In a recent collaboration between Samsung Electronics Malaysia and international musical sensation Yuna, advertising agency Leo Burnett took the opportunity to create the world’s first ever music video shot and animated entirely on the Samsung Galaxy Note.

The music video, Sparkle, is the result of The Sparkle Project, a collaboration between Yuna and her fans where their ideas and suggestions are pooled into an ‘Idea Cloud’ based on the themes in her song - doubt, beauty, hope, courage, dreams and spark of love.

The Samsung Galaxy Note is a new kind of mobile device – a tablet/smartphone hybrid – that brings the personal touch back to mobile technology with its unique precision S Pen that allows people to express themselves freely and organically by writing, sketching, cut-and-pasting on the Note.

Eric Cruz, Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett Malaysia says, “We wanted to create something fresh, innovative and truly exciting for The Galaxy Note in Malaysia – a world’s first in music video history, pushing the capabilities of a smart device into new territories. More than that, with all the talent involved, from Yuna and her fans to the artists, animators, director and designers, it's a truly a ‘Made in Malaysia’ music video that has international appeal.”

"We were excited to work with Yuna and wanted to go beyond the usual product endorsement. Instead, we saw an opportunity to create something new with the Galaxy Note - a platform that would connect Yuna and her fans closer together by allowing them to help shape Yuna’s new music video” says Derek Yeo, Creative at Leo Burnett.

The participation for the month-long initiative was astounding: the project was inundated with over 3,500 submissions of personal stories, pictures and drawings; there were even a few accapella cover videos and original song performances submitted via YouTube!

The Sparkle music video
The music video, directed by young up-and-coming director Quek Shio Chuan, was shot in one single take, featuring animated illustrations created by artists who plucked inspiration from submissions on The Sparkle Project website, all created on a Samsung Galaxy Note.

The animations featured multiple styles of drawings and artwork, embodying thefreedom of expression enabled by the Samsung Galaxy Note which are then randomised each time the music video is played on the Sparkle Project website.

Adam Chan, Leo Burnett’s Samsung Creative Group Head says, “We wanted to create an experience that was truly unique – a music video that is never the same twice. Every time someone plays it, it randomly pulls from different submissions and ideas as an animated layer over the live action footage."

We collaborated with Malaysian artists to make the public’s ideas come to life. KidChan’s unique and feminine style had a nice fit with Sparkle and Yuna’s character, resulting in beautifully whimsical images – a deer with traffic light antlers to represent ‘doubt’ and a jellyfish-like creature flying from the pages of an open book to symbolise ‘beauty’. Najib, a.k.a. Art:Tech, gave the video a surreal yet playful flavour, while Shahril Nizam’s quirky line drawings created a dream-like layer of lyrical visual poetry.

Chan says, “We specifically went out of our way to choose illustrators with distinct visual styles who could take the submissions and breathe new life into them.”

During the campaign’s four-week duration, the Sparkle Project website received a total of 131,000 total views and 92,800 unique visitors, leading up to the music video’s online world premiere. It continues to gain strong momentum since.

Sparkle Project Microsite
sparkleproject.my

Sparkle Music Video
http://youtu.be/Oolyzj2ML8k

Sparkle Making Of – One Take
http://youtu.be/Tf48uwCf1mU

Credits

ECD: Eric Cruz
Creative Director: Eric Cruz, Adam Chan
Art Director: Eric Cruz, Derek Yeo
Writer: Derek Yeo
Designer: Hyrul Anuar, Derek Yeo
Illustrator: Hyrul Anuar, Gary Chua
Creative: Derek Yeo, Adzam Bahrin
Senior Account Director: Ngian Yuchun
Associate Account Director: Liew Wai Sim
Account Executive: Lee Wei Jiin
Photographer: Zen Sekizawa

WEBSITE
Chief Technology & Production: Ken Chin
Technologists: Vincent Chin, Lai Koon Wai
Project Executive: Chew Mei Ling
MUSIC VIDEO
Director: Quek Shio Chuan
Producer: Ismail Kamarul
Production Company: Reservoir Production
Artists: KidChan, Najib, a.k.a. Art:Tech, Shahril Nizam
Animation: MotioFixo

ARTISTS
KidChan
http://kidchan.deviantart.com/

Najib, a.k.a. Art:Tech
http://www.eightyfourcube.com/artistechnology/art_tech/home.html

Shahril Nizam
http://shahrilnizam.blogspot.com/