HomePod ad directed by Spike Jonze wins industry award

Posted:
in General Discussion edited June 2018
Apple's innovative advertisements continue to rack up industry accolades, as the company's HomePod short film, directed by Spike Jonze, this week claimed top honors at the Association of Independent Commercial Producers Show.

HomePod Ad


The Jonze-directed short starring British performer FKA Twigs won in the Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial category at AICP's show, presented Thursday at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, reports AdAge. Jonze was the most decorated director this year with a total of five wins, while Apple's in-house agency took home three awards.

The four-minute short, which aired in March, features Twigs as a glum office worker who takes respite in music. At the center of her listening experience is HomePod that, with a little help from Siri, plays back a custom curated tune by Anderson .Paak.

As the melody swells, Twigs' small apartment is transformed into a playground of surreal delights, with Twigs able to bend, stretch and morph walls and objects at will.

In a behind-the-scenes look at the film, Apple revealed most of the ad's effects were practical, with the use of CGI restricted in large part to duplicating Twigs for the spot's dance scene finale.

Aside from Jonze, the production's crew members included big names like cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, who received an Oscar nomination for his work on Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk." Editor Jeff Buchanon, who performed a good portion of his tasks on set, is a frequent Jonze collaborator and worked with the director on indie hit "Her."

Apple's commercials consistently garner praise from ad industry groups, the most recent being the iPhone 7 Plus ad "Barbers," which won an ADC award in May.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,728member
    Wow, very cool and does portray the audio experience in a visual way in an amazingly imaginative way.  She is so cute, who is the actress?
    edited June 2018 watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 14
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    For me, the making of this video is even better than the video. This being the 21st century I just assume everything is greenscreens and CGI if I'm not told otherwise.


    MacPro said:
    Wow, very cool and does portray the audio experience in a visual way in an amazingly imaginative way.  She is so cute, who is the actress?
    As it states in the article, it stars "British performer FKA Twigs." In this case, Twigs as a performer is a musician first and foremost.

    edited June 2018 minicoffeewatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 14
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    It is amazing piece of art. Great job Apple.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 14
    Soli said:
    For me, the making of this video is even better than the video. This being the 21st century I just assume everything is greenscreens and CGI if I'm not told otherwise.



    There's always something more to Spike Jonze!

    minicoffeewatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 14
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    I’m generally a fan of Jonze’s original works, however I found this ad rather derivative of the multi-dimensional library sequence in Interstellar. 
  • Reply 6 of 14
    The ad is great and wins awards.   Too bad the product doesn't.
  • Reply 7 of 14
    holyoneholyone Posts: 398member
    I’m generally a fan of Jonze’s original works, however I found this ad rather derivative of the multi-dimensional library sequence in Interstellar. 
    Yeah thought I was the only one who noticed that, if you caught this ad in the middle and didn't bother to finish it, you wouldn't know what it was selling, looks cool though.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,360member
    One man's derivative is another man's 'inspired by'.

    I'd like to know that Twig's is swigging'. She's in the 'kitchen' holding a bottle that I don't recognize.

    The glass looks like it's ice water, so maybe the bottle is some pretentious bottle water or 'smart water'. Or some crew member's empty wine bottle with the label removed.

    I'm just not crazy about the possible 'I've had a tough day at work so let me pour a barrel glass of vodka on the rocks and unwind image. Drink it if ya got it, but I'd like to see Apple sending a different message than 'hit the booze as soon as you get home'. LOL

    Or maybe that is the message— put the booze down, turn the music up, and everybody DANCE NOW!
  • Reply 9 of 14
    frankiefrankie Posts: 381member
    I’m generally a fan of Jonze’s original works, however I found this ad rather derivative of the multi-dimensional library sequence in Interstellar. 
    Or Time Bandits by Terry Gilliam even moreso.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    jdgazjdgaz Posts: 404member
    The ad is great and wins awards.   Too bad the product doesn't.
    Use ours every day. To my wife and I its is perfect for what we want it to do. Play streamed music really well with excellent sound as we move about the room.
    crabbywatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 14
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,879member
    The ad is great and wins awards.   Too bad the product doesn't.
    Nah that’s just the online techie echo chamber. If you want a high quality, compact shelf speaker, this is likely the best sounding AirPlay speaker that checks those boxes. I paid $300 for one of the first AP speakers by iHome and it absolutely sucks in comparison. 
    SpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 14
    crabbycrabby Posts: 38member
    As I listened to the video on my iMac my HomePod Siri heard the "Hey Siri play me..." and commenced playing. Thing is always listening....
  • Reply 13 of 14
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,420member
    MacPro said:
    Wow, very cool and does portray the audio experience in a visual way in an amazingly imaginative way.  She is so cute, who is the actress?
    "starring British performer FKA Twigs"
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 14
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    MacPro said:
    Wow, very cool and does portray the audio experience in a visual way in an amazingly imaginative way.  She is so cute, who is the actress?
    "starring British performer FKA Twigs"
    That name looks like a spelling error.
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