Featured Work: Love, BE@RBRICK

It’s the most wonderful time of the year again!

With Christmas just a day away, the world is also bidding goodbye to another challenging year. And while the future remains uncertain, we continue to stay hopeful and inspired in doing what we love most: telling stories and capturing memorable moments.

If you've stopped by Raffles City Singapore lately, you may have noticed some distinctive installations adorned around the mall. These funky pop art installations and exclusive galleries are all part of the Love, BE@RBRICK Christmas campaign organized by Raffles City and ActionCity (the official partner of BE@RBRICK in Singapore). We had the pleasure of producing five uniquely stylish videos in early November to commemorate this electrifying event on its opening day.

In this Featured Work article, we will be revisiting the ideation and filming process behind this festive project that is imbued with street-style elements and visual art awesomeness.

‘Twas the Night Before Everything

Before the public reveal of the campaign’s centerpiece, a 5.6-meter-tall BE@RBRICK model (the largest in the world), we went down to the site to document the assembly and erection of all the installations within the mall. The task is to create a quick teaser video that would give viewers a sneak preview of what’s to come during their next visit. 

Watch the teaser video here. 

Behind the scenes footage of the assembly

The Ideation Process

The installations are split into 7 different Zones around the mall, beginning with the BE@RBRICK Gallery located in the ActionCity store where it displays and sells various unique BE@RBRICK collectibles. Other Zones include the Steve Harrington Exhibition, an Artist corner where guest artists would work on a BE@RBRICK-themed painting, an AR installation that generates a cool Instagram filter, a life-sized indoor BE@RBRICK display, and as mentioned earlier, the towering BE@RBRICK model that stands proudly outside the mall.

As Raffles City’s demographic consists mainly of white-collar, office workers, they are hoping to appeal to a younger, street crowd with this campaign. Street Culture was one of the prominent themes that came up to give the campaign a ‘hyped’ quality and (potentially) stir up highly Instagrammable/Social-Media-worthy opportunities for visitors. And when we think about the street crowd, it’s no surprise that it’s synonymous with social media savvy people.

Candy Cane BE@RBRICK hanging installation

With that in mind, we proposed 4 TikTok-styled videos that follow the journey of three different profiles— Shoppers, Skateboarders, and Dancers— as they navigate (and perform) through the various installations in the mall.

The reason we integrated a hip and exciting filming/editing style to the videos was also a way to bring out the heart and essence of slick, creative artistic expressions that the BE@RBRICK brand is affectionately known for.

A commissioned BE@RBRICK-themed painting on display at the event

On top of that, we were tasked to film a compelling event highlight video that documents the opening day’s events where VIPs and various media outlets would be present. We took this opportunity to feature talents from the TikTok videos and introduced a light narrative that depicts how all the action-packed happenings around the mall come together.

… And Action! 

Armed with three cameras (C70, A7SIII, and GoPro 10), the team split up and took charge of each TikTok video (Shoppers, Skateboarders, Dancers) respectively, before coming together to film the main event, capturing the lively mood and expressions of the VIPs and general shoppers as they interact with the installations. 

This project also marks the first time we employed the use of a GoPro 10 camera. We improvised our shots with the GoPro by attaching it to a boom pole to simulate drone-like sequences. This was also done to provide a different feel to the video from a fresh vantage point.

A side-by-side look at the filming and output of one of our GoPro sequences

And now, without further ado, here’s how it all turned out.

TikTok videos:

Dancers TikTok

Shoppers TikTok

Moonwalk TikTok

Skateboarders TikTok

Event Highlights:

A Final Word 

We hope everybody we’ve worked with (or will encounter soon) has had an eventful year despite the relentless setbacks posed by the pandemic. While we continue to work hard and strive for bigger and bolder projects, it is extremely important to stay safe and take care of our well-being. 

So, from all of us here at The Story Behind, 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Cheers to another exciting year ahead.