This weeks unreliable subjective self-indulgent opinionated reviews of “great stuff” in film and TV right now. Remember to follow “weekly lows” as well.
1. Renault Z.E. (add)
One of those truly rare ideas to manifest themselves onto the screen. Not only does it envision a notion that encapsulates the essence of new fuel alternatives, but it also poses a question to the consumer; have you considered a world without those alternatives? Within this genius lies another, namely that it does not question whether this alternative is the right one, in fact it stipulates that it is, by stating that the solution is already there. Quite simply brilliant.
2. Tree of life (film)
A larger-than-life, near-death, possibly horrific but endlessly interesting movie experience that you only get once or twice in life. I am entirely convinced that this work will be perceived as a rare masterpiece in 10-20 years, just as “Bladerunner” and “2011: A Space Odyssey” are now. It is the story of Jobs, the circle of life, the tale of afterlife, the misery of humanity and the humbleness of human dignity. It is adamant and persistent, tireless and consistent. It dwells on all things but demands relentless attention – it is entirely contradictory to my own experiences and opinions of life, thus truly (thought-)provoking.
3. Dansk Produktion (add)
Finally a worth-while effort from the industry that seems to grasp the essence of good branding. With deliberate calmness it depicts a field of expertise that rekindles former industrial pride in a new and contemporary wrapping. With soft photography by Simon Ladefoged and simple, yet fine, storytelling by Nobody CPH, it achieves what many before neglected. Not a masterpiece but definitely great craftsmanship.
4. Telia 4G (add)
Effective commercial with a clearcut premise where (for once) both the message and contents are powerfully aligned. Parts of the effects work are not too impressive, but as an overall achievement it is exactly too the point. Building the momentum with an auditory explosion and a visual implosion, so-to-speak, seems eloquently well-timed. These types of effects are growing in popularity and I shall be the last to defuse them.
I admit. I had more highs. But these are my weekly ones. For now.
When making films whether being fiction film, commercials, documentaries or even something as everyday as a CEO-statement there are formulas, and often these formulas are unavoidable. Why? Because they work!
It is not always possible to make the formulaic feel new, but how do you make it feel natural? Well, it is not an easy task. There is a certain stiffness to the formulaic, it wants to be too neat and too tidy. That’s when it becomes dismissible, that’s when it looses that natural feel. Actually, what is happening is, that it suddenly calls attention to the formula. It makes the viewer notice the formula, even though they may not be able to express it in those terms. The result is: they change the channel or click away from the webpage. The viewer looses interest.
So how do you make something that is inherently formulaic like a news segment or a CEO-statement work, in the way it was intended? By caring. By not letting even a run-of-the-mill WebTV segment become so much of a routine job that you stop caring. You have to pay attention to the details, you have to care that what you are producing whether expensive or cheap, whether big or small is good. That is were you can see the difference between a company who cares and a company that has succumbed to routine – in the detail.
As the founder of a film bureau, I am often asked whether we produce for the ad agencies or against them. I am not entirely sure why this is even proposed? In fact, the question itself seems inherently misplaced. As it is, we are not an ad agency and consequently do not constitute a competitor to agencies – nor the production companies, per se. Rather, we supply the very needed additional competences of film making that many production companies and agencies search for; namely the understanding of convergence in our field (films across platforms and marketing) and the strategic insight to unite creative ideas with a commercial agenda.
Our expertise is film. Whether it be feature films, television, advertisement or corporate. We do not aspire to entail capabilities of traditional marketing such as print or classic design, in fact we negate those responsibilities entirely. Nor do we limit ourselves to pure production basics, in that we are much more than that. In effect, we have a majority of direct clients who exploit that our strengths lie in our creative ideas and concepts, our understanding of media and the recipient, as well as our ability to facilitate teamwork and to cooporate with their own agencies or production companies. Meanwhile, agencies understand that we can be used both independently as well as in unison with their other partners or even in-house production. Most importantly, we do not consider this capacity to be an obstacle – in fact quite the opposite.
It is not a matter of if we can make a difference or create something unique, it is always only a matter of how. When we are only to aid in the production of concepts already defined, we add understanding and creativity that will lift the project and facilitate the relationship to other marketing efforts or campaign parts. If we join the process from beginning to end, we will create a concept, an idea that grows and is nurtured until it achieves perfection within its limits.
The next time I hear the question; “Are you a production company or an agency”, I’ll simply answer “both”.
