Levi's Ballet Advertisement

This blog post is about a Levi Jean's advertisement!!

This advertisement was created last year around February 28, 2012. 

I have posted the Full Version Commercial and the Making Of. 

Modern ballet mixing elements of classical ballet and a dash of bboy.  Levi's meets up with Korea National Ballet and performs a modern ballet on the streets of Seoul for their Stretch to Fit Jeans series available in Korea for Spring 2012. 

Composed by Rafael May: http://www.rafaelmay.com , Dancers; (Female) Kim LiHoe - Classically trained ballet dancer, (Male) Lee DongHoon - Bboy trained, classically inspired, Choreographer: Sejung Hong, Director: Lee Jae Cheol. 

Check out the whole experience at (Int'l)
http://www.levistretch.com

With this advertisement I love how it is a story throughout but still sticks to the guidelines of actually advertising the jeans.  I love the opening scene where the sun is shining and she is inviting him in to dance, gives the start of the story.  The locations and scenery are great throughout this advert and really shows the dancers well and gives the sense of freedom around the city. The changes into each and every different scene are very well put together as if zooms on part of the jeans and then swaps to a different pair in a different scene and how the same positions are at the end of one scene to the start of another. The changes in clothing in every scene are subtle due to how the scene changes are cut.  The rooftop scene is lovely as well as the bridge scene as it shows some moves in slow motion, also showing how the jeans can stretch well. Ends in a night city location and shows the two dancers beautiful ballet moves. 

The Making Of video of the advertisement really shows the amount of teamwork and crew that have gone into making this ad. It shows a behind-the-scenes look at a cold, wintery video shoot in Seoul.  Within this video you really get to see the city they are filming in and it shows the test runs in big thick coats.  In each scene it shows how the directors are choosing where to shoot from and how the stylists are choosing the right clothing for each scene. It really make you realise how much goes into an advertisement for a brand such as Levi. Although with all this time and crew members it has made a beautiful and stunning ballet advert film. 

There is a lot that will use as inspiration from watching these videos from this ad and I will consider the amount of time it may take to create the film I want to, especially if its just me with a little help instead of a whole crew. I love the way the dancing is filmed the most, and the beautiful moves.  I was originally going to have a still camera but I might try and move with the dancer/s to see the similar effect of this film. Hopefully in the space that I can find, I will be able to shoot with a large depth of field.                                             ______________________________________________

Nike JUST DO IT Dance Battle

I have added this short dance film onto the end of this Levi advert post because this is also an advertisement film but for Nike instead.  This is a Nike dancers ad for JUST DO IT Russia campaign Fall 2007 featuring Maria Vinogradova and Anastsiya Soboleva.  

I like how it shows the differences between the two very different dance genres.  The location looks like an Urban dance studio but in a huge hall. The lighting from the big windows making shadows on the floor is and effective touch.  Even though this film is very short compared to the Levi ad, I can also take the similar filming methods away from this with how the eyesight levels change from high and low. Both are great dance videos and are a great source of research for me. 

Dancer's Routines - My Idea's

As well as looking at published fashion dance films I have also been looking at videos submitted to YouTube of dance students showing their own routines.  This is something I looked at only to get a feel of what dancer's look like performing their own routine's and how it could be so much better if it had been shot as a film correctly.  The reason for looking at videos like this is because I need to decide where to shoot my dancers, inside a room or outside on location or to mix the two. Here are two dance films I have chosen to look at. 

_____________________________________________

This first video I have found, shows a Solo dance to the song 'Skinny Love' by 'Birdy'.  The dance is performed by a girl called Emma Joubert. The reason for picking out this video from the thousands of others on YouTube is because of the lighting, the room and the way she has been filmed.  It's not perfect, but great to see the actual dance.  I use this to get a feel of what the dancer I will be working with will be like and to see what kind os space I will need. I will use a room with higher walls so you don't get the overexposed light from the windows, and will use a lot more depth of field to focus on just the dancer. But overall - from this video I can see how the background has to be plain, as the doors ruin this and how lighting will be key too. 

The second film I am using as an example of own routine's in a duet contemporary dance to the song 'Turning Tables' by 'Adele' and is Choreographed by Mckenna Szczepanowski & Meaghan Silva. The dance routine looks very good together and would look great if it was shot as an actual dance film rather than in the dance studio. For something like this it would do the dance justice to have it filmed outside the studio, maybe it a big empty room or even on location. As well as the first video, with a little depth of field added, a few slow mo moves and the right location this routine could make for a great dance film. 

So for My Idea's for my own dance film is finding the right location to shoot and for it to be big enough to shoot with a lot of depth of field.  Also to have a room size big enough so that the main aim and focus is on the dancer/s. I also need to take clothing into consideration because it could end up being a huge distraction and also change a mood. The routine's do not have to be long because I can make some of the moves into slow motion and extend them for filming purposes. 

Fashion Short Dance Films (1 )

Lately I have been researching Dance films in the Fashion world, very quirky, strange and all completely different.  Most advertising companies in the Fashion World will have a short film that accompanies images of the trend or clothing range. These films can be used for promoting and adverts on TV.  Alot of fashion films, just show the models in a particular way that the artist has produced, but I am, for this project, particularly focusing on 'dance'.

____________________________________________

1 - The first short film I found was in the ASVOFF (A Shaded View on Fashion Film) fashion style beauty film festival by Diane Pernet. I had some quick research on asvoff and 'A Shaded View on Fashion Film is the first annual festival in the world about fashion films.  The company is created by a journalist Diane Pernet and it launched in September 2008 as a three-day event at the national museum of Paris, Jeu de Paume, ASVOFF then became a full festival showing feature films, documentaries, conferences, performances and installations.  Personally from my point of view, some of the short films do not make any sense and are quite frankly, very strange. But some of them I really feel intrigued and interested within the sounds and movements. As mentioned earlier, I am paying particular attention to Dance. 

1. 

In this video (1) called 'Fred Butler Sunshowers' by Elisha Smith-Leverock for asvoff,  I particularry like the colours of the fields with the gold accessories, I like how the music is simple yet interesting and how the dance is very unique and contemporary. The film is about 1 minute long even though the video goes on for 2 minutes. Gold is clearly the theme throughout this short film although there are no clothes worn.  The parts I will use as inspiration from this film is the way that the dancer had been filmed, a lot of depth of field used, and focusing from the location to her. 

_____________________________________________

2 - The second short film I have found is a film produced by Dominique Palombo and include's designer Rachael Roy's Spring collection 2011.  This fashion film has a number of dancers included throughout and the choreographer is Jermaine Browne. For this film there were also Creative Directors, Producers, Artistic Director, Stylist, Hair Stylist, Make-up artists, a film crew and assistants for each. 

2. 

In this short film (2) called 'Move' I like how the main focus is on the dancing.  It is a very contemporary dance and includes moves that could be considered ballet moves.  What I like most about the filming is how it changes from slow motion back to normal but shows a lot of moves in slow-mo so you can really see how the dancers 'move'.  The music has a catchy beat and works well with particular scenes. What I will take from this film is how the background is a simple white, because I will do a similar thing within my film to concentrate on the dancer also the slow motion, to capture the full extent of the moves. 

_____________________________________________

3 - The Third short dance film I have found is a film produced by 'Dancelends' and is called 'Fly the Light'.  This film is in link with the film before by Rachael Roy and includes the same dance group. The choreographer is Dave Guggino, and the Director of Photography is Dominique Palombo who was the choreographer on the previous dance film. There was also producers, camera crew, stylists, hair and make-up, editors and music editors to create this film. 

3.

This short dance film called 'Fly the Light' is a contemporary dance film that explores the dynamic between good and evil. It is shot with very low light and is quite a dark film.  It is a lot shorter than the film before, an obviously shows a different season of clothing. The way the camera moves from scene to scene quite quickly, matches the music and works well for the aim. It makes the viewer think about the good and evil sides.  I would like to have a theme title for my film and hopefully convey it with the way that I shoot the dancer, dancing. 

______________________________________________

4 - This fourth short dance film is in connection with film number 2 & 3. This film is also produced by 'Dancelends' and is called 'White Out'. The director is Dominique Palombo who directed in film above 'Fly the Light'. The Choreographer is Jordana Che Toback, there are three dancers included which are different dancers from previous films, there are also extra producers and assistants. 

4. 

The reason I like this fashion dance film is because of the location and the dress sense, which is denim and white, and a big white room that has a very urban feel. I think the location can do a lot for a film and change the way it is read from the viewer. I like the slow motion movements from all three dancers across the floor, it works very well compositionally. I also think the energy mixed with the music for this film is very effective, and makes it different to the others.

All four of these films have something that I can use as inspiration for my short film that will hopefully work accordingly to my current plan.  I will keep looking back on all dance short films I find for more ideas to make my film a good standard.