A burner by Spike Jonze

ART & DESIGN, MUSIC & FILM — 30/08/2016 — by Laura L.

As the line between content and advertising continues to blur, commercials have become increasingly cinematic. Many famous directors, such as Ridley Scott, David Fincher, and Michel Gondry, have supplemented their income with intermittent forays into commercial directing, which affords them a unique arena in which to showcase their signature style (or, in this case, personal brand). David Lynch has also directed his fair share of unorthodox commercials—not the least of them a thoroughly Lynchian Playstation commercial which he gave the Eraserheadtreatment, complete with black-and-white cinematography, floating heads, and, of course, smoke and fire.

Commercial directing has long been a pipeline to feature directing; many agencies view the commercial industry as a launchpad for the most promising auteurs they represent. But when we spoke to veteran commercial producer and filmmaker Jen McGowan earlier this year, she cautioned against this ideology, which she claims can be misleading. “Commercial directing is an industry,” McGowan said. “It is a career in and of itself. Don’t direct commercials because you want to be directing features. If you want to direct features, direct features.”

Source: http://nofilmschool.com