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.
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.
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.
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.
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.