Esther Turan producer and rock’n roll mom reports:
Welcome to Moviebar's blog! Here are my thoughts on a current hot topic. Everybody is talking, posting and commenting about the new Volvo Truck "Epic Split" commercial featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Not only those who work in the advertising business and not only film makers, but simply everybody! More than 36 million people have already seen it and 2 million viewers have already shared it in a week:
We have pitched for this job, so we almost had the chance to work on this project. Pitching in our case means to compete with other film production companies for a certain project. This (as well) would have been a service job, when a film production company reaches out to another production company in another country and shoots there, not in their own country. This could have numerous reasons, i.e. weather, locations, budget efficiency etc. We have sent out quite a few possible good location options, but finally, due to the very special shooting requests with the trucks and the special trick, the above-mentioned Volvo spot was shot in Spain.
Unfortunately ...
However, we are really happy for Andreas Nilsson’s success!! He’s a fantastic director and we’ve known this for a long time :-)
But who is Andreas Nilsson? He’s the Swedish-born director with a taste for the surreal, and he is the brain behind some of the most memorable music videos you've ever seen.
His work has a distinctive, bizarre and darkly humorous style that haunts like the feeling of just having woken from a dream. His roots in music and fine art have given him a sharp intuition when it comes to interpreting music visually. He is known for creating fascinating worlds and filling them with loveable eccentrics, referencing folklore, science fiction and the far corners of his own peculiar imagination. As well as creating extraordinary music videos and commercials, Andreas has staged productions in theatre, lent his visual skills to opera and created one-of-a-kind art installations.
Andreas is best known for his contributions to the music videos of the following great artists:
Depeche Mode, Dizzee Rascal & Robbie Williams, Röyskopp, David Guetta, Placebo, Moby, White Lies, Goldfrapp, 2 Chainz & Kanye West
The commercial he directed are also outstanding:
Volvo Truck starring Jean Claude van Damme, Nike featuring Chris Paul, Converse, Cadbury, Target, Toyota
I feel honored that I could already work with so many brilliant people so far and Andreas Nilsson is definitely one of them. I really enjoyed working with him and simply love the music video we shot together for the Australian band Van She last spring.
It’s an earnest honor that Moviebar represents him here in Hungary. Here’s a photo of Andreas and myself in the break of the Van She music video shoot. We were just sitting around on the edge of a sunbed in the house of our main character, the very hospitable String Emil, somewhere 100 km south of Budapest.
By the way, String Emil.
Just in case, anybody would love to refresh their visual memories or should you not know him yet, just bravely click on this link:
Well, we did not style him for this music video, HE IS THIS CHARACTER! But why on Earth would a German ex-car dealer buy a house somewhere in the Hungarian countryside? And what is he doing there if you can clearly see it from his website that his favorite pastime is posing with his bottom out in a G-string on a pool table?! This question still bothers me… And I can’t get the sight out of my head as he showed us his gun collection – naturally in a G-string in between two shots, with a fire in his eyes… The spectacle of the white Porsche with the pink Christmas tree on top of it burnt into my mind forever as well!
In connection with the Volvo spot it was great to look back on Emil and the Van She music video, and working with Andreas Nilsson. I do hope that soon we’ll have the chance again to work together!
Finally, for all those who also speak Hungarian, here’s a previous interview with Andreas, made when he was shooting with us.
http://langologitarok.blog.hu/2012/04/04/van_she_premier
