Moritz Laube Makes Flippinull Good BBQs

What are the greatest BBQ scenes in cinema history? The moment where they cook sausages in 'Goodfella'? The bit in 'The Fast & The Furious' where they talk about family!? Er, that poor bloke in 'The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover'? Taken?!? It's safe to say that the humble grill-out isn't normally the setting of ground-breaking motion-picture moments, but that hasn't stopped Coop Switzerland utilising some iconic filmic imagery in their latest campaign for their BBQs.
 
Harnessing the skills of Moritz Laube (repped in Germany by The Directors Club), 'Alien', 'Einbrecher' (Burglars) and 'Feuerwehr' (Fire) are self-contained cinematic scenes that all conspire around the same twist – everybody likes a good BBQ. Imbued with a dead-pan sense of humour and visually matching their Hollywood counterparts, the spots not only manage to provide chuckles through their generic conventions, but also fan the flames of the 'burger-flip'-motion meme that has become synonymous with the brand.
 
We spoke to Moritz about the movielike nature of the commercials, the comedy stylings of Europeans and what it was like to create a meme.

 
How did you get involved in the project?
 
Together with the production company Embassy of Dreams, I have shot several commercials for Coop Switzerland in the past few years as well as last year's BBQ commercial that started a series of films, which are built around the 'burger-flip'-motion – invented by the Swiss agency KSP. After having introduced it in 2012 we could now be a bit more playful around that move, leading to new, rather cinematic commercials.
 
The spots have distinctive filmic styles. Did you look to any particular movies for inspiration?
 
I wanted to give every single TVC of that series a distinct cinematic look. Therefore, in preparation for this project, the DoP Philippe Kress and I watched several films of different genres such as 'Backdraft' or 'Close Encounters of a Third Kind' and assembled a scrapbook with film stills that served as our little visual bible throughout the preparation and the communication with every department. Especially for the film 'Alien', a thorough prep was vital.

 
How was the shoot? Did you run into any problems?
 
We've had a tight schedule, basically two films a day, with demanding postproduction shots and a bad weather forecast. The first day was long but went pretty well. The second day started out good. But as time progressed, crew member by crew member disappeared from set only to occupy the washrooms. It resulted in long cues in front of our few mobile toilets. In the end, even my actors were severely affected. I later found out that it's been a stomach flu that has been going around for a few weeks already and decided to hit half of my crew that very day.
 
We always think that the casting for spots like this is vital. Do you get involved in the casting process? What do you look for?
 
As often as possible I try to attend the casting myself. You get a much better perception of the actor, his or her capabilities and nuances in the acting than through a casting video. The actor convinces me through his attitude, his timing and his "Spielfreude" (best translated as 'the joy of acting', I guess). And then I don't really care about hair colour or body shape. Mainly, I want to see if the actor tries hard to impersonate the character or if he or she can easily be the character.

 
A lot of your commercial work is comedy-based. Is it a tough genre to work in? Do you think Europeans have a particular sense of humour?
 
Well yes, it is a tough genre to work in. But not only because comedy needs a lot of expertise in finding the right angle (believe me, there are angles that aren't funny at all) and the right timing within the acting.  It is more that it seems comedy is a genre that – at least in the commercial world – is rather ascribed to English or Scandinavian directors. But I find that Germany has a few pretty funny directors to offer as well.
 
What marks you out as a good comedy director?
 
I simply like "dead-pan" humour. So, I guess the key is not to try to be funny. And I learned: the less I try, the funnier it is. Most of the time.

 
The films all have the 'burger-flip' motion from the characters. Is this now a common gesture in Switzerland? Have you started a new meme?
 
We started the 'burger-flip' gesture with last year's TV commercial. And we've been overwhelmed by the audience's feedback. Since the commercial was running on heavy rotation, within a short amount of time many people in Switzerland knew the 'burger-flip' motion very well. The client told us a story about a Swiss tourist visiting Spain who saw a man standing in front of a big animal statue miming the 'burger-flip' motion. The Swiss tourist then immediately knew the guy was from Switzerland. So yes, we basically started a new meme in 2012, which in 2013 became intergalactic.
 
What's your favourite BBQed food?

A salted and peppered Angus beef with self-made garlic butter.

Posted on 17th October 2013