Film Craft > Production

FLIP

UNCOMMON CREATIVE STUDIO, London / B&Q / 2022

Awards:

Shortlisted Cannes Lions
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Film
Demo Film

Overview

Credits

Overview

Write a short summary of what happens in the film.

Nobody just wakes up and decides to improve their home. Life happens, things change, and your home needs to change with them. B&Q enables us to do just that with ease. This film is a powerful story of change, made easy, all captured in one beautiful moment.

The film shows a woman flip-her-house-beautiful, as she takes control of the exciting yet daunting news of a new baby. Her house literally and figuratively flips 180 degrees as she navigates this change to her life and her home.

Shot for real in just a few long takes, on a rotating 24 tonne set, at its highest six storeys high, with both the actors and the camera team, including director, in wires making something incredibly difficult look effortless. Combining honest performances and a fantastical world, the tone of the film is brought to life by David Bowie’s legendary track Sound and Vision.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

B&Q is the UK’s leading home improvement and garden retailer - helping customers improve their homes since 1969. B&Q’s mission is to give customers the power to act whenever life strikes; to make the changes they need at a speed that works for them. To do this B&Q knows it needs to be fast, efficient, available, and convenient. This can only be made possible through DIY.com and an unmatched network of over 300 stores — together they give customers access to the Click & Collect service on 28,000 items and home delivery service on 35,000.

The new work follows the success of ‘Build a Life’, which introduced the brand’s belief that anyone can change their home to make life better. The latest campaign, ‘Change. Made Easier.’ builds on this, showcasing how the brand makes it easy for homes to keep pace when changes happen in life.

Tell the jury anything relevant about the cinematography.

How do we shoot and light a moving set spinning 180-degrees whilst 16metres in the air? This was the challenge we set ourselves when tackling the cinematography for B&Q.

The camera needed to be handheld, to give it a human imperfect touch, but also for the viewer to feel how in-camera its journey would be. The camera team fought gravity for every shot.

The camera operating had to be split between director, stunt team and DOP – shots included the director upside down on wires and an operator moving from lying flat on the rig to standing, whilst keeping the camera move smooth.

Re-sets were limited, there were many variables at play so we had to have one continuous lighting set-up designed to work for interiors, exteriors and a set that travelled 30m.

This making-of shows how the camera and stunt-teams worked under extreme conditions to make shots feel effortless.

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