Romain Gavras Takes to the Sky for New Blu Film

Iconoclast director Romain Gavras is behind this new commercial for e-cigarette manufacturer Blu, which was released today.

Called Just You & Blu and created by The Corner London, the commercial is a spiritual recreation of cigarette commercials of the past, featuring epic landscapes, cow-herds and the rugged outdoors.

Here, Gavras and Iconoclast EP Anna Smith-Tenser talk us through the challenges of filming the project and the updating of classic advertising imagery. 

What did you think when you first saw the script and what attracted you to it?

AS-T: I was immediately attracted by the epic concept and knew it was the sort of script that Romain could turn into filmic gold. Essentially we were supplied a clear concept (helicopter flown by woman herds cows and she vapes at the end) and it was up to Romain to inject the narrative that shaped the final film into something more emotional.

Receiving a script that genuinely allows the director to add in their own interpretation is such a pleasure and the agency really embraced the ideas we brought to the table.

RG: First I loved that it was not another ‘lifestyle vignette montage script’ [and] I really liked the modern take on something quite iconic and old. And I can’t lie, I love helicopters.

Were there any changes made to the script between your initial reading and the finished film?

AS-T: Romain added the twist that you didn’t know the pilot was a woman until the reveal at the end. We also added in the sad horse (whose herding capabilities have been usurped by the helicopter), along with the rogue calves who strayed from the group, and who needed special corralling from our heroine in the air (thus showcasing even more stunt-worthy photography and aerial performances).

The landscape of the film is amazing; where was the film shot and how did you find that location?

RG: It was shot in South Africa, in farm lands. We used small Go-Pro drones to find the location; a big part of the film is aerial shots so we needed to know what it looked like from up there.

AS-T: We researched a plethora of potential shooting locations; places that had vast landscapes and good weather including South Africa, Australia and South America. There are a lot of factors around herding animals; how long they can run for and in what temperatures, what the running can potentially do to how lean the animal becomes (which impacts the price of the meat they are eventually sold for).

Can you tell us about the shots of the helicopter; the maneuvers look impressive/dangerous; who carried them out and how difficult was that process?

AS-T: We had an amazing pilot called Bronte. Bronte was a stunt pilot and hadn’t actually herded cows before. We nearly cast a real heli-herder but their control of the vehicle wasn’t quite the same as what Bronte could do.

The overall feel of the spot is quite evocative of classic tobacco advertising; was that done purposefully and if so what were your inspirations for that?

AS-T: There is a classic stereotype this was a reference to, and the agency wanted to play on this by turning it on its head. You can see that we’ve modernised the classic macho-cowboy-on-horseback-tending-the-land to a seasoned heli-herding female heroine who owns that outback terrain!

This is clearly shown by the thrill of the chase, the nod to the old way (when revealing the horse) and the level of her skill is second to none, so it’s awesome when you find out she is a woman (a lot of the audience probably assuming incorrectly she was a man).

How long was the shoot and what was the hardest part of the production process?

AS-T: The shoot took three days and was filled with pit falls. There were so many variables to consider and we were heavily reliant on the animals’ performance on the day – which you can’t predict. We had to be careful on the rehearsal day not to tire the animals, so were not fully aware of how exactly they would react on the actual shoot day.

Other traditional factors affecting the shoot like weather and time of day were also big concerns; would the wind prevent our choppers flying? Thankfully we had no insurmountable problems, everyone did their job amazingly and this is reflected in the final film/

RG: With Iconoclast and my amazing producers the plan was basically to capture the spot by actually herding 500 cows; no GGI, no pick-up of one specific action - create chaos and capture it.

And we worked closely with agency so we all understood that for this type of project you can’t have the normal shot list, storyboarded way. We had cues and wanted specific moments, but they needed to come naturally otherwise it would feel staged and you lost the magic and energy.

The tricky part was that cows are not horses [and] they gave us only two runs per day; one in the morning and one at the end of the day. We needed to shoot this whole spot at magic hour otherwise we’d have ended up with footage that look like a random wildlife documentary. 

With the effects of e-cigarettes still being debated, should e-cig commercials be subjected to the same censorship as traditional tobacco advertising?

AS-T: One can look at it that e-cigs are mitigating the sales of real cigs, so there is a benefit to society in that respect, and should therefore not have to be subjected to the same restriction advertising laws.

The e-cigarette began as a tool to help people quit smoking, but it’s fast moved from medicinal to recreational. It’s a big industry and all big products advertise. Cars are being advertised, and we know their emissions are bad for society…