VML-21 in-1 Study Case
Client
VML/Motorola
Challenge/requirements
To prove that the 21 megapixel Moto X had the best smartphone camera we challenged a tableaux vivant photographer to capture 21 choreographed moments in one shot using only the Moto X.
Solution
Create a tableaux on the Coney Island boardwalk, populate the scene with influencers, actors, locals and extras and hire Ryan Schude to photograph it. Then create a deeper experience with 21 interconnected films across the Instagram grid. We flipped the Instagram UI into a horizontal grid. Every square is a video and part of an interconnected Coney Island story. Post the finished images and videos on a dedicated website as well as on dedicated pages across all social media platforms.
Motorola: MotoX 21 in 1
Creative concept
VML’s idea was to create a tableaux on the Coney Island boardwalk that would be representative of the funky, iconic nature of the place, including amusements, rides and boardwalk local color. This scene would be captured at magic hour with the 21 pixel Motorola phone.
Each of the people in the frame would have their own story as well as the moment of time in which they were captured for the still photo. All of those stories would be interconnected in some way and would be told via 21 individual videos.
Live action shoot
The shoot was done in October, just after the summer season was concluded, and right before most of the amusement areas were shut down for the winter. This gave us greater access to the businesses that were included in the scope of the project, primarily Tom’s Restaurant and Luna Park, as well as the boardwalk area in front of both. Monica Anderson was the Black Watch producer who worked with VML to put this mammoth project together. The agency hired several internet influencers to appear in the photo as well as in the individual videos. These included Joey Chestnut, the hot dog eating champion of the world, Momo, a famous border collie, Humza Diaz, a teenage daredevil, noted for his climbing heroics, and others. We augmented those by casting over 60 actors, local celebrities and extras.
During the early part of each day, we set up the tableaux and got everyone in the correct positions for the still photo, then shot their video stories; we had two video teams, accompanied by VML creative directors, Josh Maguire and Harsh Kapadia and we were able to shoot 21 videos in those 2 days. At 4pm each day, rehearsal began for the still shot.
We built a 30 foot platform in the middle of the boardwalk and Ryan directed the scene from there. There were many, many moving parts, ranging from a fire eater to flying balloons, to a live dog hiding among a pile of stuffed animals. A photo was taken at magic hour of day one, we made a series of adjustments on day two and took a second photo then, which turned out to be the one that was used. This was easily the biggest, most complicated and most successful project we have ever done up to this point.
Timeline
About six weeks from initial location scouting to 2 day location shoot, which included a five day push due to a hurricane.
Results
Millions of impressions across all social media platforms; Cannes Lions: 2 Shortlisted | Project Isaac: Gold | Facebook: North America Regional Winner | Webby: Nominee
