AIRBAG takes home Gold, Silver + Bronze Lions for MIFF ‘Emotional Trailer’ at 2016 Cannes Lions

AIRBAG’s groundbreaking tech work on the Melbourne International Film Festival’s Emotional Trailer has been awarded with Gold, Silver and Bronze Lions at Cannes in the Creative Data Lions category.

Says Adrian Bosich, managing partner, AIRBAG: “It’s always great to walk away with some metal – and we are absolutely stoked about the Gold Lion. These new ways of advertising are really interesting to us, because unlike traditional ads – which are often an interruption from what an audience is trying to do – Campaigns such as these are something audiences are willing to actively seek out and engage with. We recognised the uniqueness of this idea, and AIRBAG invested significantly to make this into a reality. Not something we do often, but we were really passionate about wanting this odd little campaign to exist.”

Working with McCann Melbourne to bring the idea to life, AIRBAG’s ‘chief geek’ Steven Nicholson (left) experimented on himself until he found a way to make facial muscles contract into on-demand expressions.

Says Nicholson: “It’s a personal goal of mine to try and learn something new with each project; but for this we barely knew where to start. Our involvement covered every discipline from electronics engineering to neurology; data analysis to art department. Suffice to say we now know dozens of ways to hurt people with electricity and about two to make them smile. For those wanting a deeper understanding of the project’s journey, including the trials and experiments, you can read a little piece I wrote here.”

The result was a series of live installations and ’emotional trailers’ for each film that allowed the movie-going public to “feel the film, before you see the film.”

Says Bosich (left): “A project like this is right up our alley at AIRBAG – it collides technology with highly engaging, emotional storytelling. This is where having directors, vfx artists and technologists all in one space really elevates the work to the next level. With this collective approach, we’ve managed to walk away with 62 pieces of shiny from major worldwide award shows in 4.5 years – I’m super proud of the team.”

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