This spot thrusts us into the middle of a “Chemical Party,” which is the two-word phrase supered across the screen as we encounter different party-goers, all of whom have symbols affixed to them from chemistry’s periodic table of the elements. A woman who’s wearing the Neon symbol dances rather meekly with a guy who is identified as hydrogen. We’re then informed via a super that Neon + Hydrogen = No Attraction.
Suddenly a big burly guy walks into the room. He is the element carbon. Hydrogen looks at carbon and it’s instant chemistry. They embrace much to the chagrin of Ms. neon. As carbon and hydrogen get increasingly friendly with each other–three more Hydrogens (two gals and a guy) join the embrace. A super notes that carbon can attract four hydrogens.
Next up is the happy union of sodium (a guy) and chloride (a young woman) who are dancing to the beat. However, a man who’s electricity enters the picture and zaps them both, causing them to repel from one another. The supered formula: Sodium Chloride + Electricity = Separation.
Our next lesson comes as potassium is minding his own business at the food table only to be accosted by water (H2O). The two get into a fight, with potassium gaining the upper hand, pushing water’s face into the jello and pushing him across the food table. The supered formula in this case is Water + Potassium = Explosive Reaction.
A subsequent super advises us to “Learn more about science,” followed by a logo for the European Union’s (EU) Marie Curie Actions program which provides funding and logistical help to students who study science. The EU created the program in response to the fact that a decreasing number of higher education students in Europe are going into the field of science. The spot is tagged by an EU/Marie Curie website address.
This 90-second spot was directed by Roderick Fenske of Hungry Man, London, for agency Media Consulta TV & Film Produktion GMBH, Berlin.
Matt Buels exec produced for Hungry Man with Tim Nunn serving as head of production/exec producer and Camilla Wilson as producer. Luke Scott was the DP.
Agency producer was Till Dreier with Buels and Fenske doing the creative via the ad shop.
Editor was Mark Hunt of Hungry Man. Colorist was Paul Harrison of The Mill, London.
Soundtrack was Der Fledermaus’ “Can’t Get It” performed by the band Von Sudenfed.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More