Scandinavian entertainment mogul, Wallmans, (think "Cirque du soleil", but pop) just launched an eerie and beautiful ad, which connects the past of their Copenhagen based building of 1886 with their slightly "lighter" contemporary shows.
It opens by allowing us to experience the building from inside at night as it turns the lights off and comes to life with past ghost reminding us of it's history. The building's memories seem to be unleashed by the sounds of an old 30s song, which resonates throughout the space as we see captivating images of bartenders, artists, and even horses (or rather, a horse).
As the song from the old phonograph starts to skip and fade, the fabric of the past deteriorates in favor of a modern space with today's artists.
"The notion was to rekindle past memories, if you will, hidden within the walls of the 130 years old circus building. Everyone knows the building in Denmark, but perhaps they don't realize exactly how old it is or how much history it has", says Exec. Producer and part idea-man Christian Juliussen. "And we wanted to connect this story to today's shows in an elegant way".
Shot at night by Shoot Happens director Sune Sorensen - with an uncanny sensibility in both imagery, sound design and music - the cinematography stands out as anything but 'romantic', rather slightly mysterious and dark:
"I went to great lengths to avoid too many 'easy' commercial tricks with this film, like pasting music on it from start to end to create a false sense of progression or using heartfelt emotional character-based stories to attract immediate response. I wanted room for the narrative and the building to breathe, so to speak, to allow both the silence and the sounds to guide us. This way the building itself becomes a character and the time, space, and ambience forms an inherent part of it's persona".
In the past there were both horses and elephants in the circus building, but changes to the backstage areas and access to the scene did not allow for an elephant today. Besides, according to Sorensen they didn't see the point of having more animals - "less is more", he says.
Creative Credits:
Client: Wallmans
Agency/idea/concept: Shoot Happens
Director: Sune Sorensen
Producer: Christian Juliussen
Director of Photography: Snorre Ruhe
VFX and post: Søren Nowakowski & Christian Funder Hvistendal (SH inhouse)
Song: Carlos Gardel - Volver
Production company: Shoot Happens