Burberry reimagines ‘Singing in the Rain’ in choreographed Christmas campaign
Burberry has released its Christmas campaign with a modern music clip rendition of Singin’ in the Rain, directed by Megaforce via RiffRaff Films.
According to Riccardo Tisci, chief creative officer at Burberry, the campaign is about looking forwards, looking to the future inspired by youth, it brings together a community of different talents and worlds as one. United by passion, commitment and love, this campaign is a celebration of their dreams, of exploring and of always going beyond.
The team at Megaforce commented: “We found the idea of this film digging though Burberry’s history. The founder, Thomas Burberry, created innovative weatherproof clothing that was used by polar explorers, which gave us this idea of a story that saw its characters braving the elements with ease. That iconic scene from the film ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ came to our minds so we wanted to draw inspiration from it and make a version that speaks for our times. This year has been tough for us all, so we wanted to push the metaphor and transformed the rain to ice blocks. We also changed the narrative from a single character to a group of friends because going through the adversity is a thing that we’d better do together.”
Says Matthew Fone, owner, Riff Raff Films: “The most pleasing thing for me about this collaboration, is how Megaforce took the brief of capturing what Burberry stands for today alongside its prominent heritage; and made a festive film that encapsulates the notion of both, in a simple metaphor of adversity in their own, inimitable way, no baubles.”
Says Alex Lovejoy, creative director, MPC: “We always knew the Burberry ‘Festive’ film was going to be a special project. The film showcases our ambition to challenge the ordinary and push the boundaries of remote post-production. A key element was building the falling ice blocks, to do this successfully it was essential to capture data on set, so we took detailed photogrammetry of the streets and referenced real ice blocks shattering. This was used as the base for our CG so that it could be synchronised exactly with the live action. We are all incredibly proud of the final film, which was a lot of fun to create.”
CLIENT: BURBERRY
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: RICARDO TISCI
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER: ROD MANLEY
VP, CREATIVE: RACHEL CROWTHER
ART DIRECTORS: AL WATTS and SEAN BELL
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION: ROSE PERCY
SENIOR PRODUCER: ASHA JONEJA
PRODUCER: CARA GILLIES
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: REBECCA HADDAWAY
SENIOR MANAGER, POST PRODUCTION: LUKE STAZAKER
STYLING EDITOR: SUSIE MILLER
JUNIOR STYLING EDITOR: FRAN DYKE
ASSISTANT STYLIST: JACK CLEMENTS
AGENCY & PRODUCTION COMPANY: RIFF RAFF FILMS
CREATIVE & DIRECTION: MEGAFORCE
EXEC PRODUCER/OWNER: MATTHEW FONE
PRODUCER: NICK GOLDSMITH
PRODUCTION MANAGERS: HANNAH FOWLES-PAZDRO / GEORGIA MILLS
CHOREOGRAPHER: (LA)HORDE
1ST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: BEN GILL
DOP: KATELIN ARIZMENDI
GAFFER: RICHARD OXLEY
STYLIST: IB KAMARA
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: MARCO PUIG
STYLIST: LUCY FEWELL
EDITOR: JOE GUEST, FINAL CUT
SFX: PAUL MANN, NEIL GAWTHROP
POST PRODUCTION: MPC
VFX PRODUCER: RYAN HANCOCKS
2D LEAD: ALEX LOVEJOY
3D LEADS: FABIAN FRANK / ROB RICHARDSON
COLOURIST: MATTHIEU TOULLET
SOUND DESIGN: SAM ASHWELL @ 750MPH
CAST: ZHANE SAMUELS, KEVIN BAGO, ROBINSON CASSARINO, CHANTEL FOO
FILM LAB: Cinelab London
FILM LAB COMMERCIALS PRODUCER: Aarti Mahtani
FILM LAB CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Joce Capper
SONG AND MUSIC CREDIT: ‘SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN’
WRITTEN BY: NACIO HERB BROWN / ARTHUR FREED
PUBLISHED BY: EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING LIMITED
VOCALS PERFORMED BY: DREYA MAC.
PRODUCED & ARRANGED BY: LANK AND TANK FOR TWENTY BELOW MUSIC
MUSIC PRODUCER: EMILY PRITCHARD @ TWENTY BELOW MUSIC
14 Comments
0% chance of an Australian agency ever writing something like this. Haha.
We write it. It just doesn’t get through clients, or their budget, or sometimes, ECD’s.
She didn’t even eat her meal
Not with that attitude there wont be
Okay sure whatever.
…”Burberry, created innovative weatherproof clothing that was used by polar explorers, which gave us this idea of a story that saw its characters braving the elements with ease. ”
No one would ever understand that from this.
A production company’s response to inhouse agency production?
Joyous and fantastic.
Luxury brands get fame and branding better than most…
May other clients take note.
Fantastic. And what a great soundtrack.
Fun. Although if i laid on the wet ground in a Burberry coat my wife would try to divorce me (again).
It would have been far more interesting if they had riffed off the version of Singing In the Rain from Clockwork Orange rather than the somewhat over-used one from the eponymous movie.
it’s black people dancing while blocks of ice fall from the sky
I mean, massive ad and we should never hate on this. But it should really only win for craft, given it’s basically an awesome version of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs_T_cEoX6I
the original is also awesome otherwise it would not have so much cultural cut through and ads like this would have nothing to leverage at all