choreography

I’m Loving Spike Jonze’s new commercial for Kenzo.

One thing we can all look forward to this fall and winter are the absolutely moronic perfume ads that get produced for each holiday selling season. There will be plenty of reuse from the ones that have been around for a couple of years, because they are always big budget affairs, and the manufacturer tries to get the most mileage out them as they can. One however, will be a breath of fresh air, even if they won’t be able to show it in its full 3-minute entirety on TV. That ad is the new Spike Jonze directed spot for Japanese perfume makerKenzo.

The online spot which has gathered more than 2 million views in the last 3 days, features hypnotic choreography as a young socialite Margaret Qualley, escapes the stale atmosphere of a formal gala to go nuts in the hallways of the empty building. The choreography was created by Ryan Heffington becomes a full blown rapturous explosion that you simply can’t look away from as Qually dances  to the tune of “Mutant Brain” by Sam Spiegel, Jonze’s brother, and Ape Drums.

I love it, from the laser beams to the statue licking, to the contrast of the green dress against the desaturated color pallet, to the sheer insanity of it all. It’s as though Jonze looked at commercials like the one Dior produced and said, no more. And thank god he did.

 

 

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A Colorful Way to Start Your April. OK Go, “Skyscrapers”.

It’s the first Monday in April, and it is a beautiful spring morning here in the Midwest. Over the weekend I saw this wonderful music video by OK Go for the song “Skyscrapers”off of their latest album release.

Unlike many of OK Go’s videos this is not a quirky video featuring the band. Instead it is a sublime piece of direction and choreography by Trish Sie whoalso stars in the video along with dancer Moti Buchboot.

What I really like about this video is how the montage of shots moves seamlessly from one color to the next across an urban landscape that could be anywhere. This is a linear tango coordinated, shot, edited across endless color blocks of disconnected walls. Count the number of shots that had to be done to create the final piece. (Now think about the number of takes for each shot)

Director: Trish Sie
Producers: Trish Sie & Paula Salhany
Cinematography and editing: Paula Salhany
3D DP: Eric Kurland
Dancers: Moti Buchboot & Trish Sie
Special Thanks: Jennifer Kay Tyre, So Yun Um, Joanna Mayorga, Andy Green, Diane Castrup, Anthony Hartman, Jenny Oppenheimer, Roe Sie, Damian Kulash and Marjorie Kulash

 

Design Friday. FRICTIONS.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I was still in school. Every time I turn around I find some new work produced by a group of students that is absolutely fantastic. this video is no exception.

Frictions is a graduation project that was filmed and produced at l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. It mixes live action footage with stop motion photography and combines the two to visually tell a story through the movement of the dancer and his interaction with the colors around him.

The film was shot on a Canon 5D mkII against a blue screen and composited with the current background. This film demonstrates excellent sound design, choreography, cinematography, editing, and visual effects. My hat goes off to the entire team of students that made this work.

Directed by: Steven Briand
Choreographer: Clara Henry
Cinematographer and cameraman: Pierre Yves Dougnac
Music and sound design: Moritz Reich & Agathe Courtin
Visual effects: Francis Cutter & Benoit masson
Costume: 2WS – world wild souls
First assistant: Romain Daudet Jahan
Animation assistants: Nathalie Anne Boucher, Camille Chabert & Luca Fiore
Visual effects assitant: Sarah Escamilla