"There's no point hiring me unless you want both barrels," says Villains director Phil Joanou. "I feel just shooting is like getting one barrel of what I can give you. To give you both barrels I need to cut it, show you my cuts and what I had in mind for the music. I do the telecine and I'm there for the mix. I treat [commercials] like little films."

In other words, Joanou commits to one project at a time. The approach is protocol in the feature world where his credits include U2: Rattle and Hum (1988), State of Grace (1990), Final Analysis (1992), Heaven's Prisoners (1996) and Entropy (1999).

Boards caught up with the director just days after completing post-production on a series of spots for Diet Coke out of Wieden + Kennedy. Inspired by the morning paper, he begins to tell stories.

Among them is that of a 14-year-old boy who became fascinated with a Great White. "I saw Jaws and started making Super 8 films because I was obsessed with what Steven Spielberg had done," says Joanou. "I read everything I could to figure out how they did the shark. I would not rest until I knew how they did every single shot."

Coincidentally it was Spielberg who launched Joanou's career. After seeing the USC film grad's short The Last Chance Dance, Spielberg offered the young director two episodes on his TV series Amazing Stories and lined up his first feature Three O'Clock High (1987).

While in high school, Joanou served as a PA on the set of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Working under John Dykstra, effects supervisor on Star Wars and inventor of the first motion control camera known as the Dykstraflex, Joanou studied motion control and shot two sequences for which he received his first film credit: special visual consultant.

Ever-fascinated by effects, Joanou continues to satisfy his curiosity reading trade journals and producing effects-driven spots like Sun Microsystems' "Critical Decision" and "The Dot."

"I read Cinefex religiously so that when it comes time to do something like the Computer Associates I can have conversations with the effects people that are up-to-date technologically speaking," explains Joanou, referencing the "Wake Up" spot out of Y&R New York. "I also know how to cheat things."

Joanou shot the plates in New York and the roosters in Los Angeles against blue screen. Despite suggestions that he have on-set motion control, the director argued it wasn't necessary given the length of the shots.

What is required is attention to detail. "There's not a single spot that I've done yet that's used motion control, which is incredibly expensive and time-consuming," admits Joanou. "The truth is, if you do it right, you can do what I call 'human motion control,' where the dolly grip counts out loud in New York and the dolly grip counts out loud in LA. We hope the two dolly grips counted out loud the same way and we match up the two shots and sure enough they work."

"The main thing about directing is knowing what you want," states the filmmaker. "Because even if you don't understand how to get it, there are incredibly talented professionals that will help you get there. It's knowing what you want."

With respect to art, Joanou says he is often drawn towards dark and tragic imagery. This may account for the controversial spot he directed for Nike. Airing after 10 p.m. on NBC during the Olympic games last September, Nike "Horror" parodied the slasher film genre with runner Suzy Favor Hamilton eluding a chainsaw-wielding madman. The attacker is left winded and defeated as Hamilton sprints triumphantly away (see Boards, October 2000).

NBC pulled the spot in response to viewer e-mail that expressed concern over the violence portrayed against women. In light of the stringent approval process, the network's decision came as a shock to the commercial's producers, many of whom were women.

"After they banned the spot, NBC affiliates were all running 'Horror' as content in their local news. So obviously on the network level it's hypocritical, there's no question, but that's been going on in commercials for a long, long time. There's a double standard in entertainment and advertising. In this case it was just a shame."

Recently Joanou collaborated with W+K copywriter Jonathan Cude and art director James Selman on a five-spot campaign for Diet Coke. Touting "that certain something" as its tag, the soft drink campaign is meant to embody modern sexiness. If "Lucky Vanous" personified brawn in the '80s, "certain something" is a kinder, gentler version for the new millennium.

"We wanted to create spots that were modern, sexy, provocative and playful," says Cude. "When you ask people what makes someone attractive, once you get beyond the blonde or brunette with big boobs, you get to these really specific little things like freckles."

"They're the kind of things that you might talk to your significant other about," adds Selman. "But when you start to talk about them like we did around here, you realize that everybody thinks about them. That's where they become universal truths."

Celebrities Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, Renée Zellweger, Edward Burns and Ashley Judd articulate these truths. Their voice-overs are intended to lend an air of emotional familiarity and generate a little buzz around the water cooler.

Narrated by Affleck, "Little Yellow Flowers" is set in a New York-style loft and charts a relationship from its exciting infancy to the laid-back familiarity of cohabitation.

"They're in this great place and it's very comfortable and warm and casual," describes Joanou. "Early on in the relationship they'd come back to his place and there was more of a dark, moody sexual tension going on. So you have the contrast of those two times in their relationship and I decided to represent them as day and night."

In "Tummy Love" we feel privy to McConaughey's most intimate thoughts as he ponders the sex appeal of a pregnant woman. The product shots are quietly integrated into each moment; a silent participant in our everyday lives.

"I think what they're trying to do is capture these little moments that we all relate to but don't often speak about," states Joanou. "I shot all these scenes and vignettes like I would a film. There's so much more that we didn't use but then I have choices later."

With so many choices (Joanou and DP Max Malkin shot over six hours of film for the 30-second "Little Yellow Flowers"), the role of editor becomes synonymous with director. More often than not Joanou chooses Filmcore's Paul Norling.

"The more I've gotten to know and respect him, the more I've realized he was born to make movies," says Norling who has been cutting for nearly 20 years. "It is a career that is tailored for him and he embraces every inch of it. He is the type of director who exposes so many people that claim to be directors but aren't."

In the words of W+K producer Henry Lu, Joanou is a director's director. And while some agencies may be intimidated by his follow through, Joanou maintains his approach is collaborative not exclusionary.

"You've got to care and to the end, I think," says Joanou. "For me, I worry that if I weren't to finish out my commitments I'd become complacent and that would ultimately undermine my chances of surviving this crazy game.

Webfiles>

Villains> www.villains.com

Wieden + Kennedy> www.wk.co

Young & Rubicam> www.yr.com