Saint at 2012-02-13 11:27:40:
They met -- and movies were never the same. I was reading
The Commercial Touch: Why Hollywood is Forking Over $200 Million Budgets to No-Name Directors
over at Film Slate Magazine which suggests -- for directors, commercials may be "the step before the big step." FSM goes on to say "It’s funny that all our efforts to remove commercials from our viewing pleasure have made that medium more worthy of our attention. Commercials have to be good in order for us to take notice; thus those who make them have to be talented and creative. " He quotes David Lynch saying, "the money’s good…and I get to use and learn about the latest technology…and then I can use those tools in my feature work." Which is exactly what Michel Gondry has did. His connection?
"He pioneered the "bullet time" technique later adapted in The Matrix, in a 1998 commercial for Smirnoff vodka, as well as directing a trio of inventive holiday-themed advertisements for clothing retailer Gap, Incorporated."
It's funny to think a Gap ad went into the DNA of The Matrix, a film that changed the game and rocked a generation.