The Alchemy of The Orchard is an immersive story of music, visuals and sound, celebrating social reconnection. It takes us from the orchard, where cider is born, right through to that cathartic release when people finally come together again after time apart. The campaign was filmed across 18 months due to Covid - the same time it takes to create a pint of Bulmers - and celebrates the simple moment when 'time bears fruit'.
I composed the music and sound design for the campaign in parallel to create an engaging, rhythmic soundscape full of visceral detail. The idea of time is deep-rooted in the film, with time-shifting into slow motion at key moments to highlight the journies and how they're all interconnected: from pollination to pour, from performance to perfection.
A big part of the campaign was the idea of music being intrinsic to Irish culture - we placed a piano in the orchard and I brought it to life with vines and immersive sound design to emphasise this connection - the piano performs a musical motif that grows into the score, taking us from the orchard right into the soundtrack. You can hear at the end the piano melodies are reinvented into a fully-fledged euphoric anthem, packed with the vibrancy of meaningful social experiences. The band also performed a live cover of the composed music on set to make sure the sensation of the performance was authentic for the film.