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March 2020. The month when many countries all around the world implemented their first COVID lockdowns. By April 2020, about half of the world's population was under lockdown. Filmmakers and advertisers had to find new ways to create audiovisual content. For the first of this two-part newsletter, let’s have a look at how creators approached their art in such unsettling times.
The initial reaction of many brands was to quickly show their compassion. Since their creative teams couldn’t film a new ad, they dug into stock-footage libraries to compile an empathic commercial accompanied with the most inoffensive music track they could find. YouTube creator Microsoft Sam gathered all these first COVID commercials in one unique video, to reveal that every brand had the exact same - and cliché - response. Stock footage became so popular that it even resulted in two brands, Guarantee Rate and Indeed, using the same short piece of stock footage in their 2021 Super Bowl commercials. Alternatives to stock footage had to be found to stay original. I discovered Instagram to be a good new source and assembled images taken by hundreds of instagrammers in this experimental piece “Memories Connect”. Also advertisers started to become more creative within the new constraints. The creative team for Honda wrote, directed and edited the successful commercial #stayhome not leaving their living room for one single moment. While unable to travel, many filmmakers started to scour their own neighborhoods to document the surrealistic empty streets the lockdown created. Dutch-Canadian filmmaker Ryan Koopmans took another approach and went underground. He took advantage of the unsettling quiet in Stockholm and created a portrait of the capital’s decorative metro system, also called “the longest art gallery in the world.” Other filmmakers kept their camera equipment for good use at home and filmed the impact the lockdown had on families. In this adorable mini-documentary “157 - A Collection Of Moments”, filmmaker Gnarly Bay shows intimate and unpolished moments of him and his family. And then slowly, lockdown restrictions were lifted and streets started to fill up again. Filmmaker Apo Genc, symbolizes this transition period with his experimental piece “After the silence”. Next month, I will continue with how the pandemic had a long lasting effect on audiovisual content creation. Stay tuned for Filmmaking After (the first) Lockdown Part 2 See you next month!
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Who doesn't remember last year’s Nike commercial "You Can't Stop Us"? By joining two different sporting events on both sides of the screen, Nike underscored the commonalities shared by athletes around the world.
Many claimed the commercial was “exceptional”, and I'm definitely not disputing that. However, Nike was far from the first to implement this concept. Looking at the history of the 'split screen' concept, you will find out it goes all the way back to 1898. Besides technical reasons for using split screens, my question is: What is the underlying meaning of applying it to your film or advertising? Does it contribute to the message or is it just a way of showing off? One of the purposes this concept could serve is to create completely new and unique interpretations. The song Go Up by Cassius and Pharell Williams is about: "Everything that can lift you up, whether it’s religion or sports or sex or drugs, or whatever else." By matching two seemingly unrelated images in one frame, the director Alex Courtès tried to meld these notions into new uplifting experiences for the audience. Sometimes, split-screen is the story. And in this case a love story. An experimental piece that was already created in 2011, a year when Nokia was still an important player in the mobile market. And since the pandemic, you are probably looking at split screens on a daily basis. When was your last Zoom Call? The two sides of a split-screen can also exist in different time-zones. The beautiful Music Clip Love You Like You Hate Me shows a relationship at different stages, at the same time. What begins as an exciting new romance, now approaches the brink of expiration. Love turns to fear and fear turns to heartbreak. Besides communicating two different passages in life, you can also showcase two desirable situations that can be enjoyed at once. Matching the movements of both sides of the split screen can be difficult and time-consuming. The director Chris Applebaum, however, took the challenge of combining 2 continuous shots (one take without cuts) to create a music clip for the band Semisonic. As you will see it's all about timing. And with these words, it’s time to close this newsletter. See you next month! After the success of my ‘Happy Holiday’ email, you know, back in 2020, I have decided to start a monthly newsletter.
At the end of each month, I will curate for you a collection of audiovisual content. Short films, advertising, animation, news, documentaries, branded and/or experimental content, etc. As a visual engineer, I’m always on the lookout for new ways of audiovisual storytelling and I find my inspiration in other filmmakers, directors, creatives, or that casual lucky person whose cat video went viral. And I’d like to share some of my discoveries with you. You could use this newsletter as: A source of inspiration, "For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it." An invitation to look through a different lens and discover other worlds. A challenge to think outside the box, combine ideas, and envision something new. An escape from the everyday rush and be entertained by using your sight and hearing. A method to overcome obstacles when you lost your visual muse. A way to break out of your bubble, as: “We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.” Or as a moment to unwind, sit back, relax and just watch. (Disclaimer: This one might make you blush, so discrete viewing is advised) See you next month! Crazy 2020, it’s almost over. A year when we often asked ourselves WHY?
Now restaurants are closed (at least in my home country Holland, or should I say the Netherlands), shops and museums locked, travel restrictions in place and limited amount of gatherings, these holidays you will probably have more time than ever. So here some suggestions for you to spend your time (wisely or not): You can still wander around the snowy streets of New York from the warm and cozy comfort of your home. Solve that “BUMP SANITY” Rubik Cube of 11 x 11 x 11 (or just watch someone else doing it). Discover mysterious Russia in this emotional rollercoaster that I qualify as the greatest travel video of 2020 on Vimeo. Or watch the best holiday commercial of 2020 and understand why staying healthy and strong is important. That’s all folks, that was 2020. I wish you happy merry holidays and a very healthy and safe 2021 with many exciting projects to come! Best wishes! Videos don't always need to have a profound story to resonate with the audience. Only portraying the doubt, either overcoming the fear of jumping down or the humiliation of climbing back via the stairs, keeps the audience hooked for 16 minutes - or at least it did on me. A lot of people can identify and empathize with the characters in this video (underneath) because we all have been there. Of course, the tension and suspense, if the characters will jump or not, keeps you on the edge as well, begging for relief. Everyone that has been on a high diving board or tower can empathize with the people in this video. This established one-sided rapport clearly works to make you care about them and keeps you engaged. So if you don't think your brand has a story to tell, try to identify the emotion of your target audience connected to your brand and build the story from there. And if not with the brand, what's the emotion people have with your product? Your service? What's the underlying feeling or experience they have when they come in contact with your brand? Building your story on this emotion is a great way to reach your customer and get them interested in your offering. So.. Would you have jumped or not? Sometimes videos elicit emotions that the creator didn’t try to evoke nor thought of. Let’s call them emotional side effects. The youtube channel Rescue & Store is about the process of restoring old toys. The creator is clearly passionate about it, seeing his craft and skills. The channel is quite new, though each uploaded video already reached more than millions of views. And - at this time of writing - roughly half a million people subscribed to the channel. Clearly people love watching the process. But not because they are necessarily as passionate about renovation as the creator. Of course, it’s a joy to see a classic old rusted toy like an airplane coming back to life and you can’t wait to see the end result. Other than it gives you that joy, these videos also give a feeling of satisfaction and moreover a feeling of relaxation. I must confess, I watched many of the videos of this channel and though the videos are around 15 minutes or longer, I kept watching them without skipping a moment nor fast-forwarding to the end result. According to the several comments underneath the videos, it works better than AMSR videos and even a person suffering from PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - uses the videos to calm down on a “bad day”. Though, as with AMSR videos, in this case it’s not so much about the sounds. Focusing on the sounds of sanding, planing, cutting and sawing would be very disturbing, just as a dental drill can be. Moreover there isn’t any music accompanying these videos. So no, these videos aren’t there to be listened. These videos are there to be watched. To see the rust dissapear by sandblasting. To watch the powder paint ‘melt’ into a nice and perfect color coating in the oven. So what actually happens here?  The real reason is that DIY or bricolage has always been known to have a relaxing effect on people. Using your hands and diving into something knowing that it will end up looking better is very satisfying. And this effect expands from doing it yourself to watching someone else performing it. People love watching makeover programs, from style makeovers to home makeovers. It's a source of inspiration for most, but it also reflects the satisfaction one gets watching it. The important take-away from this is that content still rules. Don't just see your videos solely as a means to sell your services or products. Your videos can be products themselves. They can be informative, educational, or in this case a way to relax people. Branded content can be a great way to reach your customer. For now, if you are more a visual person than an auditory person, skip the AMSR videos and tap into “VSMR’. Watch and get calm. |
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AuthorRob Knook, alias The Knookie. 
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