SOCIAL MEDIA VS. LEONARDO DAVINCI
Brand | THE KING ABDULAZIZ CENTER FOR WORLD CULTURE AN INITIATIVE BY ARAMCO |
Product/Service | SYNC BY ITHRA |
Entrant | LEO BURNETT Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA |
Category | Production Design / Art Direction |
Idea Creation
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LEO BURNETT Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
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Production
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FILMWORKS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
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Post Production
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FILMWORKS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
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Write a short summary of what happens in the film
Imagine if social media existed during the most important times of Leonardo Davinci’s career. When he was creating the Mona Lisa. Would he have been able to focus? To create without being bullied or compared? Would he have been able to lead with confidence?
Would we have advanced as humans the way we did?
The film shows Leonardo, while giving birth to the Mona Lisa, opens Instagram and is caught in a web of jealousy when he stumbles on Van Gogh’s latest work, that leads him to completely distort the Mona Lisa and turn it into a mimic of Van Gogh’s brush stroke. The Mona Lisa loses all its originality because it was compared to another piece found on social.
This film is part of a series of 3 films, each portraying 3 historical geniuses: Leonardo, Mozart and Newton.
Cultural / Context information for the jury
Social media can become a real addiction that can shut anyone’s potential down. Excessive use of social media can have very negative repercussions, such as low self-esteem and distraction, among other things. And Saudi Arabia uses social media excessively, to say the least. It ranks among the top countries in digital and social media consumption.
Ithra, a Saudi-based cultural centre recognised how important it is to unlock the potential of each and every Saudi for a better tomorrow. It was time for Saudis to impact the world and Ithra wanted to remove any blocks or obstacles that were limiting their potential. So, it created a Digital Wellbeing Program - Called “Sync” - to overcome digital addiction.
Tell the jury about the production design / art direction. You may wish to comment on choices, challenges or effects.
We needed the right painting, the right Mona Lisa, the right brushes and the right environment to make it look like it was Leonardo’s time. But we also needed the right mobile phone.
So we found all of our props in antique shops and in art shops, except for the phone.
We commissioned an artist to reproduce the Mona Lisa in Van Gogh brush strokes and that was the most exciting part of the art direction.
Everything on our set needed to look from an old century, except the social media component. Creating this visual dichotomy and tension between the centuries was at the core of our art direction brief.
Credits
Mohammed Bahmishan |
Publicis communications |
Support |
Thierry Chehab |
Leo Burnett |
Concept/Ideation |
Renaud Henneffe |
Leo Burnett |
Ideation/Concept/execution |
Samir Antoun |
Leo Burnett |
Support |
Makram Khatib |
Leo Burnett |
Support |
Julia Masri |
Leo Burnett |
support |
Links
Video URL