HOBBY BRINGS THE MAGIC TO THE CASINO

In ‘Enigma’, Director Vesa Manninen raises the stakes with a cinematic trip to the casino, where he is planning a magical evening.

A mysterious man enters a casino, wielding magical powers to control his surroundings. He parts the crowd with a wave of his hand, levitates a casino chip, and summons an olive from the plate of a waiter. But when it comes to controlling the roulette wheel, his powers fail him. There’s no magic allowed in Holland Casinos, that’s the message of this creative conjured by independent agency INDIE.

The creative caught the eye of director Manninen immediately. “I’m a big fan of magical realism,” he says. “James Bond goes Jedi? What more could you ask for?!”

The spot was shot over two nights in a real Holland Casino in Utrecht. With only a few hours when the casino was closed to play with, the production had to be meticulously planned on a minute-by-minute basis. “The coordination was like conducting a huge orchestra,” says HOBBY Executive Producer Remco den Hartog. “Every single note had to be played exactly as it was on the sheet music.” This precision was even more important given the amount of in-camera effects needed, such as the olive flying across the casino by telekinesis. “It makes me smile that we shot that for real on an incredibly busy shooting day,” recalls Manninen. “And we still didn’t lose a single shot.”

Manninen teamed up with DoP Robbie van Brussel to give the film its slick and cinematic look. Top colourist Jean-Clement Soret (Company 3) worked his world famous magic on the grade, perfectly capturing the brooding glamour of a modern Bond movie.

It’s no surprise the suave leading man looks comfortable around a casino table. Actor Donald Standon was in the running to play James Bond back in the 1990s, pipped at the post by Pierce Brosnan. He’s worked with such stars as Rob Lowe, Burt Reynolds and Sir Sean Connery. Manninen says “Donald is like the classic version of 007, or maybe 008. He could be the lost brother of Sean Connery. And just an amazing actor; super experienced and full of fascinating stories from years in the business.”