As sentimental music starts and an entry level office worker runs into the frame, you don’t expect anything unusual. A voice-overed question “Have you ever doubted your sense of existence?” seemingly gives away the melodramatic direction of the ad. But then, the recent commercial film for Anmuxi, a sub-brand of Chinese dairy giant Yili, makes a U-turn.
伤感的音乐响起，一名初入职场的上班族出现在镜头中，一切普通而平淡，似乎没有什么不寻常的事。旁白响起，问了一个问题：“你是否曾经怀疑过自己的存在感？”剧情似乎要开始煽情。但很快，安慕希（伊利的子品牌）的这则广告片，开始了180度的风格大转弯。
Client 客户：Anmusi 安慕斯
Agency 代理商：GOODidea赞意
Production 制作方：Rolling Studio
Director 导演：白日梦想马
Instead of just another heightened emotional spot, the agency GOODIDEA envisioned a crash course into how commercials are made. Produced by Rolling Studio, this 3,5 minutes ad mixes serious tone scenes with an ironic voice over. “Originally, the two characters were supposed to skate together. But because there’s not enough money to construct the set, the scene was cut out”. For the industry people, phrases like this one are all too familiar. Yet for the audience, it’s a small glimpse of the truth that making ads is not a complete creative freedom and easy process. Budget cuts, copyright music issues, re-shooting scenes because of tiny details, director’s unfulfilled creative ambitions— are just a few common situations covered in the film.
广告公司GOODIDEA这次跳出了煽情的套路，给观众朋友们上了一堂广告拍摄的速成课。这部由Rolling Studio制作，时长3.5分钟的广告片虽然有严肃的基调场景，但旁白却是诙谐讽刺的风格。“原本，这两个角色有一段平行剪辑滑滑板的戏份。但是因为没钱搭景就被删了。”对行业内的人士来说，类似的台词是司空见惯的日常。然而，对观众来说，通过如此一窥行业内的真实，让他们了解到创作广告并非总是自由且容易的。预算削减、音乐版权问题、因小细节而重拍的场景、导演未能实现的创作抱负等等，这些都是制片过程中常见的挑战。
The brand definitely scores points with the audience by tapping into non-pretentious, ironic and relatable advertising.
这种接地气，敢自嘲，让人产生共鸣的广告，无疑帮助安慕希博得了观众的好感。
Though it’s not common, it’s not the first time that we have seen this approach of exposing the filmmaking process into a commercial. A year ago, a Watson campaign shot at the height of the pandemic was released with an unusual element—a message from the director at the end. The director explained the challenges of remote shooting and even voiced the possible contradictions of the audience about characters seen through the lens of the ad.
虽然类似的风格没那么常见，但这并不是安慕希开创的先河，将电影制片的幕后故事搬到前台的创意广告片还有一个例子。一年前，屈臣氏在新冠疫情最严重的时候拍摄了一组宣传片，在片尾有一段来自导演的寄语。导演向大家解释了远程拍摄的挑战，甚至提醒了观众通过镜头看到的角色可能存在的矛盾。
Client 客户：点维Dotwell
Production 制作方：点维Dotwell
Director 导演 ：王文
Another more recent example of bitter humor about the advertising industry comes from production house Dotwell. Their blockbuster recruitment video tackles two things at once: shows the future candidate what working in production is really like, while making a case for Dotwell’s creativity. In other words, it’s also a witty advertisement for the company itself. Maybe the newcomers to the production house will never face so vividly depicted in this three-parts spot tribulations of deadlines as scarier than horror movies, or risk their mental health, or deal with shooting in falling sets… but they’ve definitely been warned though in this parody-like exaggerated manner.
而另一部揭秘广告业内幕，笑中带泪的自嘲片来自制片公司点维。他们的爆款招聘广告可谓是一箭双雕: 不仅向潜在的求职者展示了创作过程中工作的真实情况，同时也展示了点维非凡的创造力。换言之，这部诙谐的广告同时也是公司的宣传片。也许这家电影制片公司的新员工，永远都不必像在这部三部曲广告片中那样，历经重重磨难，在堪比恐怖电影的截稿日夜晚受惊，也无需冒着心理健康的风险上班，或者在摇摇欲坠的布景中拍摄……不过既然丑话说在了前头，虽然方式有点滑稽夸张，但新员工们多多少少会做好必要的心理建设。
Client 客户：LinkediIn 领英
Agency 代理商：Havas 汉威士
Production 制作方：Smooth匀禾文化
Director 导演：孙二黑
Using the same angle, but unlike the above mentioned entertaining ads, the brainchild of LinkedIn, agency Havas, and production company Smooth is actually dead serious. It’s another example of showcasing the advertising industry through a behind the scenes perspective, but the film sends a contradicting message: “Don’t do advertising”. Released last October, the film featured 10 creatives from 4A and independent agencies alike, talking about what it takes to be a real adman/adwoman. Especially in Chinese’s ad industry, which is so dynamic, fast-paced, yet so demanding and unlike any other market in the world. It highlights that neither production, nor agency have it very easy.
使用相同的角度，但区别于上面提到的诙谐风格的广告：领英、代理公司Havas和制作公司匀禾文化的创意实际上是非常严肃正经的。这是另一个通过幕后视角展示广告业的例子，但片中却发起了矛盾的号召: “不要做广告。”去年十月上线，这部影片召集了十位来自4A与独立代理商的业内翘楚，告诉大家怎样才是真正的广告人，尤其是在中国的广告界。中国的广告行业充满活力，节奏快，也很有挑战，是全球广告市场中独一无二的存在。这部影片告诉人们，不论是制片方，还是代理商，业内的每个人都得拿出认真的态度。
Nonetheless, it’s undeniable that the creative ideas behind these ad campaigns, and those who have came up with them, have enjoyed positive exposure. In recent years, behind the scenes videos are increasingly used in big brands’ campaigns. Credits at the end of commercials, as if in feature films, have also become more common in China. And we’re not just talking about spots that have a big name cinema director attached, like the recent Mercedes ad curated by Wong Kar-wai. Slowly, it seems, production of advertisement campaign films are gaining well-deserved attention and credit for their notoriously grueling work.
尽管如此，不可否认的是，这些广告活动背后的创意，以及那些创意人，都在享受着积极的曝光。近年来，揭秘幕后的影片越来越多地用于大品牌的宣传活动中。在中国，广告结尾的字幕也变得越来越常见，就像在电影中一样。且不仅限于那些有知名导演的广告，比如王家卫最近策划的奔驰广告。看起来，广告制片，这份正众所周知的辛苦职业，正在慢慢地获得它应有的关注与赞誉。
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