Formula 1 Driver Dan Ricciardo and His Helmet Return for Optus Spot

​Annatic director Matt Page reflects on working with driver Dan and his talking helmut for Optus' latest competition campaign. 

DID THE HELMET JUST TALK?​

We’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with Daniel Ricciardo several times now, and every time it’s been a blast. With his whitty Ozzy quirks and charming good looks he has the power to make any production amazing. So when Optus & M&C Saatchi got in touch and asked us to Direct and DP the new commercial we couldn’t say no, we just said yes.

DAN, CAN YOU PRETEND LIKE YOU’RE TICKLING THE HELMET BY WRITING ON IT?

SPECIAL GROUP REALLY ARE SPECIAL.

We were brought on board to develop the amazing narrative provided by the all-star creative directors at Special Group. My job as director was slightly different to something that I’d normally tackle, I’m used to generating a concept from scratch, working with the clients and internal creative departments to make sure the commercials are on brand and on point. This time I had to work closely (well actually remotely, through zoom at unearthly times in the morning) with the creatives in Australia and New Zealand - the 7am meetings are the perks of working with international clients, but you are let off having the web call whilst in your pyjamas..

DOP James Copson behind the Alexa Mini

The magic was really already cut out for me, the guys at Special Group did an amazing job with this. The concept and copywriting was really really on point. All that was left for myself was to make sure everything that Special Group needed was captured, with the right level of enthusiasm - which was easy, have you ever seen DR on TV? He’s a natural - and to imprint the creative into my brain so that I could relay it to Dan on the day effectively and efficiently. All the while James taking the weight off my shoulders and making the footage and lighting sing and Kash painlessly making my schedule come to fruition!

We had been tasked to film two different campaigns and a bunch of internal communications for the Optus brand, whilst only having access to Dan for a maximum of six hours. That’s quite a lot of content and quite a lot of responsibility.

Director Matt Page and DOP James Copson in action filming with Daniel Ricciardo 

HOW MANY VIDEOS?

Tackling multiple briefs in a short time period can often lead to error, overlaps, extensions; but it’s something that we thrive on. Myself and James seem to really knuckle down when the pressures on and we make ourselves available at any point to discuss things with the clients and alleviate any stress or anxiety that they might be feeling.

We planned out that the most effective way to do this was to have each set ready and prepped in different areas throughout the one studio. That way we could take DR from set to set ensuring that his day felt seamless from start to finish. James mapped out these zones relevant to the lighting diagrams he’d drawn up, and we worked hand in hand to develop the right strategy to ensure DR’s enthusiasm - and optimism should I say? - stayed on top from.

It’s nice when productions run smoothly, and one person that really made this come together was Saabeah from M&C Saatchi London. She took any and all weight of budgets and costings from underneath our feet to let us really concentrate on the shoot. With unforeseen covid-restrictions she wasn’t able to attend, however she hooked us up with an assistant producer to help out with any problems on set.

Keep your eyes peeled for more content we filmed coming in 2021 from Optus’s new chief of Optimism, Daniel Ricciardo!