Bully Pictures‘ Fredrik Callinggard recently traveled to Thailand to shoot a new campaign for 7UP that rebrands the product for the Chinese market. Conceived by BBDO, Shanghai, the spot features Taiwanese heartthrob Kenji Wu who is first seen relaxing on a rooftop with friends. Wu twists open a bottle of 7UP, causing frothy geysers to spring up all over the city. They send bubbles into the air that form the figure “7”.
Callinggard spent four days shooting in Bangkok working with a mostly local cast and crew. “I felt blessed to shoot in Bangkok,” he says. “It is a beautiful city; almost every street corner has something interesting to offer.”
Although the bubbly “7s” are CG, much of the rest of the effects were created by Callinggard using practical means. “I do as much as I can in-camera, relying as little as possible on post,” he observed. “About 80-percent of the gushing water is real.”
Callinggard traveled to the opposite side of the globe to shoot a spot for the chewing gum Stimorol, sold throughout Europe. Out of the Copenhagen office of JWT, the spot promotes the ability of the brand’s Shift gum to change flavor from raspberry to mint by following a rollerblader, as he glides through the hilly streets of Barcelona. As the young man weaves through pedestrians and slides down stair railings, the scenery around him changes hue, from raspberry red to icy blue.
That production also involved a complex shoot and clever manipulation in post. “We did a lot with color in costumes and props, and also shot plates for the changing scenery, Callinggard notes.
“Fredrik is exceptionally good at blending real material with visual effects and making it feel organic,” adds creative producer Mads Norfeldt Marstrand. “Looking at it, you think it could have happened. You think it could be real.”
Callinggard recently returned to Asia for a campaign for Farmers Insurance with IW Group, Los Angeles. Shot in Hong Kong, the spots will air in the United States beginning in January.
About Bully Pictures
Bully Pictures was formed in 2004 by Executive Producer Jason Forest as a full-service TV commercial, internet viral, short film, and international production service company. The company represents directors Fredrik Callinggard, Gaute Hesthagen, Daniel Kaufman, Christian Lyngbye, Franco Marinelli, Jeroen Mol, Michael Shapiro and Craig Tanimoto. For more information, write info@bullypictures.com
Credits
Spot: Refreshing Icy
Client: 7UP
Ad Agency: BBDO China, Shanghai. Andrew Lok, creative director; Bati Wu, copywriter; Alex Zie, art director; Desmond Loh, producer; Hong-Ai Shen, strategy planner, Fiona Lam, Karen Fei and Yumiko Wang, account supervisors.
Director: Fredrik Callinggard
Creative Producer: Mads Norfeldt Marstrand
Spot: Shift
Client: Stimorol
Ad Agency: JWT, Copenhagen. David Asmussen, creative director.
Director: Fredrik Callinggard
Creative Producer: Mads Norfeldt Marstrand
