This weekend all I did was play with balls.

You see my son was playing in a football tournament and I was one of the appointed ball boys. My job was simple, collect all the wayward shots that never met their target. Which as you could imagine was a lot considering these are 6 year old boys we are talking about and they have yet to turn into the Messi’s they are destined to be.

So there I was collecting balls from the gutters and bushes when I heard a commotion behind me and when I turned around I saw my son and the rest of his team lining up all the newly rescued balls in and around the edge of the box. Ready and waiting.

Now all of this was of course disguised as an effort to warm up the goal keeper before the big game, but it was more like a firing squad ready to execute someone. That someone was a little boy named Takumi, their goalie.

The firing squad were ready, Takumi waiting bravely for the first shot. Unaware of his teams plan of pain. Then it happened.

They all shot at once and just like in an action movie, the balls flew in every direction and in slow motion. They went everywhere except their target, luckily for Takumi. 

Now I should have been thinking about the well-being of Takumi or the next 20 minutes of me picking up these balls in random places. But what I started to think about was a piece of work that was done in and around 2005 that used way more balls that what Takumi had just seen coming at him.

That piece was a film for Sony in which they launched over 250,000 brightly colored bouncing balls down the step hills of San Francisco to announce the amazing color of their new Bravia TV.

In what seemed like a little crazy idea on paper ended up being one of the most beautiful pieces of film made during that time. The film was mesmerizing in every way and was such a perfect demonstration of color that no one had seen before.

I mean just imagine it. Brightly colored bouncing balls hurtling down the hills of San Fran with no regard for people or property with only one rule in mind. Gravity.

That’s the thing I love about this. It is random, unexpected and a thing of colorful beauty. Plus they did it all in one shot, all in camera and with no CGI or replacement in post-production. It took over 23 camera operators all dressed up in riot gear looking more like photojournalist in Iraq than the creative masters they are. 

Everything about this was something I wish I had done, from the idea which represented color in a beautiful way to the simplicity of the shots and camera moves capturing it.

Then the addition of jumping frogs, hiding children, nosy neighbors and the wayward color balls congregating in gutters. All of this beauty to the an amazing song called Heartbeats by José Gonzalez made this one of the most visually stunning and beautiful pieces of film that year. 

It not only picked up all the accolades that year but was so popular that it sparked multiple brands spoofing it. It also left an indelible mark on the residents of San Francisco as it is said that over 1000 balls have yet to be found, but then again they didn’t have a ball ball like me on set, maybe next time.

So please sit back, put some headphones on and watch this amazing piece of work. Then watch the making of.

“I wish I had done that” - Gary