Vol. 12

Can’t beat the classics, right? This volume of Cut Culture brings you a brace of stop motion masterpieces. We’ll also take you behind the scenes of the Polish Prince’s Palace where we recently filmed Aitch in the bathtub. And if you’re really still hankering for more, we’ll intro you to the talented bunch of photographers who we’ve been sending far and wide over the last few months to bring Mitre’s #DifferentLeague campaign to life.

Cut Culture

Hands Off.

There isn’t exactly a clear link between bicycle security and humour. As somebody who has previously had a bike pinched, I can assure you there’s nothing funny about it. Putting a padlock on someone’s bike, on the other hand, is a bit funny, but that’s neither here nor there. For EBike company Van Moof’s latest campaign, Isle of Dogs animator Tobias Fouracre decided to create some stop motion thieves in order to broach the issue of security while retaining some levity and without getting “too severe and techy”. The ad features three plasticine characters, or “super thieves”, each of whom tries to steal a miniature 3D printed VanMoof but comes up short due to Van Moof’s state of the art anti-theft technology. I always find anything stop motion impressive, as it just seems like such a painstaking way to create video these days with the multitude of other options available - particularly when that involves stop motion lip-syncing, too. We’ve also just seen it used in Kanye West’s most recent video in which a plasticine figure resembling Pete Davidson gets buried in the desert, but we won’t go into that. However, this is a modern spin on a somewhat anarchic technique and it absolutely nails the brand’s selling points in a lighthearted and unpretentious way.

The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful.

I’m fairly sure you weren’t expecting a stop motion to feature in this month’s Cut Culture, but I’m absolutely positive you weren’t expecting two. Saying that, this second one is colossally different from the first, demonstrating the flexibility of the medium, particularly in the sense that it has been and continues to be updated to incorporate new techniques. When you think Westerns, you probably think gunslinging bandits, galloping horses, bottles of moonshine, poorly crafted saloon furniture, and John Wayne calling people ‘pilgrim’. What you likely do not think of, however, is a mesmerising stop motion made up of over 600 light paintings. This glorious creation by DARIUSTWIN tells the tale of Fiat Lux, a skeleton in a cowboy hat who travels around California at night through magical portals, collecting precious gemstones under a starlit sky. Sounds a little far-fetched, but don’t forget John Wayne once played Genghis Khan. You don’t even want to think about how long this will have taken them to make. 10 out of 10 for effort.

BTS

Shooting Aitch shooting Hoops in a Polish Prince’s palace. Morning well spent.

We spent the day with Aitch for Puma and JD Sports to launch the white colour-way of the new Puma CA Pro. We shot across a number of locations - because what else would you do when you’ve got access to one of the most recognisable faces in music and free rein to run around a literal palace at your leisure? From the bath tub, to the dining room, to the grounds - this place had it all - we wanted to create the feeling of a ‘day in the life of Aitch’. Admittedly, it wasn’t his real palace - but that watch is all his, so we reckon he’s doing alright.

The basketball set up came about due to a TikTok that we’d seen of Aitch sinking bucket after bucket, which we assumed must have been faked or at the very least flattered with some camera trickery. Yet lo and behold, he stepped up and got every shot first time like it was nothing. What can’t this bloke do?

Not all the work from the day has gone live yet, so keep an eye out for more to come across JD and PUMA’s social channels (as well as our own), but, for now, here’s a hero AV, a bunch of the stills, and a few BTS shots that you won’t see anywhere else.

Radar

Khalil Musa, Oli Hilyer-Riley, Tom Weatherill, WIlliam Grundy, Willow Williams, Will Douglas - Photographers

Over the last few months, we’ve been on a mission for Mitre to capture what real football means to real football people. With Mitre being the ball sponsor of the Emirates FA Cup, this competition has been central to our content - especially given the hectic cup schedule over the last couple rounds. Since the 4th round, we’ve been sending a crack team of photographers (who we happen to be mates with) around the grounds up and down the country to capture those unique moments and little idiosyncrasies of real football that only come out when you’ve got a proper David Vs. Goliath cup tie on your hands. The above is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the content captured by each of these gents - and we haven’t finished yet. Onto the semis…

Head over to Mitre’s Instagram to check out more of the lads’ work.