Brave Film Company complete Weetabix Mini-Crunch commercials

Lucy Blakstad, of The Brave Film Company, has directed three new commercials for Weetabix Mini-Crunch.
The commercials 'Sponger', 'Goldie' and 'Zanzibar'are shot in Lucy Blakstad's distinctive documentary style, most recently seen in her wonderful piece on Carlos Acosta, the Cuban ballet star, for Alan Yentob's BBC1 flagship arts series, 'Imagine'. The commercials are full of humour and home truths about the relationships we have with our own parents/kids. Viewers will be aware of the strong similarities between what they are seeing on screen and their own family lives.
Blakstad said: " I wanted to create a style for this new campaign that felt like a slice of life, rather than a commercial. I wanted to make people believe that they were overhearing a real conversation in people's homes. I based it on a real life scene I had shot for one of my BBC Modern Times documentaries, 'Weekenders', where a couple were escaping from their son for the weekend to their caravan, with him completely oblivious to what was going on, only grunting occasionally. The creatives were quite brave going for this style of shooting as the action happens in one shot, with the main protagonist walking in and out of frame, sometimes with their back to the camera. They even managed to persuade the client, which was great because I think the commercials do look quite distinctive and very unlike any other breakfast cereal campaign.
"The scripts really appealed to me - very funny but totally understated with a touch of black humour. The 'Goldie' script reminded me of how when I was little my hamster went to heaven and then mysteriously re-appeared a couple of days later, a different colour. The creatives had hit upon a series of home truths which is just what I try and do in my documentaries, so that when you watch an emotional button is pressed and you instantly connect with people, recognising something of yourself in them."
(GB)