Late Beatle provides the musical background for Apple's new holiday video
Every year Apple releases a holiday video. Who could ever forget 2013's "Misunderstood"? Released during a year when smartphone addiction was a hot topic, the ad showed a typical family driving to the grandparents' house for the holidays. The oldest child is a teenager who is spending too much time with his iPhone and appears to be ignoring the family. When he gathers everyone in front of the television, no one knows what is going on and even the teen's dad looks annoyed.
But it turns out that using his iPhone, the lad recorded a video showing everyone in the family having a good time celebrating the holiday. The video ends, father and son embrace, and we believe that moving forward the teen will be seen in a new light by his parents. In the Apple tradition, it is an emotional video that everyone loves.
The song used in the video was written and performed by the late George Harrison
This year's holiday video is called "Fuzzy Feelings" and the stop-motion sequences (these are the scenes that remind you of Gumby) were filmed on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and edited on a MacBook Air. With the late George Harrison's solo tune "Isn't It a Pity" playing in the background, we are introduced to a mean character who knocks over a Salvation Army-like bucket of donations ("Charity Pot" says the sign) and picks up the change only to pocket it for himself.
And even though Harrison wasn't the Beatle who sang "Instant Karma," karma does appear as the guy who stole the change is hit with a gust of wind that takes off his coat and pants and leaves him shivering in the cold before a tractor dumps snow all over him. But we soon discover that this is a scene from a stop-action video and the mean character in the video is based on the real boss of the woman recording the video using her iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Apple also released a behind-the-scenes video of its holiday ad
While her boss acts mean to her by refusing to hold the elevator open for her, shutting his office door in her face, and giving her a look when she arrived late to work, the more bad things happen to the character of the boss in the stop-action video. But things change when the boss hands our hero a holiday gift. And that evening, while she's walking home from work, she spots her boss through the window of a restaurant-eating alone.
As she continues to work on her stop-action video, the character based on her boss undergoes a huge change. He is surprised when a Christmas Tree ends up in his home and is gifted a dog that he takes for a walk in the park. There he donates change to the Charity Pot and even grabs the bell to ring it for those around him. And then, when we return to real life, the boss is in the lunchroom eating alone when our hero sits down and hands him a holiday gift. Cue the Apple logo.
The video is just as emotional as "Misunderstood," although it is so in its own way. A companion video was released by Apple that shows how "Fuzzy Feelings" was filmed using an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The director of the stop-action sequences, Anna Mantzaris, said this was the first time she used an iPhone to film a video. She was surprised that the device could shoot in 48MP and capture RAW files. She said that these features are important because they can help capture the details of the sets.
Mantzaris said that it was a pleasure working with Apple to bring this film to life and added that "I really hope people see our characters and our story and that they also get inspired to try things out for themselves." And Apple says, "Creativity has the power to change the way we see each other, and the world. Sometimes, seeing things through a new lens can make all the difference. You make the holidays."
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