THREE MINUTES

Silver Spike
TitleTHREE MINUTES
BrandAPPLE
Product / ServiceIPHONE X
CategoryA01. Direction
EntrantTBWA\MEDIA ARTS LAB Shanghai, CHINA
Idea Creation TBWA\MEDIA ARTS LAB Shanghai, CHINA
Media Placement OMD Shanghai, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Brent Anderson TBWA\Media Arts Lab Chief Creative Officer
Chuck Monn TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Group Creative Director
Stephen Kong TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Creative Director
David Seah TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Creative Director
Sidney Lim TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Broadcast Producer
Michael Lu TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Associate Creative Director
Adlin Rosli TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Associate Creative Director
Mesu Lu TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Senior Art Director
Alpher Xian TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Senior Art Director
Mingyue Zhang TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Copy Writer
Melvin Tan TBWA \ Media Arts Lab Creative Director

Brief Explanation

A mum can’t be with her son on the first day of Chinese New Year, the most important day of the celebration. She’s a train conductor on duty along a week-long route, helping her passengers get home. Along the journey the train stops at her hometown station for three minutes. Her sister arranges for the son to meet mum on the train platform. They cherish their Chinese New Year reunion, even if it only lasts mere minutes.

Execution

Every frame was shot using a mobile phone camera. The director, a seasoned cinema storyteller, embraced this challenge of creating something cinematic without the use of traditional filmmaking cameras. Embracing the possibilities and limitations of the device, the director and team found creative ways to capture incredible shots and angles. The director was also able to go with the flow of the moment during the shoot, creating scenes on the fly that further enhanced the film. Every aspect of production was also carefully considered, not the least being casting. The cast intentionally had no famous stars. As the story was based on a true story, there was a lot of care put in conveying authenticity.