Academy's Si & Ad TalkTalk Us Through Their 'Date Night'

Academy's Si & Ad TalkTalk Us Through Their 'Date Night'

TalkTalk commercials have long had a tendency to err towards the heart-melting. From the coordinated crowd love of 2005's 'Holding Hands' to the multi-award-winning warmth of 'Homes Within Homes', the brand has always imbued its commercial work with a tenderness that provides a gooey feeling in viewers. However, with their latest execution they may have topped them all, focussing on a gloriously sweet rendition of a couple's 'Date Night'.

 
In a delightfully Pixar-esque move, CHI's latest commercial for TalkTalk tells the tale of a mis-matched pair of wall-daubings, journeying through a comfortable-looking family home. A sweet-natured concept in anyway, the film is given an extra sprinkling of tenderness with the choice of directors – Academy's fantastic duo Si & Ad. On a roll after their well-received 'Pals' for Robinsons, the commercial marks the animated debut for the pair, coupling their skill for sentimental storytelling with an unexpected change in visual flair.
 
We chatted to the twosome about the genesis of the project, their involvement in the design and construction on the film and how easy it was to turn their hands to animation.
 

 
Your TalkTalk spot launched during The X-Factor? How does it feel to put a lump in throats of millions on a Saturday night?
 
As TalkTalk is the main X-Factor sponsor we always were aware it would air on the first show, at least we knew our mum's would see it. As for the lumps, evoking any emotion is something we strive for with each piece of film. This is a feel good fun piece of animation and if some people connect and enjoy it then job done. We're happy.
 
How did you get involved in the project?
 
Simple, the kind people of CHI sent us the script which we loved, we hopefully added our stamp to the project and it all went from there really.

 
Is this your first foray into animation? How did it go? Did you have to alter your shooting style?
 
Well apart from a seven second stop frame animated turkey, yes. We did have to adjust the way in which we normally work. It was a new process and therefore we had to learn as we went along. The best thing we could do was draw from our experiences of live action directing. We wanted the viewer to connect and be moved in someway by the characters. We worked with two actors to really flesh out the correct expressions and mannerisms. We then shot a ballet dancer to capture all the moves which we then passed on to our animators. They seemed really grateful and hopefully it helped bring the animation come to life and be genuine at the same time.
 
How did you achieve the animation? Hand-drawn? How involved were you with the character design?
 
We commissioned a hand full of different types of concept designers to create the initial characters, everything from heavy weight movie makers to children's book illustrators. We wanted two distinct styles for the characters.

 
Where did the story idea come from? You seem to have the 'playful romance' theme nailed ever since 'Post It Love'.
 
The story of boy meets girl came from the agency, the whole concept revolved around date night and the boy being late for his girl. Post-It Love led to Match.com which did really well for us and lets face it who doesn't love some romance. It's cool to be able to convey it in a different medium like animation.
 
What was the post process of the job like?
 
Long, it was great and a totally new experience for us. We tend to shoot as much as we can in camera so to suddenly have the animation/post process for three months was something very new to us. The guys at Electric Theatre Collective were incredible, they loved the project and we worked closely with them all the way. Creatively they really understood what we had in our minds and it made for a really effective collaboration.

 
Are you pleased with the reception?

It's always to get a good reception yes, actually what is toughest overall is to please the general public as well as the industry and our two films this year (TalkTalk & Robinsons) both seem to have done that quite well. Job done.