This cinema trailer thrusts us right into the beginning of a foreign film, the premise of which has us wondering for a fleeting moment if what we’re watching is indeed real. Our initial hope is that it isn’t—but given the artsy pretense of some in the moviemaking community, you never know.
A man bends over next to a car so that he can straighten the creases in his pants. He relates his story in his native language, Croatian. Subtitles provide us with the English translation. "Over the course of my life, I have owned many pants," he says.
As the camera continues to follow him about, we see him standing in front of a row of stores and eventually going into a clothing boutique.
Resuming his pants-themed talk, the man observes, "Each pair is indelibly linked to my past … my successes, my failures, my hopes and my dreams." As he tries on some trousers in a fitting room, he continues, "Not many people take the time to consider the pants they have owned."
The foreign language title of the film then fills the screen; underneath it is the translation: The Pants I Have Owned.
Our protagonist goes on to share, "My first pair of pants are the center of much debate," as we see a scene of him years ago as a youngster. Then the camera brings us back to the present, where the grown man is sitting on a couch across from his father, who’s seated on a facing sofa.
Dad insists, "Your first pair of pants were corduroy."
The son disputes his father’s recollection: "The pants were plaid, okay?"
Mom then enters the room, a cigarette dangling from her lips. "They were blue jeans."
"The pants were plaid!" reiterates the son.
Her voice rising, his mother repeats, "They were blue jeans!"
Dad chimes in to defend his wife: "Respect your mother. She washed your pants. She says no [to plaid] and I say no."
"It’s my film, dad, it’s my film!" the filmmaker finally explodes.
"Fine then," responds the father sullenly.
Next, we cut to later in the argument, with the father and son still seated on their respective couches.
"The pants were plaid," says the son.
The father shakes his head stubbornly, as the filmmaker insists, "Yes!"
We exit from this scene to a supered message across a black backdrop: "Thousands of films are submitted."
The trailer then takes us to a darkened screening room. We see a row of people seated in the otherwise vacant theater; they’re illuminated by the flickering projector behind them. These viewers turn out to be judges as the camera reveals their checklist, on which is written the titles of several films, including the one we’ve been enduring. Mercifully, one of the judges scratches out the entry The Pants I Have Owned.
A follow-up super continues, "Few are chosen."
An end tag contains the logo for the Vancouver (B.C.) International Film Festival, accompanied by the event’s dates, Sept. 23-Oct. 8, 2004.
Also titled "The Pants I Have Owned," this trailer is one of three designed to promote the Vancouver Festival. The other two also feature loser films with similar concepts, which judges quickly decide to disqualify from competition. One of the films is "Geisha Cop," about a Japanese sharpshooter decked out in full geisha regalia; the other is "Hailstorm," in which a father runs out from the safety of his automobile into a cheesy-looking hailstorm in order to save his daughter’s stuffed bunny.
Mark Gilbert of production house Reginald Pike, Vancouver and Toronto, directed the spots for TBWA, Vancouver. Executive producers for Reginald Pike were James Davis and Josefina Nadurata, with Sam Ferguson serving as line producer. The DP was Tico Poulakakis.
The TBWA creative team consisted of creative director Lisa Francilia, art director Jay Gundzik, copywriter Brent Wheeler and producer Carla Olson.
Editor was Melanie Snagg of Coast Mountain, Vancouver. The colorist was Achim Kapitza of Rainmaker, Vancouver. Randy Kiss and Scott Schmidt of Pinewood Sound, Vancouver, did the Dolby audio mix for theaters. Sound design, audio mixing and editing were done at GGRP, Vancouver, with Keith White serving as sound editor and Peter Clarke as director of audio.
Marko Paulic, Srecko Krapic, Georgina Hegedos, Sakalas Uzdavinys and Karen Hardie were the principal actors in this spot. The SAG/AFTRA Commercials Contract Standing Committee has granted a waiver to allow commercials to be available for viewing on SHOOTonline.com. The spots cannot be copied, downloaded or e-mailed.
