Voice Over:
The idea behind this spot was to capture a youthful energy and approach to life that is often lost in adulthood. In order to pull this off I studied the master of truth Errol Morris. I interviewed Ella Minot (a surfer, not an actress) using some of his techniques. I found that being passive, but engaging, allowed Ella to get lost in her world and when this happens you get the gems. As Errol once said, "you couldn't write this stuff." And he is so right. The word "daredevil" has been missing from my vocabulary for twenty years. I did the interview on the beach, which I think helped her relax and the fact that the sound quality is not perfect perhaps makes the spot more believable.

Camera:
"Daredevil" was shot with a DVX100 through a fisheye lens. I liked the using the fisheye for this project because the spherical quality of the image lends itself to the global nature of the product. (Please take all this with a grain of salt.) The skateboarding was shot from a bicycle. I like the silhouette of the rollercoaster on the pier in the background. I think it reflects the magical nature of a kid's imagination.

Post:
I made an effort to color the scenes to match the hot Firefox logo. The tag line changed several times, but I like the juxtaposition of this one. The music reminds me of something Ennio Morricone would write if he were an outlaw surfer. And one final note: Please remember it is much easier to make this stuff up after the fact.

About Pete:
Pete Macomber was born in Holland, raised in South Africa, received a degree in English literature from University of Colorado, competed on the US Snowboard Team and now creates music videos, commercials and screenplays from his Venice, California home when he's not off searching for undiscovered waves in Panama.