Nadav Kander & Sam Walker on Age UK

It's an unassailable fact of life that, if we're lucky, we'll all get old. But that's not a bad thing and this new spot for Age UK from Karmarama London, directed by legendary photographer Nadav Kander, looks to reiterate that point.

Called Time Flies, the beautiful, black and white film is set to a poem written by British poet Roger McGough and voiced by the inimitable Christopher Lee. Below, Sam Walker from Karmarama and Kander reveal their approach to the project, how they cast so many different people and what Sir Christopher Lee was integral to the outcome.

What was the brief you received from the client?

SW: The brief was to launch 'Love Later Life' and make people understand that the issues faced in ageing relate to us all.

Were there other ideas and approaches discussed before you decided on this one?

SW: There were lots of ideas varying in tone. Some funny, some dramatic but in the end we decided the most appropriate tone was poignant and gently optimistic.

What attracted you to this particular script?

NK:Ageing is as natural as life itself but popular culture and imagery has "airbrushed" its existence. There cannot be young with out having old. I endeavour with all my work to show how humans exist and inhabit the planet. What better way than a portrait of ageing.

Sam and Joe from Kamarama were very rigorous and caring which I always enjoy. I got a gut feeling we would make something special together. The small things, when paid attention to, together make a better whole.

Why did you feel this particular idea worked best?

SW: It's a very simple idea that unites everyone, from infants to those in later life. Every subject is given equal prominence and treated with dignity. We dressed everyone in similar-coloured clothes and kept the background consistent so that viewers would focus primarily on people's faces.

The cast comprises non-actors/models and represents a cross section of society. There was no censorship when it came age, race or appearance.

The film is set to a poem by British poet Roger McGough; how did that come about?

SW: We wanted a bespoke poem about the ageing process that was thoughtful, poignant and affecting. Roger McGough has a style that is accessible but also truthful. We wanted something that spoke to everybody and he seemed like the right choice. He is a brilliant poet and age hasn't slowed him down.

Nadav Kander shot the film; why did you feel he was right for the project and what did he bring to it?

SW: Right from the start we wanted to use a photographer as opposed to a conventional “advertising” director. We talked to a number of interesting directors but felt a stills specialist would bring something different to the proceedings.

Nadav really gets under the skin of his subjects and there's a real honesty to his portraits. This is something we felt was really important.

There are a lot of people in the film; can you tell us a bit about the casting process?

SW: The casting process was unique, using real people from all walks of life. It wasn’t the typical ad casting process where the people considered have to be conventionally photogenic. The aim was to include people of every age group, that everyone can relate to.

There are several subjects who are over 100 years old and some had significant health problems. It was particularly important for us to create an honest representation of ageing but also one with dignity. 

NK: It was important to me to represent a face of mankind that was not too styled or cleverly shaped in any way. The cast were 100 people who looked typical, and because they were typical they became interesting as a whole.

Why did you feel that Christopher Lee was the right voice over for the film?

SW: We were, frankly, amazed when Christopher Lee agreed to participate. He's 92 and has been in more films than anyone in history, but he's never done an ad. He read Roger's poem and immediately connected with it. When briefing him, he stopped us and said 'this poem is basically about me, I'm speaking about myself'. It was the perfect response.

He has a unique voice, is incredibly charismatic and imbues the poem with emotion that hopefully all audiences will respond to. For us he is the embodiment of Love Later Life; in his twilight years, he is still a major Hollywood film star, having appeared in everything from Dracula, to Star Wars and the latest Hobbit film. He is a true icon.

How difficult – and how important - was the decision for the VO?   

SW: For us it was crucial. Nadav brought something different to the visuals. Roger wrote something unique and memorable. And Christopher brought gravitas but also unexpected poignancy and humanity. The moment he starts speaking, you listen.

What was the most difficult part of the production overall?

SW: To be honest, the whole thing was a lot more difficult than we or Nadav had expected. The lighting change but also the camera move was something that took a good day and half of tests to work out, and even then there was an element of trusting our judgement.

The edit also gave Sam Sneade, our editor at Speade, a massive headache. It's like a concertina. If you change one thing, everything changes. And then you go back to the start. We played extensively with the edit and tried to give it a shape that ebbed and flowed with the poem, sometimes with, sometimes against. Again, there have been a lot of films featuring rattling through lots of people and we tried to find our own path.

NK: Well, thankfully Partizan put a great team together and Tim Sidel, the DP, was on his game, so no hardships there.

The Casting was a challenge, but for the reasons above it was long, but ok.  I think the editing - to show a rise in age and smoothness of camera move - was the hard part.

What’s your secret for ‘thinking yourself younger’?

SW: Try not to worry about it and keep saying yes to things. If that fails, grow and beard and shave it off in about ten year's time.

NK: Accepting that I am getting older.