Conceived by Droga5 London, this global campaign for Amazon Books is designed to enchant the world with books and the unique relationship we have with them, especially as people devote more and more time to streaming and scrolling. Across different countries and generations, reading is something that has always facilitated understanding and connection. It’s a shared habit that many–if not most–wish to cultivate.
Directed by Tom Noakes via PRETTYBIRD UK, this anthem campaign video, “That Reading Feeling Awaits,” depicts what readers experience when they are engrossed in a book. Jumping through five different scenes, the film brings to life distinct book genres through a plethora of mix-media styles. Stitched together, the film glides through a cross-section of people, places and feelings with the help of such shops as Black Kite Studios, Virtual Films, Jimmy Grimes Puppetry, Future Power Station and Studio AKA.
Credits
Client Amazon Books Agency Droga5 London Shelley Smoler, chief creative officer; Matt Hubbard, creative director; Chris Russell, Ahmed Ellabib, creatives; Chris Chapman, head of design; Sophie Paton, Caroline Angell, Rob Steiner, producers; Olly West, assistant producer; Pete Heskett, strategy director; Clemency Beale-Collins, communications strategy director; Sara Barqawi, strategist. Production PRETTYBIRD UK Tom Noakes, director; Juliette Larthe, exec producer; Fiona Bamford-Phillips, head of production; Ted Thornton, exec producer; Cindy Burnay, producer; Tom Manaton, treatment creative direction; Benji Landman, stop motion/puppetry production; Lottie Lindsay-Beaven, stop motion/puppetry production assistant. Virtual Films Scott Horan, managing director/exec producer; Joan Garcia, sr. producer; Dani Ojeda, producer; Dani Gonzalez, production manager; Olga Airas, production coordinator; Maria Puig, production designer. Black Kite Studios Thomas Mangham, color; Hannah Ruddleston, VFX producer; Guillaume Weiss, VFX supervisor 2D; Fin Crowther, VFX supervisor 3D; Jonny Freeman, James Adamson, George Brunt, Andrew Curtis, Jack Stone, Venu Prasath, 2D VFX team; Andrew Bartholomew, Pawel Luszczak, Marcel Ruegenberg, James Hansell, Tsvetelin Krastev, 3D VFX team; Tito Fernandes, Jonny Freeman, VFX on-set supervisor. Future Power Station Yibi Hu, animation director; Daryl Graham, lead animator; Janet Smith, animation producer; Adam Relf, character design; Krystian Piotr Garstkowiak, Alejandra Anguita, Daisy Evans, Husain Untoro, Hannah Privett, 2D animation/clean up/FX; Oian Tian, designer; Kevin O’Seha, previs. Jimmy Grimes Puppetry Jimmy Grimes, Andy Bruskill, puppeteers; Laura Carrion Del Pozo, 1st assistant director; Chris Clarke, DP; Nick Roberts, SFX/prop standby; Jonny Freeman, VFX supervisor. Isabel Garrett/StopMo Isabel Garrett, animation director; Daniel Morgan, DP; Nelly Michenaud, character design; Sculpt Double, puppets; Oliver Arnell Argles, set build; Anita Bruvere, Rachael Olga Lloyd, Daisy Colingridge, Lisa Ott, art dept. David McShane, Anita Bruvere, animators; Robin Jackson, rigger. Studio AKA Marcus Armitage, director; Nikki Kefford-White producer; Nic Gill, editor; Marcus Armitage, animation & artworking; Darcy Woodbridge, animation. Music & Sound String & Tins Joe Wilkinson, Culum Simpson, Lawerence Kendrick, sound design & mix; Ioana Selaru, music composition; Olivia Endersby, audio producer.
Apple’s holiday ad--“Heartstrings,” launched ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities--introduces us to a father with mild-moderate hearing loss. But thanks to the clinical grade Hearing Aid feature on AirPods Pro 2, he can now hear his daughter playing the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young classic “Our House” on her new guitar, just unwrapped on Christmas morning.
The breakthrough ability to hear clearly is all the more impactful in that it comes after we journey with the dad down memory lane as he recalls his daughter’s first guitar, her birthday, her first day of school--though the sound of his flashbacks is muffled. But once he activates the Hearing Aid feature, dad can properly hear his daughter in the present--and with that even the memories can be heard clearly.
“Heartstrings” was directed by Henry-Alex Rubin of production house SMUGGLER for TBWAMedia Arts Lab Los Angeles, with sound design by three-time Oscar winner Paul N.J. Ottoson who helps us experience the father’s hearing loss and then its restoration. (Ottoson won two Oscars for The Hurt Locker--for best sound mixing and best sound mixing--and another for best sound editing for Zero Dark Thirty.) Read More
