on a miniature helicopter rig. So any mid-air collision was going to be devastating. Throw into the mix the fact that the English pilot flying the objects didn’t speak Spanish and the Spanish Helicam operator didn’t speak English and you would expect everyone on set to be pretty anxious.

But it’s amazing what the sight of a flying washing machine can do to people’s moods. The moment the flying started, everyone either laughed or stood there open mouthed in wonder. And with clear skies, almost no wind and only the occasional crash, the mood remained relaxed until wrap.

Why were the outskirts of Barcelona chosen for the location?

We wanted fine, stable weather, access to a good film centre and a beautiful airfield location. So we decided on Barcelona as a base and begun searching in the nearby hills and surrounding countryside. But airfields, for obvious reasons, tend to be quite boring and flat and our search became wider and wider until eventually we found ourselves at an altitude of 1,000m in the middle of the Spanish Pyrenees at a tiny airfield where only microlights or two-seater planes can land. It was certainly remote, hundreds of miles from Barcelona and a pain to get all the equipment to, but absolutely beautiful and a great backdrop for a film about everyday flying objects.

Did you fly any of the machines yourself?

I didn’t fly any of the objects, but Jason, our remote control specialist, having struggled with BBQs and lawnmowers all day, would put on a spectacular aerial display every evening using his own custom designed model helicopters. I think it was his way of releasing tension and the whole crew would crowd round and cheer him on. During the day he was under a huge amount of pressure, as he knew he couldn’t make a mistake and I’m sure these 10-minute twilight sessions helped him stay sane and keep going.

What flying device would you like in your life?

I want a personal jetpack, Bond style, no question about it. It was hard to watch all those objects flying around without feeling a little envious that we couldn’t. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever been jealous of a portable stereo.