“Nighthawks at the diner, Emma’s 49er. There’s a rendezvous of strangers around the coffee urn tonight. All the gypsy hacks, the insomniacs…” – ‘Eggs & Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson)’ – by Tom Waits

You’ve seen a lot of interpretations and references to the work pictured here. ‘Nighthawks’, by Edward Hopper is one of those iconic paintings that you’ve either seen (in one form or another), or you just haven’t been born, yet. It’s been parodied to death in every format, from The Simpsons, to an alternate version, which depicts a healthy Elvis Presely, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, and James Dean. So why not one more?

The client had contacted me, and said they wanted to create a pair of commercials that would advertise the fact that they are available, 24/7. They had provided some links to a couple of premade commercials and examples by other attorneys that had advertised the same message. All of these examples were pretty pedestrian in nature, “…if you are a victim of an injury, late at night, or on a weekend…”, etc. Like Hopper’s painting, you’ve seen these ads before. I wanted to make something that would stand out from the crowd of 24/7 attorney ads. Something with style, and a story that didn’t need to be completely told, in order to be understood. Every now and then, I’m struck with a concept, almost immediately. I can see basic the images; the tone, the mood, the setting, and even the characters. This was one of those times.

’24/7′ is shorthand for ‘always open’, but the first thing most people associate with that term is something that is available late at night. So what visually says ‘late night’ in this kind of message? For me, the answer to that question can be found in the odd, late night diner, or bar. Not too noisy, and not too busy. They never close. It’s about the mood, the type of people that are out and about at that time, and the occasional oasis of light one finds, at a place where the few gather to be alone with their problems… together.

“At night, it’s a different world out there… cold… dangerous. Anything can happen…”

This is where the painting ‘Nighthawks’ first came into play. I didn’t just want any late night restaurant for my location, I wanted a real diner, and Cincinnati happens to have an excellent one.

Joe’s Diner on Sycamore St. in Over-the-Rhine, is one of those old nickel and aluminum diners from the 40s & 50s. It’s an original diner from that period, and was actually trucked here from New Jersey, where it had originally served as a late night destination. I knew that in using the diner, I’d have a visual that most people would recognize… if not from ’Nighthawks’, or their own experiences with such late night places, then certainly from TV shows, and movies. People would know what this place was, right down to the type of food and bad coffee that might be served there. (For the record, the food at Joe’s is actually pretty good). It had everything; the nickle plating, neon, a lunch counter, booths… everything about it was ‘late night/greasy spoon’… a place where someone would go, if they had nowhere else to go. It wasn’t the diner in ‘Nighthawks’, but on the inside, it had that same feel, and mood. It was exactly where I wanted to film what I was about to write.

In Part 02, I’ll cover the process of marrying the image and concept that I had in mind, with the client’s message, and translating it all into a workable script.