The Whistleblower Commercial
CONCEPT, SCRIPT & DIRECTING
For a show about a man who starts calling people out on the lies they tell themselves, nothing seemed more appropriate than working with polygraph paper. And wouldn’t you know it, polygraph paper is kind of hard to find, and when you buy it, you need to order like 50 rolls at a time. So the longest piece of labor for this shoot was having to cut down a really wide roll of graph paper to the size I wanted, then hand-drawing a bunch of polygraph scribbles. It was an oddly satisfying endeavor, and it made the day of the shoot so much easier. The actor, Karl, was super game for us to wrap him up multiple times and bust out in a variety of ways, so it was a fun to direct him.
CONCEPT WRITEUP
This scene will literally show the trail of lies that Eli has used to insulate his life. We’ll begin with the camera facing the ground as it begins to follow a trail of polygraph paper. At every “earthquake jump” of activity on the paper there will be notes of his lies. “I’m the best boyfriend in the world.” “My job is taking me somewhere.” “My life is the best.” The trail leads us to Eli’s feet, where we can see that he is wrapped with the paper. We pan up his body, seeing more notes along the way sprinkled throughout the polygraph paper. When we get to his face, we stay there.
Eli tears himself out of the paper ferociously. He dumps the scraps into the trash can and smashes them down with his foot. We cut to his hands striking a match and holding it out, then to the match dropping. The final shot is of the trash can with smoke and maybe the beginning of a flame, the show info superimposed on the shot.
A rough storyboard I included in my concept meeting.
SCRIPT
VOICE OVER: There are so many lies – so many – that we all live with.
SHOT: Camera faces the ground as it begins to follow a trail of polygraph paper. We see the first “earthquake jump” of activity on the paper and see a note next to it with his lies
SHOT: Camera faces the ground as it begins to follow a trail of polygraph paper. We see the first “earthquake jump” of activity on the paper and see a note next to it with his lies
And they hold us back, and we don’t need them.
The camera keeps following the trail as we see more notes next to jumpy lines. We reach Eli’s feet and start to pan up, his body wrapped in the paper
The camera keeps following the trail as we see more notes next to jumpy lines. We reach Eli’s feet and start to pan up, his body wrapped in the paper
We think we need them…
The camera continues to pan up his body as we see more notes taped up to him. As we reach his face, we pause for a second as he gives us an “I’m over this” look
The camera continues to pan up his body as we see more notes taped up to him. As we reach his face, we pause for a second as he gives us an “I’m over this” look
…but we don’t.
Quick cuts from a shot of Eli shrugging off all of the paper to a shot of him stuffing it all into a trash can.
Quick cuts from a shot of Eli shrugging off all of the paper to a shot of him stuffing it all into a trash can.
I’m not gonna do it anymore.
We cut back to Eli’s face/upper torso as he semi-smugly lights a match and drops it at his side. (Possibly have a cut to the match falling through the air)
We cut back to Eli’s face/upper torso as he semi-smugly lights a match and drops it at his side. (Possibly have a cut to the match falling through the air)
It’s time to start telling the truth.
End on a shot of the trashcan full of paper, now starting to glow and smoke a bit as it catches fire. “The Whistleblower” title and show info will be appear near the trashcan
End on a shot of the trashcan full of paper, now starting to glow and smoke a bit as it catches fire. “The Whistleblower” title and show info will be appear near the trashcan
ALTERNATE VOICEOVER
Don’t question anything. Seriously, it’s not worth it.
First you’ll question yourself, then the people who made you this way, then the world that chooses what’s “right” or “wrong” or “normal.”
And suddenly everything you know to be true becomes a question in itself.
When you realize you don’t have any of the answers to why your life is the way it is, you have to start over completely to finally find them.
I’m ready to search for the answers. I just don’t think anyone else is.
