Gibson Guitars: No Strings Attached
AGENCY
One Black Bear
YEAR
2024
CATEGORY
Motion | Video | Typography
Gibson Gives (the charitable foundation of Gibson Guitars) and partners Eazl, are a social enterprise that aims to bring projects together involving art and music. They commissioned us to produce a promotional film for there yearly online charity auction ‘No Strings Attached’. The auction raises essential money for Retune, a music based charity that provides support for those suffering with mental health issues.
Each year Gibson, selects several well known celebrity musicians and artists from the music industry to kindly paint an artwork upon a bare, unstrung, Gibson J45 Soundboard. These included the likes of Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Boy George. They are then exhibited in the infamous Scotch Club, London before later being sold in an online auction. Eazl then frame, box and send them to the winning bidders.
Process
The concept for the video was inspired by the use of gavels at auctioneers. The loud noise the gavel makes as it strikes the wooden block to signal the end of bidding. We wanted to play on this aspect by recreating the same idea with guitars at the forefront - smashing an actual guitar in a photography studio.
For dramatic effect the video was filmed solely in black & white (noir style) with low lighting, capturing the model as he effortlessly swung the guitar in slow motion imitating that of grunge music videos.
Outcome
With the help of some film producers and friends of the agency the film was made and edited. I was then responsible for taking the edited version of the video and directing how the typographic messaging should appear - what sort of typeface should be used and how the other information and corporate logos would animate onto screen.
I decided to keep in style of the original videography, by selecting a distressed typeface as I felt this would create the punchy, stamp effect we were trying to reinforce with the video. With the animation itself I wanted the copy to appear quickly, with a specific emphasis on the words ‘Gone’, extending the individual letters to create a sense of space and emptiness. The dust effect in the background swirling round the copy helped to sparkle some light on the details of the auction and logos as they fade onto the screen.
In addition to the video, I also worked to produce materials for the exhibition (exhibit boards that would stand proudly in the Scotch Club) and guitar packaging that would be received by the lucky bidders of the online auction.
CREATIVE TEAM
Myself (Motion, Typography), Jon Harrison, Rich Elwell (Concept), Ben Thornley (Director), Phil Kerr (Producer), Meg Kerr (Stills Photography)