PXL Apparel – The City

The Video

The Story

To complement the brand’s streetwear image, a narrative was written around a creative professional’s commute.  An ode to the extrinsic motivations of urban life, the monologue ends with an allusion to the brand name PXL (“…one dot amidst a sea of colors…”) and an aspirational challenge to the audience that standing out amongst even the urban masses is possible, but that it will require determination.

Set and filmed in Shibuya Tokyo, featuring Erica Jimbo.

The Format

Because this spot was destined for distribution across both widescreen and vertical platforms (such as Instagram stories), an approach similar to responsive web design was required to ensure a great viewing experience under a variety of circumstances:

To support cropping for both widescreen and vertical formats, the footage was deliberately filmed using wider-angle lenses.  The alternative would been to shoot specifically for different aspect ratios using additional cameras or separate takes – either of which would have added considerable expense and complexity.  To complement the tailored edits, different variations of the brand’s graphics/logo were developed to perfectly fit each aspect ratio.

The Sound

An instrumental was made to pair with the scenery and build tension to the advertisement’s conclusion.  The phrases of the narration were chopped up and each aligned to the music’s beat, in the same way that DJs sample songs.  For continuity, the narration was recorded by the same actor appearing on screen.