Client: Oekom publishing house
2 min | 2021 | 16:9 | HD 1080p
The briefing: The task was to present the Spiegel bestseller "Alles eine Frage der Zeit" (It's All a Matter of Time) by authors Harald Lesch, Jonas Geissler and Karlheinz Geissler † with an exciting trailer and to briefly summarise the book's most important theses. The initial plan was to travel to Munich with a small team to meet the authors on site and shoot a kind of home story with them. Unfortunately, it became clear that this would not be possible due to the coronavirus pandemic. A quick rethink was needed. The solution: a remote film shoot and the use of stock footage.
The challenge in designing the trailer was to condense the complex subject matter into a few key points and highlight why it is so important to return to a more conscious approach to time. As a green film production company, we care deeply about sustainable living and a healthy ecosystem – so it was exciting for us to learn during the collaboration how the authors linked the themes of time and sustainability: "If we want to protect nature, we must first allow it to follow its own rhythms," says Harald Lesch. In order to find a style and visual language early on, we researched stock footage during the concept phase and created a mood board for the client.
We coordinated the shoot in Munich via video conference from our Berlin office. The questions were asked in Berlin and answered live in Munich by the authors – with the active support of co-author Jonas Geissler on site. He had set up borrowed camera and sound equipment in a Munich apartment in consultation with us. This allowed us to interview the authors one after the other – as if we were really there.
Once the majority of the project had been completed, including the conception, planning and execution of the remote shoot, the authors' most important statements were selected for the trailer based on the concept. These were supplemented by previously researched stock material and two emotional music tracks. Our clients and we ourselves were pleased to have made the best of this challenging pandemic situation. The key was transparent and authentic communication, without which such a project would not have been possible.
