Luke Jaden directed this short branded film for Dove, “Before the Sun Sets,” which introduces us to a young girl enjoying a summer day, being at one with nature–the sunshine, wading in water, exploring a rock formation, picking up a frog
Cutdowns of the film underscore the message that childhood shouldn’t come with an anti-aging skincare routine, in line with Dove’s mission to protect #TheFaceof10.
This longer form version, though, just captures a girl experiencing the adrenaline rush of summer before the sun sets–adolescence.
Jaden, an alum of SHOOT’s 2023 New Directors Showcase, directed the film via production company Octagon Haus for agency Viewfinder.
His director’s statement reads: “I’m sitting in my den writing this during the sunset hour. It feels oddly serene. I’m basked in the glow of mother’s light. It brings me peace to write what meaning of this piece feels like for me. Have you ever just stood there and watched a sunset–it can make time feel like forever. You’re swept in all its beauty and showered with this tingling warmth right before dusk creeps in. I was honestly inspired by this idea of how the measurement of time can feel quite fluid. Like that last day of summer break before school begins. This idea of freedom becoming uniformed again with regime. I look at how childhood and adolescence serve as this time of freedom, until society comes knocking. The development of one’s mind gaining more intelligence, while this weird hormonal chemical shift occurs within one’s blossoming body. It’s something that you can no longer control, but a surrender where one must let go… It’s the result of aging like a tree shedding its leaves before winter. This existential shift is hard to wrestle with when you become a teenager and so I was inspired by how a sunset can represent that turning of the page of childhood into adulthood when one comes of age. This idea of freedom turning into something else… I liked the idea of intentionally setting it purely in nature away from the noise of society. It’s a vast place to explore our raw selves and somehow I feel it’s deeply rooted to who we are…We can safely explore our feelings with ourselves in nature.”
