On My Radar: Bounty Banana

What’s the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?

SB: Megaforce's Burberry commercial, Open Spaces. The morning I saw it, it was like someone captured what it feels like to fly in a dream. This kind of magic realism in a two minute film is a great example of advertising creativity and high end crafting at its best.

JJM: Megaforce's Canon Boundaries commercial. I love how a seemingly simple idea, like switching on lights, can be so impactful and relevant, especially when played on a scale. The whole concept reminded me strongly of video game mechanics, with spaces loading as you explore; video games are often a good metaphor for life.

What website(s) do you use most regularly?

SB: YouTube. Useful for entertainment, and for when you need to learn a new skill. There’s always a 12-year-old kid better than you at After Effects. 

JJM: Pinterest, because it's like a tailor-made buffet for my eyes. YouTube, because if you wondered about it, there is a YouTube video about it.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?

SB: A new MacBook Air. The old one was around 10 years old. It served me well, but the time had come.

JJM: Olympus MJU Panorama. It's a film camera that fits in my pocket and doesn't require my subject to stay still while I turn a bunch of knobs to then realise that the moment has passed. 

What product could you not live without?

SB: My pencil and my sketchbook. I have both with me, all the time, anywhere, just in case. 

JJM: My tactical flashlight. Because with light comes knowledge, and because with a 2,000 lumens beam I feel like a Jedi.

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

SB: Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest. Radical, extreme and yet very simple in its mise en scène. A very deep experience that continues to resonate days after the screening, which rarely happens in cinema. 

JJM: Not a film but [TV show] The Bear. First of all, I love cooking, I love food and can't help but imagine myself in the fire of The Bear's kitchen. It's fascinating and magnetic. Secondly, I can't help but draw parallels with the filmmaking process. The dedication, the sense of urgency, the passion, the team work, the communication protocol, all invested in an art piece. This creates a strong personal connection with the show. That's all on top of it looking amazing and portraying beautifully flawed, endearing characters.

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

JJM: Mindgame. It's an ode to life that will disrupt/expand your brain and get you excited about your own existence.

SB: Blade Runner 2049. To me, cinema at its best. Or any Denis Villeneuve film.

What’s your preferred social media platform?

SB: Instagram; useful for work, friends and staying in touch with internet highs and lows.

JJM: IG. It's a portfolio, where I can get a conversation starting with fellow artists over a 10-second video of the carbonara I made for lunch.

What’s your favourite TV show?

SB: The Wire; best depiction of how a society works at every scale. A show that, after watching, I felt I got smarter. And, this year, I’d have to mention Blue Eye Samurai; not enough people have heard about this masterpiece!

JJM: Rick and Morty. The concepts around which they articulate their stories are completely out of left field and mind blowing. And the burping.

What’s your favourite podcast?

SB: La gêne occasionnée; a cinema critics podcast. I don’t always agree with their views, but the way they analyse films forces you to think about why you may disagree with them. It makes you better understand why you like, or don't like, a film. 

JJM: The Jordan Harbinger show, or The Lex Friedman podcast. They're long form interviews. They're diverse, eclectic and hopefully at the end of an interview you will have learned something, and finished that animatic that was due yesterday.

What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?

SB: Hypersensible, an exhibition about hyper realistic human sculptures, sometimes human size, sometimes giant, sometimes small. Incredibly fascinating and poetic. 

JJM: Surprisingly, the new Starmania musical [below]. Even though I'm not a fan of the music, the staging, set design and light work was epic on a level I could not imagine, with an artistic direction that is somewhere between Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Frank Miller's art and the Limbo video game.

If you could only listen to one music artist from now on, who would it be?

SB: Caballero & JeanJass. A Belgium rap duo who had a freestyle session on a YouTube channel called Grunt last year. I think I’ve been listening to it at least once or twice a week ever since, so I guess they can compete. 

JJM: Die Antwoord, a South African rave-rap group. It's the only CD playing in my car since 2012. My kids only want to listen to this CD, and I'm fine with it, therefore proving that I could just listen to this the rest of my life.