The making of Coke Angel TV commercial

Late one night with a creative brief on hand and a blank sheet of paper in front of me, I hammer down the idea in four storyboard frames.

Next thing I know, we are headed for Bangkok to shoot the TV commercial which stemmed from those four simple story frames.

For the next three weeks, this is home.


Pre-Shoot
Before the actual shoot, many meetings are held here to iron out the nitty-gritty stuff.

It is also in Great Guns where I first catch a glimpse of our angel (Brazilian model Michelle Dantes) in person. Suffice it to say I am left speechless for several hours.


Shoot, Day 1
First location, the basketball scene under a gnarly Bangkok skyway.


There's our Coke angel, Michelle, being prepped for filming...

And that's me. Still can't get over the fact that I am finally seeing the idea come to life.


Shoot, Day 2
Just had to take my self-photo with the set as background. Graffiti artists are hired to paint a back alley somewhere in Bangkok.

The artwork is just amazing.

One thing with our angel talent is that she's a natural. She knows how to play the part.

Here, she genuinely looks like a heavenly being wandering along a graffiti-painted alley. The contrast in the image is a great idea of the director, Bangkok-based Australian filmaker Adrian Van de Velde.


Shoot, Day 3
The director's storyboard. With so few frames crossed out, the third day of the shoot proves to be a long one.

The angel and the devil (Vietnamese-German model Benjamin) look as if they're relishing Coke. (Which in truth, for purposes of lighting, is 70% Coke and 30% Sprite. Imagine what that tastes like.)

The wing prop. It was one hardworking prop, made with real goose feathers. As with our talents, it, too, deserved a break.

The money shot. The "kilig" moment.


Shoot, Day 4
For the next 24 hours we are holed up here, at studio 5 of Moon Star Studios, Bangkok.

First time I see our angel actually levitate as her transformation into a human being is filmed.

3AM and I am dead tired. The caffeine in Coke isn't enough to keep me awake.

So I had to resort to several bottles of this.

Michelle is a real tropper. She is still able to act in the wee hours of the morning.


Post Production
One of the best post production houses in Asia, Fame Bangkok.


With some nifty machines, magic is created.

Finally, sound mixing and dubbing.


And the finished TV ad...