Moellhausen s a leading company in the industry of fragrances and flavor. They source raw materials globally to develop a wide range of end products including fine perfumery, cosmetics, home care, food, and drinks.
I was asked to create 30s film based on the concept "The chemistry of emotions, an idea that came from their marketing director Valerio Tateo.
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When I first read the brief I immediately thought about a dramatic plot where perfumes were used to trigger an emotion, maybe from a memory, but it was too clichè, I wasn't really convinced.
So I thought about what real life emotions are like, in my
opinion, they are precise instants that you live in the present and that produce a powerful and intense reaction. In our case, they had to be related to smell and taste.
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The client liked the idea and really felt that embraced Moellhausen's philosophy, so I started to research references from nature, paintings, sketches, music, collecting them in a catalog based on the relationship with fragrances and flavors. Then edited the first draft that was slower than the final version, and had many images that I couldn't find, so I used many notes.
The soundtrack was essential, I was looking for a piece
that had soul, intensity, and that sounded like a live performance in a garage, or in a small loud bar with people drinking whiskeys and smoking cigars. My friend composer Jan Sutti, did an awesome job on that, he did a demo that I felt in love with, and recorded drums right after. The music starts beating four times the drumsticks, like in a live show. We synched to them a sprinkle of their best fragrance as the trigger of the emotions.
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I shot about twenty scenes between Italy and Brazil most by myself with an assistant or producer. Because I used only a few artificial lights, I was involved with a lot
of location scouting at various time of the day. About ten scenes were shot in my studio, where we also developed the CG and post production.
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For budget reasons we didn't have the resources to make a production plan and stick to it, so I combined the shooting using my free time and taking my RED camera with me wherever I know I could possibly find the right location for the film. It took me about 6 months to complete.
CREDITS
Director and filmmaker: Carlo De Agostini
Producer: Barbara Bongetta
CG, animation: Simone Giorgetta
music and sound design: Jan Sutti
Production assistant: Jacopo Cairati
drone and support: Gabriele Marvasi
Producer: Barbara Bongetta
CG, animation: Simone Giorgetta
music and sound design: Jan Sutti
Production assistant: Jacopo Cairati
drone and support: Gabriele Marvasi
Make up: Emanuela Folini
Special thanks: Josef Ruffoni, Christian Pugi, Bruna Bongetta, Daniel Castro, Thais Sabattini, Layla Mulinari Bulgarelli Bomfim, Clara Araújo de Miranda Alves, Anderson Costa, Hanz Bongiolatti, Saverio Monti.