Strung Together: Celebrating the creative connection between musician and conductor
Strung Together
WPP creative company Superunion unveils the London Symphony Orchestra’s (LSO) 2023/2024 season campaign, which shines a light on the individual musicians within the LSO, and the intense connection they have with their conductors.
Strung together marks the
launch of a new LSO season at London’s Barbican Centre and LSO St
Luke’s, with an ambitious series of concerts presented featuring the
LSO’s growing family of artists and conductors.
It is the sixth campaign Superunion has worked on with LSO since the launch of its new brand in 2017.
All the previous campaigns have visualised the movement of the baton of the conductor, Sir Simon Rattle.
Following Rattle’s transition to the role of Conductor Emeritus, and as Sir Antonio Pappano becomes Chief Conductor Designate in September 2023 (taking up the role of Chief Conductor fully in 2024), this year’s film celebrates the collective of LSO musicians, showcasing the connection between the Orchestra’s musicians and conductors during a performance.
Working with XK Studio, Superunion has used motion capture of the conductor’s movements during excerpts of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No 2 to create an expressive art piece that visually transforms and connects the gestures of the conductor with those of the Orchestra. The concept of the visual expression finds inspiration in the fan-shaped layout of the Orchestra’s seating on-stage at the Barbican, where the LSO is Resident Orchestra.
The film consists of a computer-generated simulation of golden, metallic strings, each representing a musician in the Orchestra.
It opens with an aerial view of strings connecting the hands of the conductor to each musician. However, at the centre of the composition is a dramatic entanglement.
As the conducting begins (following the motion of the conductor’s gestures) the strings are pulled and twisted back and forth, reflecting the creative connection and communication between conductor and musicians. During the course of the film, we cut from a series of wide aerial shots to close-up details and intermittently return to the wide shots, revealing that the strings are continually untangling. The final movement of the conductor sees the strings become completely untangled.
To complete the story,
the film closes on the LSO mark (a stylisation of the conductor’s
silhouette), which appears in the conductor’s position. A series of
stills have also been selected to highlight powerful moments in the
film, from the fan-shape to the moments of entanglement, to feature in
the New Season’s brochure and advertising. Posters are displayed at the
Barbican and at key London tube and rail stations.
Fiona Dinsdale, head of marketing, London Symphony Orchestra, said: “As the LSO’s family of conductors develops, we wanted this year’s campaign to anticipate and reflect the upcoming season. This means telling other stories from within the season, including showcasing the skill and artistry of the musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra themselves. The resulting film truly captures the sense of creative collaboration that underpins the magic of the LSO’s music-making.”
Stuart Radford, executive creative director, Superunion, said: “This year we are excited to focus on
the powerful connection
that exists between the entire
Orchestra and the
conductor., the remarkable chemistry that occurs
during live performance. Continuing to use
digital motion capture
to create a powerful emotive expression,
we have created
a campaign that
reflects how the special relationship between
conductor and orchestra
grows through the process
of performing the
music”.
Credits
Client : London Symphony Orchestra
Head of Marketing: Fiona Dinsdale
Agency: Superunion
Executive Creative Director: Stuart Radford
Mid-weight designer: Adam Tickle
Account manager: Lindsay Bott
Client partner: Suzanne Neal
Design and Motion Practice: XK team
Creative director: Lukas Vojir
Creative director: Alexa Sirbu
3D artist: Quim Amat Heinert
3D artist: Steward Lupercio
Producer: Yanika Chauhan
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