Vol. 4
Wow, that month went quick. Just like that, we’re back for another volume of Cut Culture. This time, we've got a malevolent x magnificent metropolis mash-up, a BTS look at our latest work with Puma Women for JD Sports, and an intro to some Next Gen talent changing the game.
Cut Culture
Sounds Like NYC.
I think early on in the pandemic, seeing the streets of New York City completely deserted was possibly one of the most stark realisations that sh*t was getting real. And while we’re not naive enough to think everything is completely fine and dandy again, it is encouraging to see some of the returning hustle and bustle that makes the Big Apple (arguably) the greatest city on Earth. Actually, scratch that - not just seeing it, but hearing it. The rattling of the subway, scurrying squirrels, the indecipherable background chatter, and just the general buzz of the city - Gilad Avnat and Stav Nahum of Bonamaze sampled over 900 sounds to bring that atmosphere to life. While it’s arguably the sound design that makes this video what it is, a lot of the credit also has to go to the cast: the general populus of the city. Considering it looks like a montage plucked from the last scene in The Hangover in places, it’s remarkable to think that all this footage was captured over just 6 days.
Pile.
Life’s all about contrast, so, just as expertly as Bonamaze made the modern city look like a vibrant, multi-faceted metropolis, Toberg (a.k.a. Toby Auberg) has depicted it more as a dystopian nightmare full of conflict, loud noises and automatic weapons. ‘Pile’ is a digitally animated film employing an infinite upward scroll technique to reveal a sitemap of the human condition. Toberg claims he chose the single shot to reinforce the themes and concepts of the film and to tell the story of “the directions of history, economic stratification, the hierarchy of needs, infrastructure, etc.” In short, things start of great and then humans come along and f*ck it all up. As we climb from the peaceful atmosphere of sea-level, rural self-sufficiency, the industrial revolution happens in front of our eyes, and you can feel the tension slowly rising along with the shot until it reaches its unfortunate crescendo in the form of some maniac opening fire on some gelatinous blobs stuffing their faces with processed sugar. As I said, it’s not the most cheerful piece of work. But it is also bizarre, slightly haunting, and pretty epic. And keep your eyes peeled - Toberg wanted to make it feel like a Hieronymus Bosch painting or a ‘Where’s Wally?’ in motion, so he’s actually hidden Wally somewhere in there. 10 quid to whoever spots him first.
BTS
Puma Women x JD.
Lily Brown was a name that we’d been wanting to work with for a while, having spent quite some time stalking her work on Instagram. So we finally got her behind the lens to launch the latest range of Puma athletic womenswear for JD Sports.
We decided to deliver it with an almost fully female crew (except the one with the beard standing at the back). As well as Lily, we had the familiar face of Zoe Kozlic as the stylist. Eagle-eyed readers may clock that these are two of the three-headed hydra who make up Studio Ten.E9, who were shouted out in last month’s Radar. And last but not least, completing the bill as make-up artist was Lucy Thomas, who we worked with on the Puma RS-FAST campaign last November.
After a smooth day of shooting 12 looks on 2 models on a stripped-back set, we delivered the stills-only campaign for social and digital use to stamp Puma’s identity on the JD women’s page.
Check out the final assets and some BTS shots below.
Radar
We’ve taken a slightly different approach for this month’s Radar, as we’ve decided to highlight some of the brilliant young creators doing mind-bending transitions and VFX edits on social media. First up, there’s @madmatthies, who owns about a thousand hoodies and is somehow able to make putting them on look unreal. Next, @24framesofginger who brings magic to the mundane of everyday life objects and scenarios. @jossfez is just flipping mental (literally), and, last but not least, @joshvfx, who may or may not actually have superpowers. As much as we all love to give social media a hard time, these lot represent a new generation benefitting from the democratisation of a previously niche skillset. And they’ve found an audience for it. They’ve racked up millions of views between them, and we really recommend you go check out their edits on their own channels.