Behind-the-Scenes Film Takes Viewers on Shoot For Telstra’s Steve Buscemi Ad, AKA “Workplace Comedy Set in Space”

An “elevated standard of craft” achieved by marrying practical effects and VFX was central to developing the visual language and scale of Telstra’s latest campaign, according to its creatives.

In the blockbuster TVC, ‘Blocking Villains’, Steve Buscemi is an alien overlord unleashing “scamageddon” on Australia, thwarted only by Telstra’s security network.

The retro-futurist production design, reminiscent of an 80s sci-fi film, was designed to be imposing while allowing space for humour, indie agency Bear Meets Eagle on Fire revealed in a new behind-the-scenes film.

In the film, Bear Meets Eagle on Fire CCO Micah Walker explained sci-fi staples from Kubrick to Buck Rogers influenced the production.

“For us, the thing that was really important was an elevated standard of craft,” Micah said. “We wanted the villain noise to kind of be a step behind Telstra. So it was funny to us to kind of reference a more retro futurism.”

Micah added the objective was always to be “cinematic and grand” but with a simple message.

“At the core of each film is really a product demonstration, reminding people that Telstra security systems block all kinds of threats,” he said.

“The creative leap we made was to think about what kind of character could be behind the attacks to make them really fun and entertaining. So we created this villain character [trying] to take advantage of Australians in some way, and is always blocked by Telstra.”

The film also featured creative and production insights from Smugglerdirector Randy Krallman, VFX supervisor Stefan Coory, and production designer Jiri Matura.

Randy said the humour of the brief was what stood out initially, particularly juxtaposed with the visual scale of the idea.

“The writing was just so funny,” Randy said.

“I think it kind of is a workplace comedy, essentially just set in space. The alien was very funny. Steve Buscemi's character [is] ultimately a pretty ambitious but hapless kind of guy that just cannot find good help to save his life.

“I love that friction. I love, you know, having a bit of scale and a bit of visual interest and something that feels kind of special, and then have it be derailed by kind of buffoonery and ineptitudes.

“So many of my favourite parts [of the shoot] were [Steve] just taking our lines and running with him and putting his spin on him … [he] just completely brought the house down.”

​Blockhead’s Stefan Coory, VFX supervisor on the production, revealed how much of the set was modelled with CGI, despite practical effects and makeup being preferred for the foreground of the shoot.

“We [built] out most of that world,” Stefan said.

“There's a lot of CG, design, modelling, and texturing that goes into building all the walls, all the structure.”

This was necessary, production designer Jiri Matura added, to bring the sci-fi world fully to life.

“It's worlds that don't exist,” Jiri said.

“Anything you bring in, you have to design and create. It's a lot of small and seemingly very unimportant decisions, but each of them influences the results.”