The latest collaboration between Framestore and director Kim Gehrig of production house Somesuch is for Brittany Howard’s debut solo music video for “Stay High.”
A tribute to the singer’s late father, the beautifully stylized music video stars actor Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Expendables) as a man finishing a day’s work and returning home to his family.
The aim of “Stay High” is to move away from the glossy music videos that many pop singers create and present a natural and much more emotionally driven story which honored K.J. Howard, the father of Brittany Howard. Shot in her hometown of Nashville, the music video features lots of the singer’s family and friends, and Brittany pops up in several scenes throughout the video as different characters.
The clip features a color grade and subtle VFX by Framestore. “Kim wanted to really highlight the innocence of the video’s story, something I kept in mind while grading the film,’ said Simon Bourne, Framestore’s head of creative color who’s graded several films for the director. “The focus needed to always be on Terry with nothing in his surroundings distracting from that and the grade needed to reflect that idea.”
Ben Cronin, Framestore’s creative director and one of the compositors on the film, alongside Nuke compositor Christian Baker, added, “from a VFX point of view, our job was all about invisible effects that highlighted the beautiful job that Ryley Brown, the film’s DP did and to complement Kim’s unique vision.”
Client/Artist Brittany Howard Production Somesuch Kim Gehrig, director; Saskia Whinney, exec producer; James Waters, producer; Ryley Brown, DP. VFX/Color Framestore Ben Cronin, Christian Baker, compositing; Sophie Harrison, sr. producer; Simon Bourne, colorist. Editorial Trim Editing Tom Lindsay, editor.
Top Spot of the Week: Samsung, BBH Singapore, Director Rhys Thomas Get Fit For A Surf Holiday
Samsung’s new global campaign from BBH Singapore, featuring Samsung Health and Galaxy AI, tells the story of a young professional couple who compete to get fit for a surf holiday.
Titled “A Samsung Health Story: Racing to Fiji,” this film taps into Gen Z’s wellness dilemma and the fact that they can often find health information overwhelming; in particular, BBH Singapore took inspiration from young people who reference their “quarter life crisis” on social media. This film tells the story of Stacey and Steve who decide to go surfing in Fiji, something they did five years ago but haven’t done since they started their jobs. However, there’s one problem: they need to get fitter first.
Featuring a range of Galaxy products powered by Galaxy AI, they rebuild their fitness to prepare for the trip, competing playfully to spur each other on. We see them comparing their Energy Scores (a new feature on the Samsung Health app), recording their runs and swims on their Samsung Galaxy Watches, trying and failing to get fit at work and on their commutes and striving to improve in the run up to the trip. When they get there, however, there’s a fun twist, and the film ends on a cliffhanger.
The ad is expected to be the first in a series, which will develop the characters and their “world” in future episodes. This longform (two-and-a-half-minute) version of the spot delves deeper into the storytelling, in a fresh approach for Samsung’s product campaigns, while the shorter edits focus on driving exposure to specific features.
BBH Singapore also leaned into the entertainment aspect of the spot; it was directed by comedic specialist Rhys Thomas at Stink Films, who has a major TV background. Best known for his work on Saturday Night... Read More