Levi’s “O Pioneers! (Go Forth)” dir. M Blash
Saw “Funny People” last night and easily my favorite part of the whole four-and-a-half hours was this spot they ran before the show. I cut off mid-conversation to watch it and turned to the screen, wholly transfixed for :60. And then I posted it here on my website, which makes me some kind of stooge—a pawn in Levi’s devilish little game. Or perhaps a pawn in Walt Whitman’s.
Must be a W+K spot, because I see a lot of Portland locations.
I totally agree with Sandwich here. I’ve been obsessed with this spot since I first saw it in front of Away We Go. According to the credits on the YouTube page it is, in fact, a W+K production. It was directed by one M. Blash who seems to have made a 2006 feature called Lying and also appeared in Gus van Sant’s Paranoid Park (shot, as well, in Portland). In addition to everything else about the piece, I think the sound design (based around a 1950s recording of the Whitman poem) and music are spectacular and really a large part of its effectiveness — they’re what creates that effect Sandwich describes of having your attention so completely captivated so quickly. This aspect appears to have been masterminded by Blue Scout Music, a licensing and production company in Portland. The song is credited as “Swift! To the Head of the Army”, which does not appear to be an actual song by any band, but is a line from the poem.
