Title | THE PARENTS |
Brand | VOLVO CAR CORPORATION |
Product/Service | VOLVO XC60 / XC90 |
Category |
A05. Cinematography |
Entrant
|
FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
|
Idea Creation
|
FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
|
PR
|
FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
|
Production
|
NEW LAND Stockholm, SWEDEN
|
Credits
Karl Risenfors |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Art Director |
Sophia Lindholm |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Art Director |
Leo Dal |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Art Director |
Hampus Elfström |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Copywriter |
Nicholas Düfke |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Copywriter |
Magnus Wretblad |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Account Supervisor |
Katarina Klofsten |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Account Executive |
Lena Sellman |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Agency Producer |
Bjarne Darwall |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
PR Strategist |
Daniel Sjöstrand |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Planner |
Martin Joelsson |
Forsman & Bodenfors |
Designer |
F&B Inhouse |
F&B Inhouse |
Web Design |
Niclas Larsson |
New Land |
Director |
Joel Rostmark |
New Land |
Producer |
Adam Holmström |
New Land |
Producer |
Linus Sandgren |
New Land |
D.O.P. |
Sophie Tamm Christensen |
New Land |
New Land |
Carla Luffe |
New Land |
Editor |
Chimney Chimney |
Chimney |
Online |
Patrik Johäll |
Superstudios |
Photographer, Stills |
MUSIC Performed by: Pete Seeger |
Smithsonian Folk Ways Recordings |
Music Composition |
MUSIC Performed by: Pete Seeger |
Smithsonian Folk Ways Recordings |
Music Composition |
Write a short summary of what happens in the film
The Parents begins with a couple attending an ultrasound screening, realizing that they will be having twins. The film jumps forward in time and the parents are now dealing with early mornings, towers of diapers, and new problems once the twins learn to walk. The mom and dad hastily baby proof the home, protecting the children from potential dangers. Their lives become an unrelenting stream of work, sleepless nights, diaper changes, and chasing toddlers.
Towards the end, the film reaches a pivot point when the mother heads out to buy diapers. As she drives the mother doze off, drawn to sleep by the brief moment of serenity. She is slowly drifting into the opposite lane of oncoming traffic when the car alerts her and automatically steers back into its lane, avoiding a dramatic accident to happen. Supers appear: The car that looks after you, like you look after others.
Cultural / Context information for the jury
The portrayal of parents in the media is often unrealistic, creating impossible standards to live up to and a harsh social media climate. This image often leads to “parent shaming”, when moms and dads are guilted when they don’t live up to this unachievable standard. We wanted to go down a different route: to show that even the most exceptional parent gets tired and makes mistakes.
To fully utilize this idea in social media, we used an online phenomenon, so-called “parent saves”, and combined it with our own footage to create humorous short clips. And to break category language in still images, we combined beautiful car photography with chaotic family life. All assets led to the same powerful message: sometimes, we all need someone looking after us.
Tell the jury anything relevant about the cinematography.
With this piece, we wanted to communicate a serious topic, distracted driving, with a humorous and relatable tonality. It was important to achieve a balance between the established high craft image of Volvo as a brand, but with scenes that would make the viewer smile at the funny situations but also relate to the stress and exhaustion.
To achieve this, we worked with a world renowned feature film cinematographer, making sure that all scenes felt authentic and real, but with natural lightning and a layer of feature film magic. The camera angles and movements were also an important way to add humour to the film and to highlight the intensity of life with toddlers. It was filmed on 35 mm, which allowed us to create the in-camera-time-lapse effect throughout the film, that reinforces the feeling of repeating stress and lack of sleep, building up to a crescendo at the end.