This new video which Adweek Magazine posted about (second after Exame.com and just before us) is a new Leica "100" advertisement video, relating to the Leica 100 year centennial and opening of the Leica Gallery in São Paulo, Brazil. It recreates 35 historic Leica photos and it's extremely well done - a must-see at any rate! They write:
Leica Recreates 35 Famous Photos to Celebrate a Century of Photography Taking plenty of credit 100 years after its first camera
Not every famous photograph was taken with a Leica. But they were all taken thanks to Leica.
The German camera brand on Wednesday unveiled this incredible new ad from Brazilian agency F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first Leica camera and the opening of Leica Gallery São Paulo in November. And the message it conveys is not exactly a humble one.
Leica helped to move photography out from the studios and into real life. And so, in a way, it made possible every photo you've ever seen that captures real, unscripted, unposed life. To celebrate this, the two-minute spot recreates some 35 famous photos of spontaneous moments—and it does so delightfully and beautifully.
There are echoes here of Grey London's "Icons" spot, though the Leica spot is less of an elaborately structured set piece. But it's a triumph all its own—a spot that visually pays off its grand statement and, remarkably, stands as a pretty damn good tribute to every photo ever taken in the past 100 years.
More info on Exame.com in "Vídeo incrível celebra 100 anos da Leica e galeria em SP" (in Portuguese) which we've translated it to English (via Google) for you:
A new film from Leica , one of the most important brands in the history of photography (some would say "the most important"), promises to horrify and thrill lovers of photography.
The movie "100" celebrates the centenary of the brand and its first camera. E also promotes openness, from November, the Leica Gallery in Sao Paulo.
Worldwide, there are galleries in several cities , such as Los Angeles, New York, Milan and Tokyo. In São Paulo, the gallery will be in the Morumbi neighborhood.
The campaign and the video were produced by F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi.
The video, two minutes is a real photography class.
The narrator tells the Leica changed the history of this art to draw the cameras of the studio and bringing them into the streets and homes to the daily lives of "ordinary people".
After more than 35 iconic photographs are recreated and earn a reinterpretation in the video. A class and both.
100 years ago something changed dramatically the course of photography. The first Leica was born. Of course you could say, “Hey some of these photos weren’t taken with a Leica at all!” But I must gently disagree with you. Leica took the camera out of the studio and placed it into real life. Images à la sauvette. Snapshots. We were able to see, to feel, to smell thousands of moments. It became an extension of the eye of the photographer. Joy, pain, ordinary things, fear, losers, winners, misery. War from inside. One image contaminating the others. Metastasis. The most iconic images in history, even the ones that weren’t taken with a Leica, were taken “because” of a Leica. We didn’t invent photography. But we invented photography.
"Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" by Joe Rosenthal
Buzz Aldrin on the Moon (of the Apollo 11 mission) by Neil Armstrong/NASA
"Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange
"Le Baiser de l'hôtel de ville" by Robert Doisneau
"Rue Mouffetard, Paris (1954)" by Henri Cartier-Bresson
"Behind the Gare St. Lazare" by Henri Cartier-Bresson
"Muslim women on the slopes of Hari Parbal Hill" by Henri Cartier-Bresson
"Phan Thi Kim Phúc" by Nick Ut
"Sanaa, Yemen," by Samuel Aranda
"General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon" by Eddie Adams
"Flower Power" by Bernie Boston
"Quang Duc self-immolation" by Malcolm Browne
'Unknown Rebel of Tiananmen Square" by Jeff Widener
"Portrait of Che Guevara" by Alberto Korda
"Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey (1967)" by Diane Arbus
"Segregated Water Fountains" by Elliot Erwitt
"John Lennon and Yoko Ono" by Annie Leibovitz
"Girl With Leica" by Alexander Rodchenko
"Self Portrait with Wife & Models, Paris (1980)" by Helmut Newton
"Seine-Maritime, Dieppe" by Henri Cartier-Bresson
"Falling Soldier" by Robert Capa
"The Photojournalist" by Andreas Feininger
"Weeping for FDR" by Ed Clark
"Rodeo - NYC" (1955/56) by Robert Frank
"Man with Book in Mouth" by Jeff Memelstein
"The Troubles" by Hanns-Jörg Anders
"V-J Day in Times Square, New York (1945)" by Alfred Eisenstaedt
"La Piete Araba" by Samuel Aranda
"Gun 1 (1955)" by William Klein
"Flower Child" by Marc Riboud
"Self-immolation of Thích Guảng Dức" by Malcolm Browne
"El Morroco, New York (1955)" by Garry Winogrand
"Wenceslas Square, Prague (1968)" by Josef Koudelka
"California (1955)" by Elliot Erwitt
"India, Kashmir, Srinagar (1948)" by Henri Cartier-Bresson
See the full list above for more (not pictured).
Client: Leica Gallery São Paulo
Agency: F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi
Spot: "100"
Product: Leica Institucional
Executive Creative Director: Fabio Fernandes | Eduardo Lima
Head of Art: João Linneu
Creatives: Bruno Oppido | Romero Cavalcanti | Thiago Carvalho | João Linneu
Agency Producer: Victor Alloza
Account Management: Marcello Penna | Melanie Zmetek
Media: Fábio Freitas | Gabriela Guedes
Planning: José Porto | Guilherme Pasculli
Production Company: Stink
Direction: Jones+Tino
Producer Designer: Daniela Calcagno
Director of Photography (DOP): Bjorn Charpentier
Executive Producer: Cecília Salguero | Maria Zanocchi
Editor: Jones+Tino | Danilo Abraham
Line Producer: Victoria Martinez
1ad: Santiago Turell
Location Manager: Lucia Sánchez
Producer Designer: Daniela Calcagno
Stylist: Alejandra Rosasco
Postproduction: Casablanca Effects
Sound Studio: Satélite Áudio
Production: Equipe Satélite
Maestro: Equipe Satélite
Account Management: Fernanda Costa | Marina Castilho
Voiceover: Nick Brimble
Client Approval: Luiz Marinho | Anna Silveira
Update (10/3/14):
Needless to say, this post/video has gone viral on the Internet! Everyone is tweeting about it, sharing it on Facebook and Google+ and posting it on various websites. The video on our Youtube channel is at nearly 19K views already. We've actually helped out a couple of sites, like our friends at Fstoppers when their originally-linked video was pulled for some reason. Since posting, sites such as designboom, designtaxi, Gizmodo/Sploid - and others have shared it as well (though failed to mention where their video is coming from).
In any event, the fanfare is well deserved. You might not agree with the assertion(s) or the narration (the biggest "gripes" seen) - the production value and imagery is top-notch all the way.
Update (10/4/14):
The video is now close to 55K views. That's a lot of Leica fans! :)
Update (10/5/14):
The Verge has also picked up on the story as our video edges up to 90K views!
Update (10/6/14):
Vanilla Magazine of Italy picks up the story and the video opens the day with 96K views.
...and before 9am we're about to hit 100K views! Amazing. We are also the first hit on Google for the "Leica 100 video!"
We have reached out to Leica for comment. So far, no word back.
WANT has picked up the story now, and the video's pushing 111K views. Right on.
Update (10/7/14):
Yahoo News, Madame and Luxuo even got in on the action. Video currently pushing 133K views.
We've added a ton of stills, along with identifying information - making it easy for you to catch all the photos that were recreated. The video's now up to 142K views.
Update (10/8/14):
Huffington Post (Arts & Culture) is in on the action now and posted the video, which is at 162K views - and counting...
We've spoken with Leica now, and they confirm that it's "not an official Leica video" and solely the doing of the São Paulo folks. So you can't really call it an "advertisement" - as it will not be shared through official channels.
Update (04/27/15):
This commercial has won the award in the category Movies on Fiap 2015 (Ibero American Advertising Festival). The event took place in Mexico City. For this result, the F / Nazca agency also won the Agency of the Year award. Read more about it over on Exame.
Update (06/16/15):
Adweek believes that this spot will be among "20 Campaigns That Will Win Lions in Cannes!"
Update (06/17/15):
This prediction is also backed up by Advertising Age in "What Will Win at Cannes."
Update (06/27/15):
The film has won the Grand Prix prize at the 2015 Cannes Lions festival. In the last 64 years, this is the first time a Brazilian ad agency has won the Grand Prix:
1st Film Lions Grand Prix to F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi & Stink São Paulo w/100, Leica Gallery @wwsaatchi #CannesLions http://t.co/A47m4GK0sI
— Cannes Lions (@Cannes_Lions) June 27, 2015
Update (09/14/15):
The video has won gold in both the Film and Film Technique categories in this year's 2015 Clio Awards according to Adweek!