Titled “Night Projections,” this spec piece directed, produced and conceptualized by Adriano Falconi (repped in the U.S. as a director by ContagiousLA) shows us a Tesla Model S moving through downtown L.A. in the middle of the night. It’s headlights are akin to an aura of life. As the car passes buildings and lampposts, glimpses of nature arise in the forms of trees and foliage, turning the city into a wondrous forest. The joy ride goes back and forth between the urban and nature’s wild until we realize that the car has indeed been motoring through the city while demonstrating its transformative green power.
“I didn’t have a budget for this project, so when we started scouting LA and Bakersfield we didn’t have any clue how far this film would take us,” Falconi recalled. “We envisioned this car causing a metamorphosis evolving from the woods, to animals, and a human presence ultimately. So, we had to think about how to realize this in the most efficient way. With no VFX supervisor on set, we just drove a Tesla and projected colored light onto the buildings to see how real projections interact with the architectural elements.”
ContagiousLA partner/executive producer Natalie Sakai said Falconi’s latest work aligns with the company’s mantra of pushing the envelope. “Not only does ‘Night Projections’ take Adriano’s reel in a new direction,” she noted, “it demonstrates the power of his vision and ambition. He saw this film in his mind and willed it into being.”
“We knew immediately this project was special,” said collaborator Tim Crean, ECD of Suspect vfx + design. “We had done projection in post dozens of times…this was different. Adriano was determined to push it, to transcend the expected.” Ultimately, Falconi and the Suspect team came together around an idea: a projection effect that started simply, but soon began to behave in unexpected ways. “Adriano really wanted it to come alive,” Crean said, “for the viewer to lose touch with what was reality and what was a dream.” Integrating the CG animals and forestry into the live action was only the first step. The creative team at Suspect then sought to defy the expected boundaries of the walls, buildings and street pavement. “Our creations were spilling out into the surrounding environment, the trees were growing into the background and foreground, literally escaping the canvas,” Crean said. “It was exhilarating.”
Unlike the rest of the film, which Falconi storyboarded before the shoot, the ending evolved while the project was underway. “We thought it would be nice to have the imaginary world fade out and leave us back in the city,” said the director. “Driving the car inspires hope and an embrace of nature, and respect for our world – the real world.”
The team is considering shooting additional footage in VR and building a second cut in the spring. It would be, Falconi explained, “a chance to re-experience the spot, from another point of view, to, hopefully, be able to step out of the car for a brief moment and pet the deer and so on.”
CreditsClient Tesla (spec spot) Creative Adriano Falconi, concept/producer. Production Adriano Falconi, director; Pergrin Jung, DP. Editorial Spot Welders LA Mark Sanders, editor. VFX Suspect vfx + design Tim Crean, ECD/Flame artist; Suzanne Dyer, Chelsea Galen, Flame; Steve Burger, Chris Uhrich, Don Pearsall, Kevin Kolodinsky, Phil Massimino, 3D; Rob Appleblatt, VFX exec producer; Tsiliana Greenfeld, VFX producer. Postproduction Crash Color Crash Carlucci, colorist. Audio Post Lime Studios Tom Paolantonio, mixer. Camera camera gear provided by Pat Darrin (Darrinfilm)
Director Gia Coppola Teams With Mejuri For “A New York Minute”; 1st Episode Takes Us To The Grocery Store
Mejuri, known for turning fine jewelry into an everyday luxury, has partnered with director Gia Coppola (The Last Show Girl, Palo Alto) and The Directors Bureau in Los Angeles, for the first time reimagining the brand’s story as episodic content. In a series of microfilms, co-created by Coppola and premiering following New York Fashion Week, Mejuri eschewed a typical celebrity campaign and cast us as voyeurs to a group of aspiring young women--real people, not actors--at the crossroads of their adult lives against the backdrop of New York City.
Titled “A New York Minute,” the series features five real-life friends, who include one perfectly imperfect heroine named Emma. The women celebrate ordinary moments and interactions which reveal, sometimes retrospectively, the extraordinary within the mundane. Adjacent to the brand’s own community, the 30-something year old cast includes Laura Love (Emma), Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane. Mejuri’s jewelry makes an appearance as the best supporting actor.
“When I met with Gia and The Directors Bureau team, there was instant creative and personal chemistry and a natural alignment on the desire to push and blur the lines between marketing, storytelling, and the construct of what a ‘campaign’ could be,” said Jacob Jordan, chief brand officer, Mejuri. “Gia was able to push that idea into something that truly feels new and artful, with a realism and relatability that almost feels jarring. Gia was such a perfect collaborator and partner, someone I had complete trust in to be a catalyst for Mejuri’s values of celebrating women as their truest selves. I can’t wait for us to continue to tell the next chapters of this story.”
To land the relatable... Read More