(Photo credit: Eugen Merher)
Imagine you’re in film school. For a class assignment you’ve been asked to create a spec commercial for any brand you choose. You research, plan, assemble your team, write, cast, shoot and edit over the course of a couple months. You turn in the assignment and then move on to the next challenge. So far, so normal.
Now imagine you post this spec ad to your personal YouTube page, where it sits without much notice for several weeks until it begins to take on a life of its own. The next thing you know, the video is racking up millions of views and publications like Adweek and The Huffington Post clamor for an interview. What’s a young director to do?
Well, if you’re Eugen Merher, you hold on tight and enjoy the ride. He and his team of budding video production professionals at Film Academy of Baden-Württemberg in Germany were surely surprised that their emotional Adidas spec ad received so much attention, but they’re already looking to the future.
Below, Tongal chats with the student director about this breakout moment and what he’s up to next.
Tongal: How does it feel to have this Adidas spec ad seen by so many people? Is this the first time your work has gone viral?
Eugen: It’s the first time that something I wrote and directed has gone viral. It feels great to have a message conveyed to so many people. I [continue to] receive a lot of emotional response from people of all ages and it makes me proud to have created something that inspires so many people.
At Tongal, our creative network has the option to participate in the Projects of their choosing for the brands they are most excited about. Out of all the brands you could have chosen for your spec ad assignment, why did you go with Adidas?
E: When I had the story in mind, I first thought of Nike shoes. But after I started researching I realized that Adidas has a longer history in making marathon shoes than Nike, so I went with Adidas.
Have you always been interested in advertising? What are your other film aspirations?
E: I love film as a storytelling medium because it can reach many people and resonate with everyone. I started to get specifically into advertising when I was an exchange student at the University of Oregon in the U.S. I took advertising classes and found advertising to be much more than just cheap, annoying product commercials. I found it has the potential to reach a lot of people with concise messages not just about products, but also about human endeavors and philosophical ideas. My long-term career goal is to create feature films that touch people’s hearts while training my skills in precise storytelling through commercials.
Your latest spot for Baufix features a large cast of characters and a lot of destruction. What was your biggest challenge in creating this piece and how did you overcome it?
E: Our biggest challenge was to destroy a house without actually destroying it, because the budget wouldn’t allow for that. We also had to plan the destruction very carefully because due to a huge logistical effort we couldn’t shoot chronologically.
What really impressed us about both the Adidas and Baufix spots is your eye for storytelling. How do you approach establishing characters and a complete narrative in such a short amount of time?
E: I love to establish characters visually through their bodily poses and habits. I also prefer to establish characters by showing their reactions towards different situations. Because commercials are so time-limited I try to find simple key moments to establish a character with only a few cuts, so I can head straight to the story and have the viewer enjoy as much of it as possible.
What are you up to next? Where is the best place for people to follow your work?
E: I’m currently working on a spec commercial for an online-dating platform and a science-fiction short film that I will be shooting in July this year. Another spec commercial I shot in December 2016 is almost finished and will soon be released on my website: www.eugen-merher.com
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Thanks to Eugen for taking the time to speak with us! If you spot any amazing spec ads in the wild, be sure to share them with us in the comments.
