Image Source: LVHM.com
Did Spike Jonze make an ad
or music video?
This is the second time the Oscar-winning filmmaker and director is getting a star to dance. For starters, the film seems like a sequel to DJ Fatboy Slim’s music video for “Weapon Of Choice” directed by Spike Jonze himself. In that film he gets actor Christopher Walken to dance and haunt the halls of a hotel for 4 straight minutes. Today we break down the craft behind the iconic 2016 Kenzo ad film that was created to launch their new fragrance.
The film starts with actress Margaret Qualley getting bored at a felicitation ceremony. She sneaks out of there and steps into the hall. What follows is pure mayhem.
Jonze uses a liminal space to showcase the protagonists emancipation. The film is shot in the Dorothy Chandler Theatre, in Los Angeles, which is a wonderfully eerie liminal space. The best use of liminal space is in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining when you see the kid riding around the empty halls of a deserted hotel.
Image Source: Youtube
Image Source: Youtube
From here the Kenzo film kicks into high gear where Qualley seems to be possessed by a force as she dances erratically across the halls to the bass-heavy track “Mutant Brain” by Sam Spiegel and Ape Drums. The ubiquitous vocals by Jamaican dancehall artist Assassin enhances Qualley’s possession. She is seen punching, jumping, flying and shooting lasers across the halls unlike a typical perfume commercial. Ryan Heffington (who also choreographed Sia's "Chandelier" video) has orchestrated an uncanny mix of aggressive, goofy and elegant moves (don’t try this at home).
Image Source: GQ.com
A lot of jaws dropped during the sequence at 1:50 minutes in the film. Visual effects supervisor Janelle Croshaw from VFX studio Digital Domain told online magazine Inverse that they, “used tiny pieces of tape on the mirrors to capture the points needed. Lots and lots of panoramas and high dynamic range images (HDRIs) were taken. During the shoot a clean plate was captured with the Technocrane without Margaret and then the Technocrane was cleared out and a clean plate was captured with a handheld cam.” In post they used all the collected data to build an environment in compositing software Nuke.
Image Source: Youtube
The costume design is noticeable too - the green multi-tiered Kenzo gown is the only colourful element that stands out and flows with the madness.
Image Source: Youtube
The then Kenzo creative directors, Carol Lim and Humberto Leon describe that, “The KENZO girl inhabits the present, like right now. She’s not nostalgic at all. She likes movement and speed and the way things shift and slide and collide in real time. She’s never blasé, always enthusiastic. She stands out from the crowd.” Jonze and team have captured this sentiment in an iconic film (still not sure if it is an ad film or music video)
Her dance comes to an end as she tears through the Kenzo eye, which is another VFX marvel. “We kept 100 percent of Margaret’s performance but had to modify and recreate all of the breakage, confetti and eye around her to give it the explosive energy Spike was after”, says Croshaw.
It won a Titanium Lion, 2 Gold Lions, 2 Silver Lions, and 3 Bronze Lions.
Other than popularising the perfume, the film acts as a great metaphor for emancipation of the new age woman.
Craft Takeaway:
- It is unlike any perfume ad film
- Unconventional choice of music and choreography builds the madness
- Great use of liminal space
- Costume design plays a big role
- A great DoP and VFX team can create magic together (especially making the crew disappear from mirrors)
- Spike Jonze redefines commercial filmmaking
- Even over twenty years the craft is matchless
Image Source: Youtube
