It Only Takes a Moment to Make a Moment

0:01-0:03. The video starts on a beach that seems to be during sunrise or sunset. A middle-aged white male is standing on the beach in a black sweatsuit, short black spiked hair, and black sunglasses. He is in the middle of throwing a pink and blue beach ball up in the air as what I assume is his daughter is sprinting into the frame from stage left. She seems to be a young child who is most likely 5-7 years old. As the daughter enters the picture, we can make out her hot pink flowing shirt, knee-high tights, and golden blonde hair. As we near the three seconds, what I thought was a throw was the father dropping the ball to kick it sky-high into the air. After the ball drifts into the air, the father steps back to allow his daughter to catch the ball. The vibrant beach ball floats to the ground. After one graceful bounce, the daughter hugs it into her knees.

0:04. The fourth second fades from our beach scene to a rural farm. The shot is framed from the grass as we notice a windmill with dozens of trees in the back. Off to the left is an old white farmhouse, painted plain white, with the only pop of color from a tree whose leaves have turned red. In our foreground is one lone man to whom the property most likely belongs. He seems to be a white male whose middle-aged. He’s dressed in blue jeans, what I assume to be a flannel and a black baseball cap. In his right hand, he holds a baseball, which he rears back to throw, and just before we see the release, the video jump cuts. 

0:05. We open our fifth second with a vibrant rainbow flying towards a little girl. She is a black girl, most likely five or six years old, and she has short hair comparable to Lupita Nyong’o and her role as Nakia in Black Panther. Her grey t-shirt and tattered blue and white skirt are nothing compared to her oversized Abomination green flip-flops. We can only assume the flip-flops are her father’s. They double her feet in size and capture the screen compared to the colorful ball she drops.

0:06. Our sixth-second shifts to a new father and daughter duo engaged in a game of catch. The father, a younger 30’s looking black male, towers over his daughter, who must only be four or five years old. The dad takes prominence in the shot as his black buttoned shirt, blue jeans, and bald head command attention compared to the black grill, beige wall, and green fence behind him. He reaches his arms to his daughter as if to ask her to throw the ball at him. The daughter has her back turned but smiling as big as ever. Her hair is also comparable to Lupita Nyong’o, and it demands attention. We cut away as the rainbow ball swivels in her hands, almost as if she is about to turn and throw it at her father.

0:07-0:10. Our next scene starts with a blonde white child dressed as if she’s a Disney princess. Her deep seafoam blue gown is a statement compared to the cookie-cutter kitchen she’s framed within. Stainless steel, plain, white cabinets, and granite countertops are nothing compared to this princess. As our princess runs out of focus, we jump cut to another dad—a clean-cut white male with a 5 o’clock shadow and short combed hair. He’s outside at night in front of his garage. Just as he tosses something into the air, we get a glimpse of his child out of focus behind him. The only property you can see is the child’s red shirt. Jump cut again! Who else but our Disney princess? She catches a tiny orange ball made to look like it came from the father on the previous screen.

0:11-0:25. The time between seconds 11 and 25 is much the same as in previous scenes. All of the settings but two involve a father and a daughter having a catch. In the two scenes, the father isn’t visible; we’d assume he is the one that kicked his little girl the soccer ball or threw his teenager a ball as she dove into the pool. The most prominent feature throughout the ad isn’t necessarily the scenes themselves. It’s the editing style.

Indeed, the ad conveys a powerful message, but the scenes are just the beginning. All the actors’ short one-second scenes entail a bonding between father and daughter. There’s no clear message with just the scenes. However, the editing style, the quick jump cuts, and the final text piece on screen elevate the scenes to shout its message to all fathers.

A jump cut is different from many stylistic choices made in film editing. It’s not a smooth transition, a fade to black; it provides shock value. The shock value conveys a sense of urgency to us. The quick pacing of the jump cuts was the perfect choice to shock the viewer in taking that step toward the call. Watching this ad, seeing each scene roll by so fast that all you can make out is the father and daughter bonding time, is how the true meaning of the ad shines. The message is a call to action to all fathers to say life is too short. Don’t worry about the little things. Take the time to show your daughter you care and have that catch with her.

The final tagline is the nail in the coffin. “It only takes a moment to make a moment.” The call to action synthesizes the scenes and is finally put into words. No moment is too small. Our children deserve our effort, deserve our love. The moments that seem minuscule to adults mean the world to children. It only takes a moment to create an ever-lasting movie that will forever run in your daughter’s mind for the rest of your life.