Memories are made of this

Kinetic Image Productions took client 59th Street Bridgewear’s request for ‘a guy on a motorcycle, beach girl and logo,’ threw in some lingering dissolves and the haunting wail of a slide guitar, mixed it all up and came out with a stylish piece, more classic than trendy, that leaves you wondering if you’ve ever seen it before.

Not only that, but we actually get to see the product – jeans and a leather jacket – right there in the first shot. And hey, no one’s taking them off.

Shocking.

The 30-second spot for Faded Glory Jeanswear, which will air nationally on MuchMusic next month, marks the directorial debut of Andrew Watt in the commercial spectrum. Shot over two days just north of Burlington, Ont., the spot has all the trimmings of a road movie – a Byronic hero (mad, bad and dangerous to know) – a motorcycle, a woman, a road.

What follows is a tapestry of sorts, woven together from the past, present and future.

In the first shot we find our young Byron lording over his motorcycle; in the next we see the road surge beneath him as he rides.

We get the sense that he is coming from or going to something, but we’re not sure which. As he looks at an old photograph of a woman it blows out of his hand onto the dry, cracked earth. He picks it up and we see the road surge once again. We realize for the first time that this road is leading to someone – someone our hero has known before.

The spot culminates as he rides toward us, having made the decision to act instead of remember the past or peruse the future – an act that will take him to meet his memory.

Watt’s background in experimental film is evident here; the loose narrative illustrates the fluidity of ‘memory’ and explores, as Watt deftly puts it, ‘the push and pull of time and space.’

Cinematographer Gregory Bennet created the ‘washed-out’ visuals that are, like memories, faded, dusty, soft, compelling.

Like all good road movies, this piece is short on words (there are none) and long on atmosphere. And, like all great road movies, it’s got a sound track that kicks.

Kinetic’s Heather McKinnon was the art director. Tim Hughes composed the music and Bruce Adamson was featured on live guitar. Watt performed off-line editing duties at Reel Sound and Video Production and on-line editing was handled at Magnetic North. JL