DETAILS
imagine an abandoned house in the suburbs, a house that has been overtaken by kids, and there is a room upstairs where a young girl and a young boy have stolen away. you now have a sense of the mood that director mats stenberg and i were going after in creating this set construction, one of two sets that were built for this campaign.
 
the suburban house was over one hundred years old - it has mouldings, niches, high windows, and wallpaper as ancient as the house itself. out in the back, there are tall trees. the room upstairs is an unused guestroom - a sitting room for the kids - there might be a television and a game console in the far corner, off camera, though there might just as well be a stack of books and a beat-up leather chair. at some point, the daughter of the house found some fabric and nonchalantly draped it over the windows. she would sit in the room and read her books, she would doodle and daydream.
 
now, in the world of the commercial, the two kids have sequestered themselves in this room while there is a party below - first love is in the air.
 
in terms of décor, the keywords were: romantic, punk, rough around the edges, forgotten vintage. for me, it was hard not to think about lukas moodysson's film "show me love," also known as "fucking åmal."
 
this is a set construction filmed at 24/7 studios in copenhagen (formerly known as Mtv studios). i handled the production design and obviously the décor as well, and engelbrecht construction took care of the build.
 
this was the first spot i did with mats, who is now represented in denmark by bacon film in copenhagen. mats has an encyclopedic knowledge of film and pop music. he is truly a passionate visual artist, and can be very generous with his praise. i learned a lot working with him.
 
the commercial was broadcast throughout europe (on mtv europe among other channels), and o'boy is a subsidiary of kraft foods.
 
agency: jwt (j. walter thompson)
production company: moland film
client: kraft foods.