"Henceforth, he only leapt in."
This week's most interesting videos, made by and for organisations.
For six months, Paul Lynch was trying and failing to write a novel, “just drilling through granite and getting nowhere,” as he told The Guardian.
One Friday afternoon, he decided enough was enough and gave up on it. “The following Monday I returned calmly to my desk with no idea what to do. I created a new document and waited. And then the opening page of Prophet Song arrived and I knew it had the juice.”
Prophet Song would go on to win this year’s Booker Prize, one of fiction’s highest accolades.
Sometimes the work is to keep going. Sometimes it’s to stop, change course and try something new.
ZEISS shares a stunning view of one woman’s whole life (8 mins)
High-end lens company ZEISS Cinematography proclaims it’s “where technological precision and the love for cinematic art connect.” Boy does its new short film deliver on that promise.
It follows one woman’s life from beginning to end through gorgeous imagery and subtle storytelling – a perfect example of less-is-more.
Come for the beautiful use of light, stay for the bold ending which doesn’t look away from the main character’s final moments, rendered with calm and quiet dignity. It’s breathtaking, and brilliant. (Watch on Vimeo)
The Cure takes a maddening look at modern-day gay conversion therapy (4m 30s)
This is an extraordinary piece of work that set me on edge from its very first moments, as a creepy nurse mouths platitudes at the viewer through her stick-on smile. It’s made by the activist Brazilian publisher Editora Taverna, to raise awareness of the depressingly widespread use of gay conversion therapy in Brazil.
It places the modern incarnation of this horrible practice – which happens through therapists – as part of a decades-old story of prejudice and dehumanising attitudes to sexuality. It made me furious, which videos like this should. (Watch on YouTube)
Red Bull’s dizzying flight through the London’s most iconic bridge (2 mins)
I’d love to be in the brainstorm session when the Red Bull team decide which mad stunt they’re going to try next, and seeing what they take on, I can’t quite imagine what gets rejected.
To wit – please enjoy Austrian skydivers Marco Fürst and Marco Waltenspiel’s astonishing wingsuit flight through London’s Tower Bridge. Presented in a perfect two-minute package, this is the right mix of anticipation, adrenaline and elation. (Watch on YouTube)
Funny spot sees sweat drippin’ over his body (and everything else) (1m 30s)
We’ve said it before and we’ll say out again – the key to making a visual joke work very often comes down to how far you commit to it. Singapore’s Grab goes all in on this sweat-drenched summer spot, and in doing so, a simple idea becomes something much stronger.
When it comes to execution, details matter hugely too – the timing of the sweat turning on and off is uniformly perfect, adding another dimension to the gag. (Watch on Vimeo)
Wes Anderson for Montblanc is everything you hope it will be (3 mins)
This is good clean fun from pen (and leather goods, who knew?) manufacturer Montblanc.
Sure it’s Wes Anderson doing Wes Anderson things, alongside Rupert Friend and Jason Schwartzman, but it hits so many high notes, with an underlying clumsiness that throws the whole thing off its rhythm time and again. (Watch on YouTube)
A short history of the banger that is the BBC News theme (1 min)
The BBC news theme was 25 years old this week, and to celebrate, its composer David Lowe explained how he created it.
But by layering his explanation with social clips of people dancing to it – an unexpected lockdown phenomenon – the BBC took an interesting video to the next level, connecting the dots between its inception and its cultural impact. (Watch on Instagram)
New Balance pays tribute to its most famous colourway (7 mins)
There’s a much-loved and oft-shared New Balance print ad with the tagline “Worn by supermodels in London and Dads in Ohio.” It was only when the credits rolled on this film that I realised the opening scene had been a live action realisation of that overlap.
That speaks to the density of this piece, which presents seven different vignettes inspired by the brand’s signature grey. By mixing styles and jumping between subcultures, the film creates an eclectic celebration which doesn’t feel self-congratulatory. (Watch on YouTube)
Pivot. Pivot. PIIIIVVVOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTT (15s)
High fives all round for the social team at Chicago’s Field Museum, who 1. Filmed the inherently comic moving of a giraffe-sized dinosaur and 2. Set it to the soundtrack of one of the greatest Friends scenes ever, which left an entire generation unable to hear the word “pivot” normally again.
I also just love when museums start bantering with each other in the comment section.(Watch on Instagram)
A new creative era for Lynx shows a lot of promise (1m 20s)
Lynx deodorant used to make ads which revelled in the hyper-sexualised early 2000’s lads-mag-misogny. “Use Lynx, see tits,” wasn’t the slogan, but it might as well have been.
So it’s was refreshing to see the new campaign reimagine the central idea – the power of the Lynx smell – in a much warmer, more charming and funnier way.
There are lots of nice touches in this story of a stick-up gone awry – “My soup!” – and the difference between the new Lynx approach and the old one is personified in the Napoleon Dynamite-esque main character. (Watch on YouTube)
“ In life, I am a big proponent of the swerve. We should all swerve now and again.”
Paul Lynch