Shedding light on LG's showstopper

Today saw the launch of LG's new campaign for its OLED evo TVs. Created by The&Partnership London and directed by Sam Brown of Rogue Films, the spot is a wondrous journey through colour.

Below, Brown and Micky Tudor, The&Partnership's Executive Creative Director, discuss the making of the 90-second film, the challenges of working under Covid restrictions, the attempts to do as many of the special effects in-camera as possible, and the inevitability of the director "leaping around the actor making silly noises".

What was the brief you received from the client and how did you go about interpreting that?

MT: The brief was quite rational, as you might expect from an innovation and engineering company like LG. The new self-lighting pixel technology for LG OLED is best in class but also quite bamboozling for ordinary people. So, our job was to humanise this incredible technology and create a story that could connect with people on a more emotional level, and that could be easily understood. The result was a sort of Alice in Wonderland story, where coloured light was the rabbit.

There was a lot of back and forth of how to create a sense of mischief and character with [the] light.

Did you and your team immediately know how to approach the brief; was there much back and forth to get to the final idea?

MT: We got to the idea of somebody following a light into an imaginary world pretty early on. But there was a lot of back and forth of how to create a sense of mischief and character with this light. How could we be playful? How could each new scene add something extra? And how could we create a sense of scale and cinematography so that the end result was worthy of being shown on such an amazing TV? So, there were many iterations of the script as we explored many different ideas. Sam Brown was the perfect partner for us. We formed a really tight team working on what was both visually interesting and achievable under tight production, budget and timing constraints.

Above: Sam Brown on the set of the LG Light Up Your World shoot.

What was your initial reaction when you first saw the script?

SB: I thought it was huge fun. They pitched it to me like a modern-day Alice Through the Looking Glass, which pricked my ears up straight away. I dived straight down the rabbit hole with them.

There’s no doubt that having the agency or client on Zoom is more challenging. It’s harder to be spontaneous and change your plan if you feel the need to.

How much of the look/feel/design of the film was already on paper versus your pitch on the project?

SB: There were some really nice ideas already in the script, and they had a very specific vision for the look of it. But, as always, we’re looking to see what we can do more organically, so I added a few things that we could shoot in-camera. I also worked a bit on the story to make it more playful. I wanted to feel that the woman was tumbling headlong through the film, and that every time she found her feet we were yanking the rug out from under her again. 

How did you cope with the Covid-related restrictions when shooting, and what were the biggest challenges that came out of that?

SB: Shooting during Covid is straight-forward if everyone wears masks, sticks to the protocols and regularly takes a test. And the more safe, organised and clear about our creative intentions we are, the more clients will maintain the confidence to keep making big films. But there’s no doubt that having the agency or client on Zoom is more challenging. It’s harder to be spontaneous and change your plan if you feel the need to, because what’s plainly obvious to you on set is now lost outside their field of vision. A lot more patience and empathy is needed. We’re learning and adapting quickly.

Above: The team wanted to do as many of the special effects in camera as was possible.

The effects are amazing, but when the story is so much about the actor's reaction to effects which aren't there when filming, how do you approach that?

SB: What begins as an elaborate verbal explanation normally ends up with me leaping around the actor making silly noises and waving my arms around. It’s always amazing to me how the most lo-fi solution to a problem invariably ends up being the one that works. You wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve ended up using a bucket or stick with something stuck on the end of it instead of an elaborate SFX rig. 

What begins as an elaborate verbal explanation normally ends up with me leaping around the actor making silly noises and waving my arms around.

I love how unsophisticated and silly filming often becomes. It’s actually really tough for actors doing effects-heavy work, and pretty boring for crews too. It’s why I don’t really like doing things that aren’t (for the most part) in-camera. Better to drop someone out of a real floating cube into a real lake in the middle of the night. Much more fun for everyone. The downside is you often only get one shot at it. It’s an absolute no-fail situation. But I’ve been in a few of those before.

How closely, and from what stage, are you working with the team at the post house?

SB: Always very closely, and often before I even pitch. Great post houses like Electric Theatre Collective will be the first people to talk themselves out of work, because they want you to do as much stuff in camera as you can. Their mantra is that good post work grows out of practical effects and practical lighting. So, I know I’m working with good post artists if they spend more time scratching their heads on practical solutions with me than showing me which buttons they’re going to press on their computers.