My Favourite Bruno Aveillan Commercials
This is another in the globally popular ACES series of featuring commercial film directors that I admire for their dedicated craftsmanship in bringing creative concepts and story lines to filmic life that enthrall viewers and motivate well-earned accolades from the Advertising Communications industry.
Bruno Aveillan
After graduating from the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Toulouse, Bruno joined Quad Productions in Paris in 1995 and rose to become an internationally sought after filmmaker and commercial director.
In 2009, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris included a retrospective of his work at the Louvre in a major exhibition of cinematic art in advertising.
Bruno Aveillan has won over 200 international awards for his cinematographic craftsmanship and his filmic storytelling artistry has become a global reference of excellence for the Advertising Communications Industry.
1. Puy du Fou Park, Eternals
Advertising Agency: Les Gros Mots, Paris, France
The historically themed ‘Puy du Fou’ park, situated in the Vendée region of Western France, has won many international awards for its outstanding breakthrough in innovative visitor attractions.
The ‘Eternals’ 7 minute, short-film epic, directed by Bruno Aveillan, is a highly entertaining, cinematic, time-travel adventure fantasy.
2. The Legend of Shalimar
Agency: Guerlain. Artistic Director Benjamin De Lapperent and Advertising Production Director Jeannine Burglé
‘Shalimar’, which in India’s Sanskrit language means ‘Temple of Love’, was created in 1921 by Master Perfumer Jacques Guerlain, as a tribute to the 17th century Persian love story of Shah Jahan and his Empress consort, Mumtaz Mahal.
The Taj Mahal mausoleum the Shah built for his wife, who died at the age of 37, is a World Heritage masterpiece of Indo-Islamic art and architecture, and a monument of undying love, that is surrounded by a historically designed, exquisite Persian landscape also known as the ‘Shalimar Gardens’.
The spectacularly cinematic love story was directed and filmed by Bruno Aveillan on various locations in India, from Jaipur to Udaipur and the Taj Mahal in Agra, using a 35-mm high-speed, megapixel ‘anamorphic phantom’ camera.
Russian Actress and Guerlain supermodel, Natalia Vodianova stars as Princess Mumtaz Mahal, and the soundtrack was specially composed and scored by Hans Zimmer for this epic short film.
3. Cartier Odyssey
Advertising Agency: Marcel, Paris, France
King Edward VII of England referred to Cartier as “the jeweler of kings, and the king of jewelers”. The Paris Jeweler’s long tradition of royal patronage includes the courts of Europe, Russia, Serbia, Siam, Greece, Romania, Egypt and Albania.
The focus of this spectacular three-and-a-half minute commercial of Cartier’s 165-year history, directed by Bruno Aveilan, is about a Panther.
The iconically recognisable symbol of the Cartier brand takes a trip around the globe and encounters key moments and locations from the jeweler-maker’s sumptuous, long history.
The panther also visits an Indian palace filled with Cartier’s famous animal jewelry pieces, before coming home to supermodel Shalom Harlow at the Grand Palais in Paris, the birthplace of Cartier.
The short-film epic was first screened at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2012 and went on to receive more than 40 international gold awards including a Cannes Gold Lion.
At the last count, Cartier’s Odyssey had motivated 180 million views around the globe.
4. Cartier, Shape Your Time
Advertising Agency: Publicis 133, Paris, France
This Cannes Lion Film Craft winning commercial, directed by Bruno Aveillan for Cartier’s famous watches, continues with the iconic brand’s signature Panther theme in an immersive time-travel epic of Cartier’s horology past and future.
The soundtrack is an adapted version of the ‘Odyssey’ music score by Pierre Adenot that was recorded at the famous Abbey Road London Studios and awarded a Cannes Gold Lion for music.