Los Angeles, CA -- Director David Rosenbaum of Mothership reunited with DDB San Francisco to direct a series of spots for ConAgra’s Pam Cooking Spray. Featuring the Ghost of Meals Past – a has-been sticking around long past his welcome – the series of three spots, “Haunted,” “Sheet,” and “Residue Buddy,” began airing October 22. Digital Domain handled visual effects.

“DDB had a really great concept – creating a character to embody the residue left behind on pots and pans,” said Rosenbaum. “I saw him as a washed-up stage actor. He once did Shakespeare and now he’s playing a pan in your cabinet. He’s gross and irritating; something you just don’t want to deal with.”

Rosenbaum collaborated with DDB on the script and shot the spot like a horror movie, in a dark kitchen with lighting references from modern thrillers and using minimal camera moves. “We skirted the line with the tone of a horror movie and humor to balance that. These spots are definitely not the typical bright, sparkling kitchen scenes, but the interplay between the ghost and the women keep them light,” he said.

Rosenbaum sought out a character designer from the world of feature film special effects, puppeteer Ian Joiner, to design the sticky monster. “Ian had a really good time creating this character, even sculpting all of the facial poses that Digital Domain then animated,” Rosenbaum explained.

Rosenbaum shot three different spots: “Haunted,” with the ghostly remains of a meal in a frying pan, “Sheet,” with the “resi-boo” calling out from inside a cabinet, and “Residue Buddy;” a Spanish-language version with a different voice actor in which the ghost speaks and moves at a slightly faster clip, and the husband gets blamed for the shoddy cleanup. There are :30 and :15 versions of each. 

Source: Mothership