My Life as a Movie ad campaign covers emotional journey of life

The brief was to allow viewers to relate to station's magic in a way that was more personal and real. "We want our viewers to believe that magic happens in their own stories. There are definite parallels between the stories on-screen and our own. Who says that magic only happens in the movies?" asks M-Net head of marketing and publicity, Mpeo Makape.

Filming the ad was not without its share of challenges, including a haunted set and a freak cold front.

Directed by Picture Tree Films' short film and commercial director, JH Beetge, the ad required over two months of pre-production before the two-day filming, which features local celebrity Emmanuel Castis as the hero of the narrative, using emotion as the predominant language.

Circumstance and location

Circumstance and location were secondary to creating an intense 60-second rollercoaster, which was a complete collaboration between the agency and the film company.

"Just as every great movie is an emotional rollercoaster, so are our lives. The ad invites viewers to climb on board and live the journey through each high and low on the spectrum of human emotion. Drawing upon the universality of human experience, the ad takes the audience on a personal adventure that we can all relate to on some level," says creative director Mariana O'Kelly.

Just as the narrator plays with the duality of movie and life content, so too was it important for the ad to be visually cinematic, while remaining real and sincere. "It's not every day that a brand points out the dark and unpleasant sides of life. But we had to go down to go up again. Such is life. Nevertheless, we hope the ad leaves people with a sense of hope and optimism, as well as the realisation that magic happens every single day - not just on the screen, but off-screen too," she concludes.

Credits:

Executive creative director: Fran Luckin
Creative director: Mariana O'Kelly
Copywriter: Stephanie van Niekerk
Art director: Renier Zandberg
Agency producer: Debbie Dannheiser