A boy drags his oversized wagon through town, collecting empty Coke bottles, seemingly for the recycling deposit. He finds bottles in an alley, along the town’s back roads, another in a junk yard where he barely eludes a fast charging guard dog. Subtly the wind whips up at different times.
Finally the lad gets to enjoy a full bottle of Coke as he arrives with his wagon at a patch of desolate beach. He drinks up and has yet another empty for his collection. He buries the bottle halfway into the sand, joining all the other bottles he’s collected. Suddenly the wind is heard from again, caressing some hanging chimes.
The wind then treats us to a symphony created when it whips over the open mouths of the many Coke bottles the youngster has planted in the sand. The boy stands up and revels in the music and nature as he lets the wind flow over him, his arms extended.
The spinning Coke bottle logo then appears in an end tag, carrying the slogan “Open happiness.”
This spec spot was directed, shot and conceived by Ken Arlidge, who’s on the directorial roster of Santa Monica-based Aero Film.
Skip Short exec produced for Aero Film. Production designer was Tre Benson.
Editor was Barnett Kiel of Aero Post.
Visual effects house was Below The Radar, Santa Monica, with music from Nylon Studios, Australia and stateside.
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More