"I've learned in commercials that I enjoy dealing with dialogue and actors," says Morris. "The fact they have to play out in 30 seconds is important, maybe even crucial. In movies I can sit someone in front of a camera for hours and use the best 20 minutes of the interview. This is not effective in creating a 30-second spot."

While Morris is best known for documentaries like Mr. Death, the Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. and Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, he has directed a geometrically expanding array of spots via @radical.media.

"If it is seen as just a job, it's really not worth doing, even though it is, by all accounts, extremely well paid," says Morris. "It's important to think of directing commercials as filmmaking, as trying to achieve something - and I don't hesitate to use this word - artistic. Of course, don't get me wrong, I can be as cynical as the next guy about commercials." Morris compares his role to that of the pyramid builders in The Ten Commandments. "There are the push/pull men and the stone greasers. I consider myself a stone greaser of the world economy."

Morris has lubricated brands like Miller Highlife, Levi's, Adidas, Volkswagen, ABC College Football, 3Com, Robertson Stevens and PBS. This varied spot work is in addition to directing his First Person TV series for Bravo and considering new feature projects such as Insanity Inside Out and Lobster Boy.

"I'm not sure I keep all the projects separate, but like everything I do, there are different ways to do things using different methods," says Morris, who recently applied several of his theories to the PBS "Stay Curious" campaign out of Fallon, Minneapolis, MN. For one, Morris believes the line of demarcation between actors and real people is a naïve construct.

"The fact of the matter is there is no such line. My job is getting a good performance out of talent no matter who they are," says Morris, referring to the 60-second spot "Photo Booth." Opening with a dolly-move through a hole-in-a-wall, the ad shows a man using the titular booth to capture himself singing an aria. He takes the multitude of photos home, cuts them into a flip book and observes himself singing along as an opera record plays.

"If you need someone specific, like an opera singer, get an opera singer," extols Morris. "We went through it in casting, going through a lot of actors and, of course, no one could do it. So I said, let's stop this and bring in people who can actually sing."

An opera fan himself, Morris located a member of the Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and was also involved in selecting the aria, a 1905 Caruso recording of Di Quella Pira from Il Trovatore. Morris also created the flip book effect for the spots.

"I set up a digital video camera and filmed him singing to Caruso's recording," explains Morris. "Using the Avid, you can take a clip of film or video and do a "strobe motion" effect, freezing every three, four, five or six frames, you specify. We printed every third frame, bound the images together and turned it into a flip book."