Big Sync Music Soundtracks Time Travelling Film from Tanqueray
Big Sync’s most recent music supervision project to go live is the new film from Tanqueray, ‘Since 1830’. The 30-second hero spot, directed by Scott Lyon, is the latest phase of the brand’s ‘Unmistakably Tanqueray’ campaign from creative agency St Luke’s.
The film takes people on a journey through time, from 1830 to the present day highlighting the fact that Tanqueray’s original recipe and taste has remained unchanged. It uses a film technique called the Droste effect, based on the idea of ‘worlds within worlds’, and is created using a continuous curving camera move revealing each new scene from inside the previous one.
The visual opulence of the film with its deliciously decadent spiral of emerald studded scenes required original music to match the smooth, elegant cinematography. A soundtrack was needed that would flow seamlessly through each glamorous setting. Following Big Sync’s brief from St Luke’s, music supervisor Lisa James selected WMP, a team of composers and sound designers based in Leeds, to create the bespoke music. She worked closely over a series of five months with the writing team at WMP, resulting in an outstanding, original composition.
Explaining the creative process, Big Sync music supervisor, Lisa James, said: “The continuous spiral became the basis for our approach to the music. St Luke’s requested a looping, repetitive feel to the music as they felt it would complement the visuals. We were tasked with building and developing the music as it progressed through the scenes depicting the different decades. We briefed out to several composers but in the end selected WMP because they have an in-house studio and we knew that in order to add the value we would want to include live instruments for this. They’re also trained in classical and jazz so they could add that extra bit of class we were looking for.
“We subtly highlighted the years from 1830s to the present date with slight changes to the melody, instrumentation and arrangement throughout the scenes. For example we used a trumpet melody for the 1920s and a Hammond organ for the scene showing the 1960s. At the very core of the finished track is the ticking of the clock, suggesting the movement of time. It was so enjoyable to work with the team at WMP because they really understood the vision of the project.
“We have also thoroughly enjoyed working with the creative team at St Luke's. To create something so original, simple and yet elegant has been very rewarding. We were excited to be a part of such a beautiful campaign and are delighted it’s now gone live.”
Benjamin McAvoy of WMP said: “We’re proud to have worked with Big Sync on many bespoke projects over the past five years and I think trust is at the core of the relationship, which results in the best possible quality of music. We pride ourselves in the way we collaborate between composing team, supervisor, creative agency and brand. When all these teams are communicating clearly it makes it so much easier to work on a project like this. Our approach with this stunning Tanqueray film was to try a few different options, ensuring everything we created matched the unique quality of the visuals. We wanted to try something that was completely original, not based on a reference or temp necessarily, but that everyone in the process felt passionate about from Lisa, to the agency and of course the brand. The piece that features on the finished film is the one that the agency loved from the first listen. For me, this is a template of how every project should run and we are extremely proud of the end result.”
‘Since 1830’ is named after the year Charles Tanqueray perfected his recipe and began its run from 6th November across VOD, cinema, social and out-of-home across the UK, Spain, Germany, South Africa, Brazil, and Australia.
