Lowe Brindfors Shows Character at Aardman

Through the doors at Aardman Animations there’s a whole new world. Step into reception and you’ll forget the real reason you’re there for a moment as you gaze at all the colourful toys and characters taken from the studio’s catalogue of popular output. Naturally, life-size Wallace and Gromit models are the central focus and sit as the centrepiece with you while you wait.

It’s an extremely warm environment and, after some time spent in awe of the famous faces from TV, you’ll come round to remembering what you came for. This time for shots, it’s to meet with executive creative director Rickard Villard and his team at Lowe Brindfors behind a new series of commercials for Swedbank.

A continuation of the agency’s previous caign, launched two years ago introducing a small community of animals around an oak tree symbolic of the bank’s logo and heritage, the latest instalment takes the idea to a new level, breaking free of the beautiful set and into a new ‘between scenes’ concept, developed with Aardman and featuring the studio’s interior design, made in miniature.

“We wanted to get to know the characters and go a little bit deeper [this time],” explains Vaillard. “We’re meeting the characters off camera but on camera, between scenes of the commercials, with them talking about real life problems.”

The new spots, two of which you can see above and below, see the characters taking breaks in between shooting scenes off camera with the classic oak tree set in the background. The concept is a similar theme to BBC’s Extras series and presents the characters talking about real-life personal situations; whether it’s their jobs, money-saving techniques, what they do in their spare time or how they spend their earnings. In addition to the docu-style format, the dialogue was also captured in an interesting way for the job, with the best parts being pulled and used in the new clips.

“It’s funny,” muses Villard, “we actually took people into the studio, talked to them for 2-3 hours and then decided on the good bits. They talk about the economy, the world in general and life, basically. Stuff about their jobs and how sometimes it’s hard to get through the month to make their money last. They also mentioned how wrong the Swedish working market is with immigrants not getting jobs even though they’re fully qualified and so on; there’s humour but it’s serious and we meet the characters and get to know them on a personal level.”

The physical appearance of the characters is trademark of Aardman’s craftsmanship. A hedgehog, squirrel and French fry-loving duck feature as the camera rolls with the oak tree set in the background. Villard explains that the style of the commercials is low paced with a rough camera stance, adding to the documentary style of Extras and taking inspiration from Aardman classic Creature Comforts.

“We went to different production companies to look at how we’d play out the drama and ended up with these guys (Aardman) because they had the best way of taking care of it,” reveals the ECD. “I think not only from a personal chemistry level but in terms of craft and attention to detail with no shortcuts, it’s been great and that’s what you want to represent a bank.”

Having been established almost 200 years ago, Swedbank is Sweden’s largest bank, holding more than half of the country’s population as clients. The oak tree that features as a prominent figure throughout the caign represents the idea of stability, growth and trust but remains as subtle as the intentional low-key humour in the spots. The idea of shooting between scenes of a commercial off set was created through the client’s brief for a need to differentiate themselves from all the other Swedish banks that provide the same services and products.

“I’ve done a lot of commercials and I know how to do film and stuff but I’ve never done this before and no one has really used this technique [of creating a miniature version of a real set] with the puppets, so I had to trust these guys and we all worked together. We both approached the client together and it’s almost as if we’re all the creative team in a sense.”

To view images from our trip to Aardman Animations click here.