Four years ago, the Icelandic directing team Arni & Kinski (Stefan and Siggi, respectively), currently of bicoastal HSI Productions, burst onto the commercial scene with a unique, four-spot package for Levi’s Engineered Jeans via TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco, and produced through the duo’s former roost, Public Works, Santa Monica. "Kiss," "Run," "Ride" and "Dance" were filmed by looping still photographs through a series of timed repetitions, creating a jumpy, flipbook effect. At the time, Arni and Kinski were founding members of an Icelandic techno rock collective, Gus Gus, which combined a live band with visuals projected onto a large overhead screen. The directors applied some of those show techniques to the Levi’s spots, and composed the music for it as well.
What resulted was so original in its construction that people started to take notice, wanting a piece of their distinctive style. Today, Arni and Kinski are no longer touring with Gus Gus; instead, they decided to pursue full-time directing as a team. And while aspects of their early filmmaking methods still work their way into their music videos, like in Café Tacuba’s "Eo," the duo now displays a much greater range.
"When we did the Levi’s spots, we couldn’t really avoid being put in a box of very technical, very trendy stuff," explains Kinski. "It just took time for us to be able to show people what we are [capable of]—that it’s not just about one style."
One recent testament to Arni & Kinski’s ever-expanding abilities is a Hummer H2 spot titled "Illuminations," which the pair directed out of Modernista!, Boston. The ad tells the story of a couple of families who drive into the desert in their Hummers to camp out. Shot partially in slow motion, we see children gathering sticks and melting candles together at dusk. By nightfall, the group has constructed several hot air paper lanterns, which they release into the starry sky. A long, overhead shot shows the tops of the balloons rising, as the people on the ground appear to get farther and farther away. Finally, the camera recedes so much that we are given a satellite view of the earth, with an approximation of where the action took place. The tag line fades up: "Wish you were here," followed by "Hummer. Like Nothing Else." The music, Mojave 3’s "Bluebird of Happiness," which accompanies the spot, has a slow, dreamy quality that reflects the serene pleasure this group got from a day filled with wholesome recreation.
According to Kinski, Modernista! was attracted to both the Levi’s work and a music video Arni & Kinski had directed, "Vidrar Vel Til Loftarasa," for the Icelandic band Sigur Ros. The clip, filmed against the backdrop of Iceland’s distinctive landscape, is a visual account of two pre-teen boys who fall in love with each other. The film style is saturated and shot in slow motion, adding to the building intensity of the story.
Hints of this sensibility are seen in "Illuminations." The opening shot of the Hummer vehicles driving into the desert is taken from quite a distance, giving the viewer a long look at the unique desert landscape. Arni & Kinski scouted out a location at a Mexican national park just south of the Arizona border, resulting in surroundings that feel different from American deserts. The children gathering sticks are shot in slow motion and the overall sense one gets from the ad is that its makers took the time to squeeze every possible beautiful moment out of it. This could be due in part to the energy and research Arni & Kinski put into bidding for the job.
"We had a very clear vision about the mood and the color and the film, so what we wanted to accomplish was very obvious [to Modernista!]," explains Arni, who adds, "Modernista! is all about really trying to expand the medium, and I think in a sense that’s what we love the most. We really connected that way."
video Work
Since "Illuminations," the Modernista! connection has continued. Arni & Kinski have shot a Budweiser commercial through the Boston agency, and a second ad for Hummer, "Search Engine," that is "more technical," according to the team. "It’s not a story," notes Kinski. "It’s about treating the car like a super model, and giving it the most beautiful portrait that we can get to make it sexy and cool."
Between directing commercials, Arni & Kinski have shot a fair amount of music video work in the past year. In addition to the aforementioned Café Tacuba and Sigur Ros clips, they have worked on videos for artists such as Dave Gahan ("I Need You"), Live ("Heaven") and Paul Oakenfold ("Southern Sun"). The pair is repped in the U.K. by Method, London, and by Motion Blur, Oslo, for the Scandinavian market.
For Arni & Kinski, directing music videos brings an entirely different experience. "You get more creative freedom, but you’re working on smaller budgets, so it goes both ways," says Arni. "Doing the Hummer spot was really amazing for us to have basically all the equipment you can dream of to work with. [With] music videos, you don’t get a chance to do that, but … great ideas come from having to find simple solutions."
Overall, the two have felt that their experience in advertising has taught them how to keep an open mind in order to find solutions that fit their sensibility and the client’s needs. "We look at all projects and really try to get beyond personal issues to find what our vision could actually do for the project," explains Kinski. "Get that artistic pride out of the way and try to go deeper."
"We’ve had great experience with dropping our ego to come up with the right solution," adds Arni. "Projects that on first look [didn’t seem to be] for us we’ve been able to turn into our projects, and that’s been a really great learning experience."
