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Bill Hogan directs talent

Background Set for Slow Motion Shot

A new sixty and thirty-second TV concept created by the Fahlgren Mortine agency for the West Virginia Lottery provided “just the type of creative challenge we relish,” said Bill Hogan, the spot’s director. The spots are the first in a series intended to profile the contributions Lottery funds make to the state’s education system, tourism industry and senior services. The spots dramatize the impact lottery funds have on the lives of everyday West Virginians.

“In the past the lottery has used documentary-style spots to let folks know where the Lottery proceeds are going. This time they tried something different…drama,” said Hogan. The new Education spots follow a girl and her family as she progresses from her first day of school, through elementary and high school to college graduation.
The spots presented various creative challenges from casting and make up to art direction. “We had four different period looks that spanned two decades,” remarked Sharon Harms art director. “The subtle changes in costumes, props and sets from year to year had to be carefully researched and painstakingly created.”

Casting was equally complicated. The Lottery requested that the cast be made up entirely of West Virginia talent. iA was charged with finding three different girls to depict the graduate at age four, twelve and eighteen. All the girls had to share common physical traits and two parents had to be cast to match the girl’s look.
The parents presented a make up challenge as they had to age twenty years in sixty seconds. iA called upon the talents of local make up artist R.J. Haddy who had been brought to iA’s attention through his aging make up created for the TV program Face Off. “R.J. was the right guy for the job,” said Hogan. “The make up was believable at each stage of aging.”

The shoot entailed weeks of preproduction, three long shooting days and a cast and crew of over forty talented individuals. Bill Hogan sums up the experience like this, “It was a challenge to depict twenty years of personal history in thirty and sixty seconds, but we had a great time shooting these spots and the results are really gratifying. We appreciate the chance to bring Fahlgren Mortine’s creative concept to video and look forward to completing the ‘Proceeds’ series.”

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