Factory Fifteen's background in architecture is evident in the one-shot sequence, creating a cinematic impression of a city facing destruction. Combining references from across film, television, and video games, the fast-paced video sees a story that begins with someone jumping from a tall building, presumably to their death, but suddenly the scene freezes before he splats on the ground, setting the tone visually and musically for the minute ahead.
With time freezes the camera begins to move and new scenes unfold, each revealing a different dimension to the action.
An early reference was the intro sequence from Baby Driver and the freeze frame early promo to Cyberpunk 2077. "The challenge in our case was fitting everything into a 1-minute ad, so we created a very small space for the camera to move through which revealed big and small cinematic moments."
With time freezes the camera begins to move and new scenes unfold, each revealing a different dimension to the action.
An early reference was the intro sequence from Baby Driver and the freeze frame early promo to Cyberpunk 2077. "The challenge in our case was fitting everything into a 1-minute ad, so we created a very small space for the camera to move through which revealed big and small cinematic moments."
The video is "a homage to our past with a more lighthearted tone".
Paul Nicholls.
Paul Nicholls.
Colossus by Factory Fifteen.
Factory Fifteen's work often features striking visions of buildings and cityscapes. Nicholls and former classmates Jonathan Gales and Kibwe Tavares co-founded Factory Fifteen in 2011 after studying architecture together at The Bartlett School of Architecture in London.
They first earned renown for a series of dystopian films including Robots of Brixton, JONAH, and Megalomania.
The studio directed the BBC's BAFTA-winning Tokyo 2020 promotion video, which wove a story of British athletes in the streetscapes of Japan's capital.
After the tragic death of Gales, who was hit by a suspected drunk driver in downtown Los Angeles in late 2022, Factory Fifteen rebranded itself with a new logo, website, and showreel, and relocated to a self-designed studio in southeast London.
