The 2024 Christmas ad from John Lewis department stores has arrived. This year’s much anticipated TV commercial, continuing the Xmas tradition of John Lewis, is the two-minute “The Gifting Hour” created by Saatchi & Saatchi UK and directed by Francois Rousselet via production house Riff Raff.
In the ad, the heroine, Sally, has left it a little late to find the right gift for her sister this year and races into a John Lewis store at closing time. Falling through a rack of dresses, she enters a fantastical world. We first see her stumbling out of the wardrobe in the attic of her childhood home and from here we are taken on a whimsical journey through her memories as she searches for the ultimate present, against the clock.
Returning to the store and back to reality she has found the perfect gift, ready and wrapped. Sally then heads outside and has a special moment with her sister who will be the gift’s recipient. As they walk away we see her sister reflected in the John Lewis window as the child from her memories.
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Credits
Client John Lewis Agency Saatchi & Saatchi UK Franki Goodwin, chief creative officer; Richard Huntington, chief strategy officer; Jessica Ringshall, chief production officer; Eoin Mclaughlin, executive creative director; Ali Dickinson, creative director; Mia Silverman, associate creative director; Sam Robinson, executive production director; Adam Walker, executive producer. Production Company Riff Raff Francois Rousselet, director; Jane Tredget, exec producer; Jay Lovelock, producer; Katie Keith, production manager; Nicolas Karakatsanis, DP; Alexandre Vivet, production designer; PC Williams, costume designer; Kharmel Cochrane, casting. Postproduction ETC Luke Morrison, colorist; Alex Snookes, VFX supervisor; Antonia Vlasto, exec producer; Oscar Wendt, producer. Editorial Final Cut Amanda James, editor; Nikki Porter, producer. Sound 750mph Sam Ashwell, sound design & sound mix; Jake Ashwell, Mark Hellaby, sound design; Olivia Ray, head of production. Music Wake The Town Dom Bastyra, music supervisor.
Daniel Warwick directed and teamed with producer Jakob Rühle to conceive of and develop this short film titled Ritornerai (Italian for “you will return”).
“Three days before an actual commercial shoot, my producer [Rühle] and I realized that we had a camera, a location, an actor, a pair of Lederhosen and a few beers to brainstorm,” Warwick said. “Suddenly my producer yelled ‘Objectophelia’ and the idea was born.”
Known for his big and bonkers, epic visual storytelling, Warwick’s Ritornerai--albeit more meditative than some of his other work--does not disappoint. It is a wholly original and offbeat story with an exquisite scenic backdrop that leaves plenty of room for interpretation.
Filmed in the Italian Dolomites, Ritornerai features a man in Lederhosen who appears from behind a bush and enters a Grand Hotel where he begins to touch the beautiful haptics and textures of the whole place. Seemingly overtaken by objectophelia, we observe him enjoying the sensory experience deeply and emotionally. He enters the big ballroom and sits by the piano where he utters the film’s only line, “Ritornerai.” He approaches a giant painting of a landscape and eventually we discover that he is actually in the painting.
“Ritornerai has inspired many different interpretations,” said Warwick. “People let their minds wander a bit. Love it or hate it, I really like that it doesn’t want anything from you. For that reason, maybe it’s a little more artful because people can take away whatever they want.”
The production company on Ritornerai was Zauberberg Productions. Director Warwick is handled by production house O Positive for commercial representation in North... Read More
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