It Has To Stop was built around a brutal visual idea: the consequences of distracted driving never really end.
The film works as an infinite loop. One crash leads to another, then another, as each driver looking at a phone becomes part of the same chain of impact. The structure had to feel relentless, almost impossible to escape.
What made the project special was the physicality of the execution. We shot the collisions live with stunt performers, including Robyn, an incredible elder stuntwoman who threw herself into 3/4-inch plexiglass with no fear.
I wanted the film to feel graphic, precise and uncomfortable. A simple message, pushed through a visual mechanism that keeps repeating until it becomes impossible to ignore.
Despite a slightly hyper-real videogame finish to the film, this unusual, technically impressive PSA warning against the dangers of in-car phone usage features live footage of actual collisions with stunt people.
Like a series of mirrors reflecting images reflected in a mirror,
"It Has To Stop" embarks on a kind of loop of horror, as we zoom into the content on the phone being looked at by a distracted driver as he hits a pedestrian – the content is a driver looking at his phone while hitting a pedestrian.
The chain of distracted drivers watching footage of distracted drivers hitting evermore pedestrians speeds up, finally leading to the tagline ‘this has to stop’.
The intriguing cinematic piece uses stunt performers and impactful photography to recreate brutal collisions that occur when drivers become distracted. Creating a unique campaign out of a sadly common situation, the film highlights how one deadly mistake can trigger an infinite loop of disasters.
Director Olivier Staub comments: “I chose to use the idea of a ‘screen within a screen’ to emphasise the never-ending risk posed by mobile phones if people continue to act recklessly. I didn’t want the advert to look like a slideshow, so we shot every necessary angle and perspective in order to reconstruct an animated 3D environment in CGI, preserving all the organic perspective and focus changes.”
Press
Awards
Source Creative Top 100 of 2020 • IDEA (Sound Design) • IDEA (Film Craft)
Credits
CLIENT SAAQ • TITLE IT HAS TO STOP • AGENCY Lg2, Canada • DIRECTOR Olivier Staub • DoP Olivier Staub • PRODUCER Frederick Quintal • PRODUCTION StaubFilms • CREATIVE DIRECTOR Luc Du Sault • COPYWRITER Andrée-Anne Hallé, Jean Lafrenière • ART DIRECTOR Vincent Bernard • PHOTO RETOUCHING Visual Box • ANIMATION & POST Shed • AUDIO Boulevard
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