Three (One) O + 24 = Jack's Back

Real-time narrative. Splitscreen storytelling. Gruff men in comfy tops. Innovative torture techniques. "Just do your job!". "Dammit Chloe!". Break-time countdowns. Tony Almedia's little beard. Twists. Turns. This ringtone.

It's safe to say that the TV show 24 imparted a lifetime of iconic images, techniques, characters and phrases when it left our screens in 2010, so the announcement of Jack Bauer's return, and the subsequent Super Bowl spot 'Street Chaos' trailing it, unsurprisingly took the watching masses by storm. Cleverly managing to avoid disclosing any plot points, the spot instead focussed on iconic imagery of its own – a red phone box, black cab and The Gherkin – to clearly showcase the location of the new series, London.

Shot in an impressive single take by LA production company Three (One) O's Norry Niven, the spot places Jack and a 'Lisbeth Salandar'-channelling Chloe in the midst of a firefight in The Big Smoke. We were impressed by the technical prowess and dramatic power of the commercial, so caught up with Norry to find out how he handled the Jack-tion.



The reappearance of Jack Bauer certainly took the Super Bowl by storm. Were you expecting such a positive response?

You always hope for a positive response to anything you create, but try to remain clear on the fact that there are never any absolutes. Nothing is ever 'for sure'. Because of that we try to live in the moment – that the act of filmmaking itself should be enough. If it makes us smile, if it tickles us, if we think it's cool…that should be enough. And…uh….er….no, we did not expect this response….this is insane.

How did you get involved in the project?

We have been developing a strong relationship with the amazing creative force at FOX, at the front of that is Julio Cabral, VP, On-Air Promo Creative, this spot was his vision and he saw it through to the Super Bowl.  And the brilliant Golareh Safarian, VP of Production, Special Ops at FOX made it all happen.  They always deliver powerful creative and the opportunities they offer us are always reel worthy ones. It's an exciting and very artistic process that starts at the top of the chain at FOX with Joe Earley C.O.O. – his leadership has a clear vision that translates all the way to post. He gets it and so does his team.



The promo seems to be in a single, complicated take. Was that the case or did it get digitally pasted together? How was the setup for the shoot?

It was one shot, no editing - what you see is one take. After weeks of pre-viz, story boards, models, stand-ins, hours of rehearsals and two dozen other takes, the one you see was our favorite by far.

How many takes did you need to get it right? What was the ratio between prep and actual shooting?

The move, the pyro, the actors and the focus pull made this a very complicated shot to make perfect. Kiefer was willing to do the shot over and over again, despite the fact that we'd worked it out with stand-ins. He brought so much to the table and of course, things changed, so it was more than 20 takes with Kiefer and Mary Lynn. The ratio between prep and shooting had to be 95% prep to 5% shooting… at least!



When it comes to directing Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub as Jack and Chloe, do you need to give notes or do they know the characters so well that it's more a case of letting them get on with it?

Every actor will have her or his special desire of how they need direction. When you're talking about a series with as much history as '24' there is much that is in stone. After 8 seasons these actors know their characters better than anyone else in the world, even the writers can't begin to uncover what Rajskub and Sutherland know in their hearts. As a director walking into that situation, I had to have strong opinions based on technique and the emotional arc. Kiefer needed to know that I understood that this 'last' season was to be the one where he fought back, where he was truly going to become a wildly powerful warrior for good. So we had to see that in the shot. We had to convey that at first, he's beaten down… and then here comes the weapon… then he aims it as we see the focus in his eyes and the newly found vengeance growing in his face. You have to see this in the spot – Kiefer and I knew this going in, and his performance was central to the success of what we were trying to communicate.

The shot contains an excellent amount of Brit-centric iconography. Was there anything you couldn't cram in? Was it important to get in as much as possible so audiences will recognise the change of location?

Too funny! Yes – and strangely, most of what you see was there on the scout! There were busses passing, there was a post box. We added the phone booth more to cover up our pyro team than to add more British iconography. Clearly we needed to point out that this is London, that's where the next 'day' in jack's life will occur. We scouted 27 other locations before we landed on the Financial District. It came down to two – this one or one where you could see Big Ben, the London Eye, London Bridge, etc. Had we shot there everyone would've remarked that perhaps we had over-done the 'London' thing. it's a fine line isn't it?



So it was shot on location in London? How did you find that?

Security was very high and there were rules on not shooting blanks with our prop weapon, for example. Shooting in London is always a great experience – the crews are amazing, some of the best in the world. Our production designer had done similar 'one take' shots in 'Children Of Men' and 'Gravity' – he completely understood what we needed to achieve. Shooting in London is like shooting in heaven – amazing locations, perfect crews and all of the feature film tools needed to make a blockbuster movie moment.

Did you get any background for the series before shooting the promo? Is this a sneak peak at a moment from an episode? Did Tony Almeida flip that black cab?!

Haha! Sometimes we do get plot points for the series work we do but I'm not at liberty to discuss what I/we know about this upcoming season of '24'. Let's leave it that it will be the best season yet, amazingly explosive storylines, surprises around every corner and you will not believe where Jack takes you! It will be a wild ride.



Do you feel the pressure when you know you're shooting something for the biggest us television event of the year?

Pressure is saving a life on a surgeon's operating table, landing a 747 in 50 mile per hour side winds, jumping into combat against a force that wants to kill you and you with young children back home, all hoping, praying you survive.

Film is art. It's what we do to relieve the stresses of the world for those who truly have pressure in their lives. Shooting entertaining work is a joy!

What's up next for you?

I have a feature film in wide release this week, 'From Above' with Danny Glover, so I'm traveling in support of the film at a few more festivals and markets. I'm also prepping an action film that will shoot in Dallas next year with some incredible action sequences – hopefully some as powerful as this one was. And as always, our commercial work continues to keep me very, very busy.