Axe: Fireman

Space. The final frontier.

Based on the insight that all girls love a hero, Axe is planning to turn regular guys into real-life legends by sending them into space with the Axe Apollo Space Academy. The premise for the AASA is explained here by the real-life legend that is Buzz Aldrin.

Directed by Biscuit Filmworks' Tim Godsall (who gives some more insight into the caign, below) through BBH London, the caign also sees the release of the first real-life hero film, Fireman, above - also from Godsall - which follows the exploits of a brave, handsome fireman as he attempts to save a beautiful woman in peril. It doesn't quite turn out as he expects though.

Q&A with Tim Godsall

What was the brief you received from BBH?

Well, the brief was to make two films that were epic, and kind of over-baked - in spite of a not-terribly-epic budget.

What was the most challenging part of shooting the Fireman spot?

Fire. The most challenging part was making enough of an inferno that it looked right -but not burning all of Barcelona down. Almost all of the fire is in camera, not CG.

How important/difficult is the casting process in an Axe commercial?

Well, it's never easy when the talent specs are narrowed to the most handsome/beautiful people in the world, but that's what we needed for this idea to work. So you muddle through and find people who won't totally blow it. In this case, the search was exacerbated by a need to be comfortable with fire. The fireman is actually a real fireman in Barcelona.

You’ve also just seen the new Guardian spot released; you’ve been very busy but what’s next on your agenda?

The Guardian was a fast one. The fastest I've ever been involved with. We we're shooting the last shot (Hugh Grant) on Tuesday morning, editing all day/night, then it hit the www on Thursday. Couldn't believe that.

I'm taking ten days off now to do some farming and plot a bank robbery.

Is there really nothing that beats an astronaut?

There is but one thing: a spy-surgeon-winger…a hybrid of derring do, intelligent lifesaver and sports hero (if we can consider, for the moment, football to be a sport).