By MILLIE TAKAKI
In inclement weather, its not unusual to come up with a case of the sniffles. But in Storeaa spot promoting Bonfire Sports Apparels rugged outerwear that can protect against bitter coldaour protagonist is simply known as the Sniffer, a most unusual bird whos obsessed with smelling different objects. Store is the sequel to the original Sniffer-starring spot, Home, which establishes the character as being particularly enamored of getting a whiff of the bouquet emitted by such items as shoes and underwear.
In Store, the Sniffer encounters a man and a woman peering into the window of a closed sports apparel/snowboarding equipment store. The man is beside himself because he desperately needs a water-repellent jacket for his snow trip. Of his current jacket, he says, I cant wear this tomorrow. Ill get soaked and it smells.
Overhearing this, the Sniffer immediately offers to trade his Bonfire jacket for that worn by the man. Readily accepting the swap of his smelly jacket for the nice, dry Bonfire garment, the man hurries off with his girlfriend before the Sniffer can reconsider. We then see the Sniffer reveling in the odor of his prized, mangy acquisition.
After a quick cut to the Bonfire logo, the spot returns to the man whos now walking down the street, decked out in his newly procured Bonfire jacket. He reaches into a jacket pocket and pulls out a pair of underwear that presumably had been previously sniffed by the Sniffer. Rather than being mortified, the man looks around to see if hes being watched, takes a whiff, and seems to enjoy the experience. The spot ends on that peculiar twist.
Store and Home were conceived and co-directed by Art Haynie and Brad Steward. The spots were produced through Haynies Phoenix-based Big Monkey Films. Haynie and Steward are repped nationally as a commercial co-directing team by Wyoming Films, Venice, Calif.
Working with Bonfires in-house agency, Steward served as creative director and shared copywriting and art directing responsibilities with Haynie. For Big Monkey Films, Trevor Cornish served as exec. producer and producer. The spots was shot on location in Vancouver, B.C., by DP Marc Laliberte-Else.
Store and Home were cut by Bill Weinman of Propeller, Hollywood. Alex Brody of Base2, Santa Monica, was online editor and Henry artist. Gino Panaro of Digital Magic, Santa Monica, was the colorist. Zac Fisher handled audio mixing at POP Sound, Santa Monica. Composer was Andrew Hagen of Schtung America, Santa Monica.
The Bonfire campaign debuted last week (3/27) during FOX Sports Wests coverage of the Snowboarding On The Edge Festival.
“Memoir of a Snail” Takes Top Prize At London Film Festival
The Official Competition jury said: “Our jury was incredibly moved by Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail, which is a singular achievement in filmmaking. Emotionally resonant and constantly surprising, Memoir tackles pertinent issues such as bullying, loneliness and grief head-on, creating a crucial and universal dialogue in a way that only animation can. The jury is delighted to recognize an animated film alongside its live-action peers.”
Rounding out the winners of this year’s films screening In Competition are:
- Winner of the Sutherland Award in the First Feature Competition – On Falling (Dir. Laura Carreira)
- Winner of the Grierson Award in the Documentary Competition – Mother Vera (Dirs. Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson)
- Winner of the Short Film Award in the Short Film Competition – Vibrations from Gaza (Dir. Rehab Nazzal)