Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/877064
32 DGA QUARTERLY SCREENPULLS: NIKE; (OPPOSITE, TOP TO BOTTOM) COURTESY OF BRIAN BELETIC; DIRECTV (2) Human Chain ad with Maria Sharapova when he asked her to hit tennis balls extremely close to, but not into, an unprotected moving camera. There would be no faking it and no special effects because "it was an authenticity thing," he explains. "No matter where the ball was placed on court, she'd return it exactly on the X we'd drawn. Every single time." The Rules of the Game F T H E R E ' S A N I D E A L situation, the directors say, it's one in which athletes are allowed to shoot hoops, score goals, run and gun—in other words, what they do best. That's when they're most comfortable. "They're fine-tuned machines," says Max Malkin of Prettybird. "I think there's nothing more beautiful than presenting them as athletes." As a DP in the early '90s, Malkin worked on Jordan's Frozen Moment dunk-centric ad for Nike, which, he says, opened the door for many of his sports commercials to follow. He's since directed sprinter Usain Bolt, soc- cer star Lionel Messi and quarterback Tom Brady, among others, saying "there's no magic bullet" for getting star-quality turns from pro athletes, whom he's found to be mostly open to the process. "They're used to having an authority figure like a coach around even if they're superstars," Malkin says. "They're looking for direction. They're sort of lost without it." While each case is different, there are some universal truths, Pytka as- serts. Athletes don't like surprises and "love their element." Their worst nightmare, he adds, is "looking stupid." To iron out potential bumps in the road, Beletic gives blocking first so that athletes know what to do with their bodies. "They're physical peo- ple," he says, "so you start with the physical." Emotions and motivations come next. He also hires an expert in the athlete's field to be part of his production team. He's found that it puts the stars at ease and helps tell the story and avoid mistakes. Pytka says he's always ready to make changes quickly if something isn't working on set. There's no time to waste, knowing that the athlete is usu- ally on a tight schedule. It's no myth that Jordan used to log 10-hour days on commercials, but busy, multitasking athletes rarely spend more than a few hours now. Camera tricks and body doubles are common, directors say, because they have to consider the athlete's safety first. Ken Griffey Jr. made a spectacular diving catch on the first attempt during a shoot for the well- loved Nike ad I Got It. When the ad agency asked for another take, Pytka refused. "You're always worried about somebody getting hurt." It can be a fine line to walk, Malkin says, when trying to re-create game-level performances, but that's where choreography, stuntmen and camera angles come in. "In no way do you ever want them to get even remotely close to pull- ing a muscle, it really is a whole different genre of filmmaking." — M AX M A L K I N I