Sainsbury's
1914
AMV's Christmas campaign for Sainsbury's, directed by Rattling Stick's Ringan Ledwidge, is a creative interpretation of Christmas Day 1914, when British and German soldiers laid down their arms and came together on neutral territory to share greetings, treats, mementoes and even a game of football. Ringan worked closely with AMV, Sainsbury's and The British Legion to make the portrayal of the truce as accurate as possible, basing it on original reports and letters, as well as working with historians throughout the development and production process.
Director:
Ringan Ledwidge
Production Company:
Rattling Stick
Agency:
AMV
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The story is told from the perspective of a young British soldier who dares to venture from his trench onto No Man's Land to greet his rivals and come together in a football game. He shares a moment of connection and friendship with a young German soldier and, as the truce ends and they return to their trenches, the German soldier is moved to discover that his British friend has hidden the gift of a chocolate bar in his pocket.
The Mill's 2D and Matte Painting team transported the cast back to snowy 1914 Germany by creating a series of matte paintings for the football match setting, before seamlessly comping the live action plates on top, to realistically re-create a chilling mid-winter view of No-Mans land.
Executive producer Gemma Humphries comments, "We were honoured to be part of this special project. The Christmas truce feels especially poignant this year as its also marks 100 years since the start of the First World War. The film was beautifully shot and the casting, as with all of Ringan's films was perfectly on-point. It was our task to enhance the location where the film was shot, with our matte painting department collaborating closely with Ringan to carefully craft the majority of backgrounds for each of the football shots."
CreditsCredits
Agency
Agency: AMV
Producer: Rebecca Scharf
Creatives: Tim Riley
Account Director: Nikki Holbrow
Production
Production Company: Rattling Stick
Director: Ringan Ledwidge
Executive Producer: Sally Humphries
Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler
Original music & choir recordings: Woodwork Music
Licensed music: Carter Burwell
Editorial
Editing Company: Work
Editor: Rich Orrick
VFX & Design
VFX & Design: The Mill
Executive Producer: Gemma Humphries
Shoot Supervisor: Hitesh Patel
2D Lead Artists: Andrew ‘Barnsley’ Wood
2D Artists: Joseph Tang, Gary Driver and Dan Adams
3D Artists: James Mullholland
Matte Painting: Aurelien Ronceray, German Casado
Assistant Producer: Clare Melia
DCP: Mick Vincent