Smart Villages
ENRD
For a big subject, we decided to think small
The Briefing
As more people leave for cities, local countryside populations have to get smart. The European Network for Rural Development is an EU structure that brings together countries looking for ways to sustain and re-vitalize the European countryside. This time, they needed a way to easily explain what the Smart Villages theme is about. It just so happens that rendering subjects comprehensible is one of things we do at DoubleDouble, and we were more than pleased to work with them on this project.
The story we wanted to tell
Rural areas are often associated with the past and archaic technology. This is rapidly changing and Smart Villages is example of that. So we thought we’d combine analog and digital technology in the film’s making. Each scene consists of scale model figurines – shot with macro camera lenses – and overlaid with purely digital shapes.
Rafael, Art Director.When we found ourselves cutting miniature-sized sausages for a miniature-sized barbecue, we knew it just couldn’t get more miniature than this.
The creative process
Once we got the script right, we focused getting a storyboard for which scale models were available. We spent days inside miniature train modelling shops and scouring both online and paper catalogs for all the pieces needed for each shot. Every object in the film was assembled by hand at our studio. The shooting took place during the course of 3 days using a motorized slider and a lot of patience..
Broadcast
The film was first broadcast during a dedicated European Commission event and several other projections have already taken place around Europe as well as being streamed online. To reach an even wider audience, subtitling in 26 languages is currently underway.