Idris Elba wearing boxing gloves

Dream It

In this fantastical film for Squarespace, Framestore had the pleasure of working with two of our favourite collaborators, Spike Jonze and Idris Elba. 

The spot highlights the power of Squarespace, and how its platform and tools can help bring anyone’s aspirations to life. In the spot, Elba imagines himself preparing for the boxing ring, heading on a mission into space, flying off in a fighter jet, and designing clothes. While he moves from scene to scene, Elba lip syncs the words to ‘Que Será, Será,’ wistfully sung by a young child, exemplifying the possibilities open to those who dream big enough.

idris elba sitting on a side curb

The spot was shot in London, taking advantage of the city’s beautiful locations and celebrating Idris’ hometown roots. Though it is comprised of primarily practical effects (we always knew Elba could levitate), Framestore Creative Director Alex Thomas worked closely with Jonze to explore ways to elevate the magic of the creative. Thomas’s goal was to support the in-camera work, so that viewers would ask themselves, ‘how did they do that?’. 

actor idris elba holding up a puppet in front of children

The grade was an important part of capturing the whimsical feeling, and DP James Laxton provided stunning images for colourist Beau Leon to work with. Leon drew out the bright tones of Elba’s fantasy world, set against the rich wintery blues of the London skyline as Elba sings to himself back on Earth. 

In addition to ‘Dream It,’ Framestore also worked with Squarespace and MJZ on ‘Make It,’ an extended, humorous instructional video also featuring Elba and directed by Jonze that demonstrates how easy it is to put your dreams online with Squarespace.

Credits

Client
Squarespace
CEO
Anthony Casalena
Chief Creative Officer
David Lee
Creative Production Director
Sandra Nam
Creative Director
Ben Hughes
Senior Designer
McLane Teitel
Creatives
Mathieu Zarbatany, Noah Phillips
Producer
Bianca Cochran
Creative Project Manager
Dominic Hackley
Business Affairs Manager
Kiersten Bergstrom
Production Company
MJZ
Director
Spike Jonze
DOP
James Laxton
Production Designer
Elliott Hostetter
President
David Zander
Executive Producer
Eriks Krumins
Producer
Laurie Boccaccio
Co-Producers
Amanda Adelson, Laura Klein
Editorial
Final Cut
Editor
Jeff Buchanan
Executive Producer
Suzy Ramirez
VFX
Framestore
Director of Operations and Production
Bethan Thomas
Creative Director
Alex Thomas
VFX Senior Producer
Rachel Mariscal Creasey
Compositing Supervisor
Gigi Ng
Compositing
Tatjana Bozinovski, Peter Sidoriak, Justin Van Der Lek, Brianna Reynolds, Minsang Lee
CG Light
Cinzia Pegorin
CG FX
Cosku Ozdemir
CG Animation
Kevin Rooney, Taylor Hodgson-Scott
CG Modelling
Scott Brust
CG Generalist
Walter Fulbright
CG Rigging
George Saavedra
CG Texture
John Hart, Ian Matta
Concept
Daniel Demirdjian
Flame
Toby Brockhurst
After Effects
Will Golladay
Tracking
Sean Dollins, Todd Herman
Colour
Beau Leon
Colour Producer
Andrew McClintock
VFX Editors
Alexandra Wysota, Connor Bailey
Music Arrangement + Recording
Squeak E Clean
Music Supervision
Mothlight
Final Mix, Sound Design
Formosa
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