Titled “Purpose,” this spot is the centerpiece of a campaign for the U.S. Space Force, a new branch of the military. “Purpose” is one of two Space Force commercials conceived by Austin, Texas-based ad agency GSD&M, directed by Will Johnson and Chris Finn of bicoastal studio Scholar, and tapping into such notable talent as Oscar-winning (Life of Pi) cinematographer Claudio Miranda, as well as production designer Michael Broaddus and line producer Richard Kaylor.
The campaign dives deeply into our collective human sense of adventure, while aiming to inspire and excite a new generation about the future of space. To formulate their storytelling approach and concepts, the directors and designers met extensively with Space Force representatives. “Our ultimate goal was to shoot everything on location, using as much practical set dressing and in-camera art direction as possible,” Johnson said. “Knowing we could always add layers of design and aesthetics, we mainly saw these stories through the eyes of narrative and filmmaking.”
Finn added, “We sought to create a tone and look that felt relatable to space as it’s historically been represented, staying firmly grounded in reality. The cinematic approach we chose gave us the flexibility to balance massive rocket launch locations or the vastness of space with tight intimacy of the Space Force professionals on the ground…with shallow depth of field pulling the focus to performances, while wrapping our heroes in the glow of technology and UI design.”
On the technical side, DP Miranda and the directors chose Sony’s VENICE Digital Cinema Camera for photography, using vintage lens packages and streak filters to offer the creative look of anamorphic style lenses without limiting aspect ratios. And in postproduction, CG and VFX were artfully used to embellish live-action scenes with futuristic technology, while providing important context to Space Force’s goals. Scholar’s design and concept art team was essential in visualizing those elements during pre-production, to ensure they fused elegantly into the live-action world. Using a combination of Foundry’s Nuke and Autodesk Flame, CG assets were then assembled into 3D packages and used with camera tracked live-action plates, matched for lighting and composited seamlessly.
Asked about the most memorable aspect of the campaign, both directors admitted the mind-blowing technology they witnessed first-hand–to include Boeing’s vaunted X-37B reusable space plane–exceeded expectations. However, all paled in comparison to the men and women in uniform. “Those service members are genuinely excited about the future of their roles as they relate to space,” Finn concluded.
Johnson shared this hope: “We want people to walk away with a sense of wonder and return to the feelings they had as kids, when they looked up at the stars and were overcome with a sense of adventure.”
