PRANK IDD call to Indian Restaurant

1 January 2009

The Skinny
The brief was to do a TVC that said when subscribers sign up with M1, they get free IDD calls 24/7 to 15 countries. With that in mind, an M1 user would have no qualms about calling for something they liked overseas.
The TVC is set in a very busy restaurant, in Mumbai, India. Over the phone, a M1 customer decides to call up and order takeaway. But when he gives his delivery address as Singapore, the bewildered restaurant manager realises it is a prank call.
Earlier in 2008, this TVC won gold in the Viewers' Choice award, where audiences voted through text messages. As the winner is voted via text messages from TV viewers, it underlined the popularity of the TVC with the general public.
Director, Yee Chang Kang said it was really heartening to know that the general public loved the TVC so much. " This means it was really an effective, on-air TVC. It was very much the talk of the town and you will find many spoofs of it on YouTube."
Besides directing quirky TVCs, the director is currently working on a feature film script Hug Me at The A-Go-Go, and hopes to shoot it in time to come.
The Production
The team did not have the production budget to fly to India for the shoot, and it was challenging to prop up and art-direct the location that the team had to resemble a restaurant in Mumbai.
"We shot this TVC at a mid-range restaurant in Little India, Singapore. We were mindful to remove any tell-tale signages that might suggest that we were not in India itself.
"Details like the establishing shot of the bustling streets of Mumbai, shots of food and noisy customers, and little nuances like a bejeweled pen to scribble down the orders, helped a lot in bringing out that cultural authenticity. We even had a smoke machine to fog up the place to create that misty humid look," said a spokesperson from the production team.
The TVC was shot with an Arri SR3 16mm film-camera. The spokesperson said the camera allowed quicker movements in nooks and crannies, and to do hand-held shots, which was more personal and engaging.
For the look, the team wanted the 30-second TVC to look just like a snippet taken straight out of a feature film.
"We worked from about 10am to 7pm for this TVC. Right after, we shot another related TVC till about 3am the next morning," said the spokesperson.
The storyboard was elaborated quite a bit for this TVC. Using a lot more camera angles and shot-sizes to deliver the interesting script, making Vadi, the main talent come alive.
The Post
The post production process took about two weeks from start to finish. The colorist for the TVC did a great job in getting the film-grading right, and the TVC was filled with warm tones and saturated colours.
In terms of editing, the team managed to squeeze in a lot of the storytelling, keeping it quirky and funny, without making the TVC look rushed or disturbing.
Sound design played a big part in this TVC too, as there was a need to keep the sound levels of the busy streets and the Indian restaurant relatively loud. ASIAIMAGE