OPEN
We open on a set of closed doors. On the door is a sign that reads “NBA Films Archive.”
PUSH We see a hand push open the door—an assistant or an archivist, we never see his face—and follow him into a dark, cavernous film warehouse.
He flipS on the light
A tracking shot follows our subject as he peruses the rows. . .and rows. . .and rows of film canisters.
Our camera discovers titles from NBA lore:
“Magic v. Bird,” “Reign Man 1992,” “Kobe 81,” “Miller Time,” “Practice???”.
We push in tight on our subject’s hands as he flips through more canisters.
He fumbles and knocks one loose and it CRASHES to the floor.
The canister is in rough shape, covered in dust.
Our subject picks it up and wipes away dust to reveal the taped-on label:
1997-98 BULLS. DO NOT RELEASE.
Our subject cracks the lid to the canister, and as he does so, we hear quick zaps of ambient sound from The Last Dance: The iconic Alan Parsons Bulls intro music.
Overtop of this audio, we fly through a sequence of unseen on and off-court footage from the film.
We hear:
“Phil Jackson’s unmistakable rasp.”
“Mike’s competitiveness spilled over into his personal life in ways we never saw coming.”
“It’s like a dependency, it’s always gonna be a part of you.”
Our subject feverishly shuts the canister.
The images and audio cease. Our subject RUNS back from where he came, out the door.
We cut to black.
Titles flash across the screen:
An unprecedented documentary event.
Michael Jordan’s final Bulls season.
Never-before seen footage.
Locked away.
Until now.
The last run. The last shot.
The Last Dance.
Coming in 2020.
Concept Three
In this concept, we leave a little more to the imagination at the top of the teaser.
Stylistically, consider the trailer for The Blair Witch Project (hang with us here…)
OPEN on a black screen with the ESPN Films logo as suspenseful, ambient music begins to build. The ESPN Films logo fades and we settle on a black screen.
Ambient voices begin to fade. A few seconds of the iconic Alan Parsons intro music.
We Hear:
“Phil Jackson’s unmistakable rasp.”
““Mike’s competitiveness spilled over into his personal life in ways we never saw coming””
Titles fade in over black:
In 1998, Michael Jordan won his sixth and
final championship with the Chicago Bulls.
A small film crew was granted
unprecedented access all season long.
On-court.
And off.
CUT to a rapid montage of unseen off-court footage:
• Jordan smiling and driving off in his black Ferrari.
• Phil Jackson meditating at home.
• A wild fashion photo shoot with Dennis Rodman.
Over the footage we hear ambient voices from the film:
• Compelling interviews
• Soundbites that build the drama.
CUT to a black screen:
Never-before seen.
Never-before heard.
CUT TO: A rapid montage of unseen locker room footage:
• Jordan hanging his head after a tough loss.
• Pippen and Rodman in a heated exchange.
• Ron Harper wincing on the medical table.
Over the footage we hear ambient voices from the film:
• Compelling interviews
• Soundbites that build the drama.
We cut back to our black:
A rare glimpse into
the life of an icon
Locked away.
Until now.
We fly through a breathless montage of footage and audio as our music reaches its peak:
High-energy game action, “the last shot,” the chaos of a championship celebration.
Our final cut to black with titles:
Alt Visual THeme
As an alt visual theme, we could use the film strip itself as the framing device to get us into montages of footage and audio from The Last Dance.
We could map footage into the film strip, and in other interesting ways in the film/projector environment.