Entertainment Lions For Music > Music Content

SPEECH OF FOXES

INBOUND, Boston / HARDLY ART RECORDS / 2016

Awards:

Shortlisted Cannes Lions
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Film
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Overview

Credits

OVERVIEW

CampaignDescription

An old man burns his mementos, but as each photograph is destroyed, he also loses a piece of himself. When the flames spread out of control, the man leaves his past— both the joy and the sorrow— behind.

Our director says it best: "When I first heard 'Speech of Foxes,' I was overwhelmed by the emotional quality of it, and wanted to do something about loss and transformation. The image of a wooden man on fire became the starting point for the rest of the story."

Execution

Extensive vfx testing helped us to explore and refine our approach to the effects. Through the testing process our director was able to design sequences that blended location and green screen work, allowing more control over makeup-heavy shots. The actor's "charred" look was a practical effect, while the fire effects are a combination of practical pyrotechnics and flames added in post.

Casting the video was easy; Jack Goldman is a wonderful actor who we knew from a previous project. Our director wrote this video with him in mind.

Given a week for pre-production and a month for post, we planned to shoot for two days: one for exteriors, one for studio work. On our first day it snowed, and we decided to roll with it. It was the right call; the snow lends the video an incredible sense of poetry and drama.

Outcome

"Speech of Foxes" earned a Vimeo Staff Pick, a nomination for "Best Visual Effects" at the Berlin Music Video Awards, and "Video of the Month" at Creative Review. It has gone on to receive numerous other accolades, festival selections, press articles, and social media engagement, reaching a combined total of over 73,000 views online.

Comments on Vimeo and YouTube have been overwhelmingly positive and emotional, with many viewers telling us the video brought them to tears, while others were compelled to share their unique interpretations of the piece.

Relevancy

"Speech of Foxes" is an important example of what Entertainment Lions for Music stands for: an unforgettable marriage between sound and image. This piece successfully presents a fresh concept with striking visual effects, creating a deep emotional impact. All of this was accomplished by a small and dedicated team with a strong vision and ingenious execution.

Strategy

To realize this vision with such limited resources, the creative team needed to be lean and deeply collaborative. A bare-bones crew would be required: a director, cinematographer, two producers, and the actor. That's it. In addition, with such an effects-heavy concept, unique talents were needed. Our director is well-versed in art direction, post-production and visual effects; his wide-ranging skills would be crucial in bringing this concept to life. Finally, some out-of-pocket funds would be needed to flesh out the camera package and handle the basic needs of the production, and we were all ready to pitch in.

Synopsis

After the success of a previous music video, our director was contacted by Gem Club, the artist behind "Speech of Foxes." We began discussing a project, and soon made contact with the label. The label offered two things: creative freedom and a $500 budget. The lack of resources was daunting, but the music was so powerful, we decided the project was worth it. It became a labor of love. Given the strong emotional content of the track, our objective was to create a video that could match and even enhance those emotions using unique visual effects. We wanted to create an indelible cinematic experience.

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