creative showcase 1 4 commercials review
commercials review 1 5 creative showcase
the clown jewels If it was ‘talk value’ they wanted, it’s ‘talk value’ they got: Kanye West hailed it “the best film of the year hands down” on his blog, while Ashton Kutcher twittered it to his onemillion-plus followers. “It’s gone beyond all our expectations,” says director Adam Berg.
Balls, bunnies, exploding paint. We
made up our own low-budget way of
length. “The agency and client were
thought we’d seen it all when it came to
doing it. It’s actually so simple it’s almost
totally cool about it,” adds Berg. “The
the advertising of televisions. Then Tribal
embarrassing to tell people: everyone on
length was needed to tell the story, but
DDB Amsterdam and Stink Digital came
set is just standing completely still.”
also because it’s a digital project you get
along and raised the bar to a whole new
With the technique fixed, the next task
the freedom to play with the idea.”
level. For the launch of Philips’ new
was to decide the type of action scene
With the shoot wrapped, Redrum Post in
Cinema 21:9 TV they eschewed traditional
that would do it justice. With only seven
Stockholm began the mammoth task of
media and instead created an all-guns-
weeks to complete both film and website,
piecing it together and adding in the
blazing interactive online film more than
Stink Digital were flung in headfirst.
extra effects. But the film wasn’t the only
two minutes long: a frozen tracking shot
“We talked about a car chase,” continues
element to be finished — back at Stink
of a sinister heist gone wrong.
Berg, “but it needed to be quite full on,
Digital HQ they were diligently creating
“There were several advantages in going
with lots of movement — people falling,
the website. “We started prototyping and
for a digital campaign,” explains Chris
running, that kind of stuff — so I thought
building it as soon as we got the job,”
Baylis, ECD at Tribal DDB Amsterdam.
about a robbery gone wrong. The clown
says executive producer Mark Pytlik.
“The more time the audience spent with
masks were something I first wrote down
“Building websites, especially with Flash,
it, the more they were going to want a
as an example, because they felt like
always takes longer than people outside
Cinema 21:9 TV. Online, we gave the
something everyone knows and thinks
the industry think, so we did it all
film-loving target audience a site they
are a bit freaky. But they worked and so
concurrently. But our film production
would want to spend time with — so while
we stuck with them.”
people and interactive people were
they’re exploring, they discover the
With such a short turnaround, Berg
talking to each other constantly to make
product story and all its features.
storyboarded the commercial without
sure we were on the same page. The post
However, for a site to compete with
having a location, purposefully planning
on this job really went until the 11th hour,
traditional push media, and actually pull
more scenes than would fit into the 60
so we were building the site and leaving
people in and create ‘talk value’, it
seconds originally touted. “I tried to find
placeholders for the film and hotspots.”
needed to be pretty spectacular.”
stuff that would look good in this frozen
And if it was “talk value” they wanted, it’s
And so the agency took the revered
moment, and would also work with the
talk value they got. As well as half a
tracking shot as their muse. As well as
kind of sound effects we were talking
million hits, Kanye West hailed Carousel
being visually stunning, this gave the
about developing, a kind of weird sound
the “best film of the year hands down” on
agency a neat hook for the series of
world. I thought the idea of going through
his blog, while Ashton Kutcher twittered it
secondary, “behind-the-scenes” films,
a cloud of glass shards, just hanging in
to his million plus followers. So, a brave
tying into the product features, which
the air, would be beautiful.”
move by client and agency that seems to
viewers can delve into online.
The crew transformed a school in Prague
have paid off. “It’s gone beyond all our
They developed the idea of filming a
into a hospital for the two-day shoot.
expectations,” says Berg. “The support
frozen moment with Stink Digital. The
Despite a delay for the exterior scenes
from Tribal and Philips was great. We kind
commercial’s director, Adam Berg, says:
(caused by rain), the crew managed, in
of thought ‘When’s the bomb going to
“The concept was something I’d played
what can only be director heaven, to
drop, when are they going to stop us?’
with on an earlier commercial. Timeslice
shoot everything on the storyboards
But it was fantastic in every aspect.” IR
wasn’t something we could afford, so we
— more than doubling the film’s planned
www.cinema.philips.com
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