Wearable Tech Comes to Saatchi's New Directors Showcase at Cannes
A Saatchi & Saatchi pulse-reading wristband at the New Directors Showcase.
Saatchi & Saatchi handed audience members wearable tech to make them "Feel the Reel," literally, at its 24th Annual New Directors Showcase at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Thursday. The show, as always, featured an eclectic mix of commercials, shorts, branded films and music videos from hot new directors. But Saatchi eschewed its typical splashy show-themed intro for an ongoing experience that translated audience data from more than 2,000 pulse-reading bracelets into an infographic-laden framework flanking the reel as it played on stage. To get the audience's heart rate pumping, the show opened with Tatia Pilieva's viral hit " First Kiss" for fashion brand Wren, in which she threw together complete strangers and invited them to engage in deep lip locks. Among those who appeared in the film were Damian Kulash, lead singer of OK Go, who appeared at last year's showcase and just released his band's latest music video. Other spots included The Sunday Times' "Icons" ad, directed by Us for Grey London, which merged iconic cultural scenes from Rodin's "The Thinker" to Don Draper in "Mad Men" in a single seamless in-camera shot, and Alvise Avati's gorgeously effected space monster spec spot "Beans." Music videos in the show included Josh Cole's gritty depiction of kids in Manila slums for Rudimental's track "Not Giving In," which juxtaposed incredible breakdancing with street violence, Truman Cooper's angsty teen tale for Kid Wise's "Hope" and Ian & Cooper's dark family tale for Joel Compass' "Back to Me."