The dynamic power of social media to generate attention is exemplified in this Squarespace short film featuring Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch who is content to lay around in his garbage can surrounded by trash. But one person’s trash is another’s treasure as an admirer is taken by Oscar’s environment, seeing it as a work of art which she posts online, striking a responsive chord with the world at large.
Suddenly Oscar via his Squarespace website is a famous, revered artist–much to his chagrin; until he realizes that he’s more miserable than ever as a result, which he comes to like.
Jim Jenkins of O Positve directed this short titled “A Cautionary Tale” for Squarespace’s in-house agency. Q Department handled music and sound design, with audio post from Digital Arts.
Credits
Client Squarespace Agency In-House Creative, Squarespace David Lee, chief creative officer; Ben Hughes, director of brand creative; Leilanni Todd, Tim Scales, creative/sr. art directors; Matt McCarron, creative/sr. copywriter; Sandra Nam, director of creative production; Amy Kommatas, head of production/brand; Jen McKenzie, creative producer. Production O Positive Jim Jenkins, director; Stuart Dryburgh, DP; Julian LaVerdiere, production designer; Marc Grill, executive producer/line producer. Editorial Arcade Geoff Hounsell, editor; Jeff Lopus, assistant editor; Sila Soyer, exec producer; Andrew Cravotta, producer. Finishing/VFX Method Studios Doug Luka, VFX supervisor; Steve Morris, lead VFX artist; Graham Dunglinson, exec producer; Irka Seng, producer. Color Company 3 Tom Poole, colorist; Alexandra Lubrano, color producer. Music/Sound Design Q Department, New York Audio Post Digital Arts, New York Josh Heilbronner, mixer.
Tom Tagholm of Various Films directed this moving piece for the U.K.’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) out of creative agency MullenLowe UK.
Focused on adult social care, the public service film delves into the world of care providers and how they connect with those they help. We feel how gratifying it is to assist people in daily tasks, the value it brings to their lives--and to the lives of those who provide this special care.
It’s a special career for people who might not have previously considered the role. It’s about a fulfilling job that fulfills lives. There’s a shared, reciprocal energy that emerges from working together in this way.
Capturing this dynamic and doing justice to this human story grew out of the creatives and filmmaker spending an extended amount of time in this world--long before any scheduled lensing. At this juncture, there were no cameras, just getting to know those involved--sharing tea and chatting, driven by a curiosity about life.
And this facilitated down the line the capturing of real human stories--trying not to get in the way of the natural rhythms of these special relationships as they unfolded. The mission was to recognize and capture all this--and in some cases uncover the significant moments and feelings inside of an apparently normal day. At the same time, the role of adult special care providers isn’t sugarcoated. There are challenges on both sides of the relationship. Yet there is a magic to the seemingly mundane, practical beats in a life--getting from point A to point B, answering emails, shopping, the daily tasks where the connection felt the most vivid and inspiring. One such task was seeing a man in a kitchen, cutting an onion for the first time, experiencing the joy of cooking.
The... Read More
