In “Paparazzi,” part of the latest Enterprise Rent-A-Car campaign from London creative agency The Corner, Gerard Butler is being pursued by photographers. Butler is chased all around London, taking us through some of the city’s most iconic locations before he ultimately escapes in an Enterprise car.
Guy Shelmerdine of Smuggler directed the two-spot package, including “Paparazzi.”
Credits
Client Enterprise Rent-A-Car Agency The Corner, London Tom Prendergast, Joe Stamp, creative directors; Kristie Girvan, Katrina Morelli, heads of production; Ollie Gilmore, strategy director. Production Smuggler Guy Shelmerdine, director; Nick Sutherland-Dodd, exec producer; Gary Salter, photographer; Greg Powell, stunt coordinator. Postproduction Framestore Kristie Girvan, head of production; Reece McFarlane, Jason Farrow, Simon Stoney, Esme Coleman, Paul O'Brien, compositors; Christian Tailor, motion graphics; Sophie Harison, sr. producer. Editorial The Quarry Paul Watts, editor. Music Q Department, New York Sound Design/Audio Post 750mph, London Sam Ashwell, sound designer/mixer
Dancer turned director Ezra Hurwitz collaborates with Ailey II artistic director Francesca Harper, featuring movement as museum pieces against the Whitney Museum of American Art’s striking architecture for this short film titled Echoes of Ailey. Commissioned to celebrate “Edges of Ailey” at the Whitney Museum, the film accompanies the first large-scale exhibition on the life and enduring legacy of visionary artist and choreographer Alvin Ailey. “Edges of Ailey” is currently on view at the Whitney until February 9.
Animating iconic images from Alvin Ailey’s 20th-century repertory, the film expands on the exhibition by constructing a visual narrative around his storytelling and influences. Set to Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place,” dancers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, and The Ailey School capture the emotional core of the company’s history--physically situating Ailey’s masterworks amongst the Whitney’s collection.
“As a child, my grandmother took me to Ailey’s Revelations once a year,” said Hurwitz. “No matter how often I saw it, the work captivated me. There isn’t one specific thing I hope viewers take away from the film--or one way to interpret its images. It’s meant to be an abstract work, like Ailey’s creations.”
Turning to his archive, Hurwitz and Harper illuminate key sequences symbolic of Ailey’s profound legacy, closing on an uninterrupted sequence from "I’ve Been Buked," the opening movement of Ailey’s legendary "Revelations." Carrying a watershed moment back to its own medium, Echoes of Ailey captures the multigenerational impact of Ailey’s work, continued by his organization. The short film first premiered on Nowness.