This spot for U.K. home improvement and garden retailer B&Q kicks off the “Change. Made Easier.” campaign conceptualized by London agency Uncommon Creative Studio. Titled “Flip” and directed by Oscar Hudson of Pulse Films with Electric Theatre Collective serving as post/VFX studio, the :90 introduces us to a woman whose home pregnancy test comes back positive. Her eyes glint with equal hope and concern of the unknown ahead as she exhales a deep breath. Her partner enters the room with a cup of tea, she quickly hides the test as she gathers her thoughts.
We then hear the opening piano interlude, from David Bowie’s iconic track ‘“Sound and Vision” as our protagonist begins to move through her home with this news at the forefront of her mind. She looks around her house, as her son and partner sit at the kitchen table playing at breakfast time. She knows change needs to happen ahead of welcoming her new child to the world. As she looks down at her phone, she smiles as she proactively and seamlessly clicks to start that process in motion with B&Q, through the brand’s own DIY app. The shadows from outside begin to spill through the window, as we see her home begin, to literally and figuratively, flip.
Controlled chaos unfolds around her and her family; books fall from their shelves, the kitchen table slides to the back wall, pots and pans fall from every cupboard. Our protagonist doesn’t seem fazed–she moves towards it, climbing out of the kitchen window waving to her partner and son. The house is now turned 180 degrees. She climbs effortlessly to the top of the garden, with the support of a garden hose and stepping stones.
With confidence and ease she slides down the family’s now refreshed garden, back through the window into their newly designed open kitchen and living area. She makes her way back over to the spare room, opening the door, where we now see a nursery. She excitedly now shares the news to her family: ‘I’m pregnant.’ Her partner gushes with pride and goes to show his support as their family embark on this next chapter–we see the couple embrace through the door frame of their soon-to-be baby’s new room.
We pan out on the surrounding landscape, to see other neighboring homes transforming in this same flip motion. The film finishes with the catchline, “Change. Made Easier.” symbolizing change in life moments made easier through B&Q’s offerings.
Nils Leonard, co-founder, Uncommon Creative Studio, said, “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. Uncommon wanted to take our partnership with this iconic British brand to a new level with this campaign, and we wanted to work with the best British talent to realize it. David Bowie is the soundtrack to the excellent Oscar Hudson’s vision capturing a moment of change, made easy.”
The film was shot entirely in-camera–after numerous models, 3D builds, and several practice set builds–bringing the 24-ton rotating set to life.
The house itself was built to fit in a football stadium, as no regular studios has a large enough capacity, as at its highest point the double-sided house was over six stories. The final set build was twice as big as Stanley Kubrick’s rotating spaceship in 2001. The actors involved in the film felt literally felt the gravity of the situation during shooting, making their movements look natural and even poetic as led by the spot’s rock-climbing trained actress.
