ABOUT

HOLA
Ah, Mexico. A land of so many amazing memories for me, and a culture I’ve long been entranced by. I’m not ashamed to admit that I have a personal collection of luchador masks. Also a few Dia de los Muertos skulls. An equally unique Mexican cultural artifact is the telenovela. I remember being grabbed by them on the TVs in the hotels and AirBnBs in the course of a life-changing trip through Mexico. As melodramatic as Days of Our Lives, but with contained runs and series arcs that in some ways anticipate the Golden Age of
Television that we’ve seen in the West over recent years. So this is a really exciting brief. I’m itching for the opportunity to jump in and create our own little mini telenovela; play with
the tropes while still making it feel authentic. These three little episodes out of the series will hint at a broader world... the audience will be suitably craving more of ‘You Can’t Say No’! It’s a clever, simple slogan that has stood the test of time since the birth of the CC’s brand forty-odd years ago. It’s grown up with us. This campaign is a great way to move well beyond the obvious 80s Mexican references of sombreros and Zapata moustaches to something that reflects genuine contemporary Latin American culture. This is a world with layers. It’s a telenovela wrapped in a sitcom wrapped in an ad campaign that locks into that CC’s legacy. We are creating an authentic-feeling telenovela, but as suits the genre, we are not afraid to be a little corny. Or cheesy. Or to give each episode a crunchy twist as the CCs inevitably derail our characters. Is this going to be loads of fun?
Si! Si! Muchas gracias!

APPROACH
The Mexican telenovela is a unique TV genre that most Australians are only familiar with in passing. But daytime TV drama is a universal language, and we all know the tropes: feuding families, high stakes, forbidden love, money, power, and emotions worn very much on the sleeve. Throw in the exotic locations and over the top glamour of Mexican high society and you have the ingredients for our telenovela. We want this to feel authentic, like we’re just dropping in on random (very short) episodes of a genuine epic series. Yes, we’re creating a sitcom out of the form, but there’s enough self-parody in the genre itself that we don’t need to push it further in the performances or design. The only twist in these short episodes is how the introduction of those irresistible CC’s leads to comic misunderstandings and awkward moments. Damn you, Julio!
I’d like to start each episode with a quick establishing shot and musical sting to help give us that feel of coming out of an ad break, introducing the scene. This is a commonly used device
in sitcoms and series – from Seinfeld to telenovelas – please see reference of an establishing shot here.
The more we can lean into the grammar of telenovelas, the better the audience will snap right into our fictional world – they get that what they’re seeing is meant to be a TV show. I’d also
suggest using the same establishing shot for each episode – a wide exterior shot of the villa – as this enables our audience to read the connection between episodes instantly and will efficiently drop them into the story world, maximizing our time in these 15” films. Using different locations in the house or different angles may confuse this.
The location, costuming, and lighting will all be dramatic, heightened, and intense. Each episode has its own distinct feel, and everything we see and hear will reinforce the crux of the scene, using the audience’s knowledge of these archetypal plotlines and characters. The music will be one vital element to setting the tone of each scenario, giving us those big emotional cues that we can then undercut with the entry of our corn chips. Critically important to replicating the authentic sensibility of a TV series will be to run a rehearsal with the three lead actors ahead of the shoot. This approach will ensure we have the time to build a comfortable rapport, providing the drama and the humour that will make these spots feel like they are part of a broader whole. We also don’t want actors having to meet each other cold on the day.

Visual Style
A telenovela would typically be shot in a multiple camera setup, so that means everything is well lit in a three point lighting set up. The outdoor scenes feel soft and lush, like we’re perpetually in the glow of golden hour. Our colour palette will be built around classic Mexican ochre colours, but with Maria’s costumes bright and attention-grabbing. The camera moves are overt and precise, slow pushes in, sudden zooms into closeup, everything we can do to stylistically dramatise the scene in front of us. We’ll use multiple state of the art digital TV
cameras and beautiful lenses to shoot each scene, making the scenes pop on camera - exactly as they would if this were the real deal. We want this to feel like a TV show, so the realism is filtered through that lens. It should feel like a genuine representation of a modern-day telenovela. I’d like to work with cinematographer Greg Harrington who is an experienced television cinematographer. Greg shot several seasons of Arrested Development in the US so is the perfect choice for getting that TV series look and feel. Greg Harrington’s IMDB can be found.