Director Scott Lyon, Outsider

Just the Facts: Age – 34; Hometown – Huddlesfield, UK; Education – Graphic Design, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London; Employ – repped for music videos with Factory Films; signed with Outsider in 2007.

Previous Experience: Lyon began his career in fashion photography and then fell into directing music videos when he was asked to shoot a low-budget clip for a fledgling British band, The Peccadilloes. The self-taught director later signed to prodco Hammer and Tongs before joining Outsider.

The Real Thing: Lyon’s PSA “Richard” for the UK’s Department for Transport is certifiably gut wrenching. It graphically depicts the internal injuries that an unbuckled driver sustains in a low-impact crash. “I had various meetings with doctors and crash experts,” says Lyon of his desire for
accuracy. “Even the guys who did the FX work are well experienced dealing with prosthetics. It’s as realistic as possible.”

Pitch Perfect: Lyon’s insistence on detail is also seen in VW “Enjoy the Everyday”, where a veritable symphony is created from everyday sounds. “First, we created a rough melody,” says Lyon who collaborated with composer Paul Hartnell. “Then we pitched everything. It was a bit like [musical] Sweeney Todd. The two actors were having conversations at a certain pitch, almost like they were singing the conversation. Or, if we wanted a certain sound from outside the car, we made sure that we got close or further away enough to actually get that pitch. We didn’t cheat with anything. We wanted to record all the sounds live and put it together.”

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