MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Indie.Go‘s latest film for SM Supermalls is introduced by the almost eerie silence that has replaced the usually overcrowded halls.
The film asks, at a time when the word “essential” has been thrown around more than once, what remains essential to the company. The answer comes in a poignant montage; shots of the brand’s efforts to fight the pandemic and support vulnerable communities flash one by one on the screen.
The powerful spot concludes with a simple message: “Serving you is essential to us.”
adobo magazine caught up with director Jun Reyes, creative head of Indie.Go, to talk about the process behind the video’s development, and how he believes this process reflects how what film production will look like in the future.
“I proposed that the tone of the video must be sincere and humble. No breast-beating. A certain amount of restraint had to be applied. The writing, images, and music had to convey the emotion of the message,” Reyes said.
The brief was given to Reyes’ team 10 days before its release, with the concept being to launch a film depicting SM Supermalls’ efforts and sentiments regarding the pandemic.
According to Reyes, restraint is also the reason for the silent opening shots, under the creative direction of SM Investments of Corporation Vice Chairperson Tessie Sy-Coson, who was struck with the silence of the malls during the community quarantine. She wanted to start the film with silence, which provides a powerful and resounding contrast to the usual scenes in these public establishments, and offers a poignant background to SM Supermalls’ message of service.
When it came to the shots featured in the video, there was no shortage of photos at all, despite the restricting conditions of the lockdown. The brand provided a rich library of crowd-sourced footage from its large network of employees across its 70+ malls, which the team combed through one by one to the right ones for the film.
The spot was also given a black and white treatment, as Reyes pointed out that certain colors elicit certain emotions that might interfere with the messaging. The selection of music was also a challenge, he admitted, as it needed to be “unpretentious, inspiring, but not too melancholic.”
It was also a creative decision to mix together photos of SM employees and medical frontliners in the video — a statement from the brand that it acknowledges its team as part of the workforce essential to fighting the pandemic.
“Intercutting the SM employees with the medical frontliners was an insight we found during editing. We realized that both we were brave and selfless. It worked as a final summary of the video,” Reyes said.
He adds that this campaign may be a peek into the future; how the industry will conduct shoots post-pandemic, considering the impact of social distancing to the collaborative nature of film production. This is also captured in Indie.Go’s film “Restart,” a reassurance to its partners that the firm can adapt and is ready for the future.
“Creative innovation that adapts to these times will be the compelling driver. It’s putting aside the practices that you were used to and finding a creative solution to say the message with limited resources and mobility. The production of the video was a result of this approach. It’s a portent of things to come.”
Watch the full SM Supermalls ‘Essential’ spot below:
Credits:
Creative Head: Jun Reyes
Executive Producer: Adi Lopez
Producer: Charisse Espanol
Writer: Mihk Vergara
Offline Editor: Claire Villa Real
Online Editor: CJ Martin
In a follow up campaign launched upon the reopening of SM Supermalls, “Safe Malling” by Indie.Go took a simple yet compelling approach. On the animated short introducing the safety practices implemented, Creative Head Jun Reyes comments the video was “all made remotely and had a graphic and energetic feel,” inspired by Indie.Go’s own Restart video.
https://youtu.be/tbtREbnVliM
