https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et3j-ZsZ-k8
BBDO New York has always been on my radar for great ad videos. Deceptively touching Judo Kid from “Dad Insurance for Fearless Dreams” embraced the reality and takes us back to remember our first dreams. The reason why I want to write a blog post about this video is because the relationship between the father and son speaks to me. In this less than 3 minutes’ video, it created an emotional bond between the story and the viewers. Absolutely a bonus point for this ad video.
The video starts with a scene, the father carries a package walking into a house with police car’s siren in the background. It foreshadows for the neighborhood bullies and judo uniform. We can see the director is building the story arc.
The first sequence is about the boy Mateo watches flamenco dancing video in his bedroom. A wide shot illustrates how much he loves flamenco dance with all kinds of posters on his wall. At 0:05, a close-up POV of the video Mateo is watching. At 0:08, camera shifts back to Mateo.
At 0:24, the dark, scary music starts playing in the background after Mateo realized his father bought him a judo uniform instead of a flamenco outfit. We as the audience know how much Mateo loves flamenco dancing. However, every story never goes as what protagonist or the viewer wanted.
At 0:29, neighborhood bullies’ voice over the soundtrack. We watch his father protect him as he walks past the bullies. The arc of the story is climbing. At 0:36, POV of the moving bus. Camera shifts back to a medium shot of Mateo’s mixed feeling face. At 0:39, a wide shot of Mateo and his father on a bus heading to judo practice. We all know how we Mateo’s feeling, to do something we don’t want to. This story creates a strong sense of emotional connection between the story arc and the viewers.
At 0:44, the rhythm of the video becomes faster follows Mateo through his judo practice, where he struggles at first, to bigger and bigger competitions.
At 1:29, a wide shot shows Mateo’s unremitting efforts to train judo. At 1:58, the story takes an unexpected turn. After Mateo has gained enough skills, strength, and confidence from his judo classes and competitions, his father gives him another package, flamenco outfit. Here it is, the peak of the story arc : a father gave his song the greatest gift anyone could give another person – he believed in his son, Mateo. #dad’slove
After the father and son’s hug, the mood and rhythm of music changed dramatically. From the dark fast beat into a high pleasant pace. Mateo heads down the sidewalk again, he’s walking by himself without fears.
In this two minutes and thirty seconds’ short film, it brings an emotional demonstration between a father and a son. We often asked our story, “is this a story.” This typical father-son story comes from real life, bit by bit it creates a strong emotional connection along with the story arc. Sometimes, there is no need for us to use a lot of dialogue or superb post-production. What we need is to bond with people and dig into the humanity. Show don’t tell.
More : http://creativity-online.com/work/american-family-insurance-dad-insurance-for-fearless-dreams/47809