Conjuring Christmas Magic: Cinelab Film & Digital Brings the Season to Life on Film

Conjuring the spirit of Christmas isn’t easy, and doing it well requires a delicate balance. It’s all too easy to veer into saccharine territory and overegg the pudding, so to speak. One way that filmmakers can conjure a sense of warmth, good memories and a touch of nostalgia is by shooting their projects on film. Shooting on film is often the secret sauce, that little je ne sais quoi, making an ad or a music video feel comforting and magical thanks to film’s fine-grained texture and richness that do all the hard work effortlessly. It provides a welcome and, in the age of AI, continuously-needed human touch that speaks to the spirit of Christmas.

No one knows more about what working with film gives filmmakers than Cinelab Film & Digital, the only full service film laboratory, digital dailies and post production facility in the UK. Unsurprisingly, the lab has worked on a huge number of festive-themed projects over the years.

Launched this festive season, Smuggler director Tom Speers brings the holiday magic for Vodafone’s Christmas ad 2024: ‘40 Years of Christmas on the Nation’s Network’. Tasked with capturing 40 years of holiday connections, Tom - along with cinematographer Suzie Lavelle – opted to shoot on 35mm film, processed and scanned 4K by Cinelab.

The heart-warming ad shows the connections that bring family and friends together during the festive season; it also looks back at the last four decades, illustrating that while technology has changed, the joy of connecting with loved ones during the festive season remains unchanged. Last week, when APA members voted for their favourite Christmas ads of 2024, Vodafone took the top spot!

Cinelab has worked on a number of festive ‘star’ spots in recent years, including three industry behemoths from John Lewis: ‘Snapper: The Perfect Tree’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, and ‘The Boy and the Piano’. This speaks to the power that film grants creatives when, year after year and project after project, they opt for the medium over its digital counterpart.

In Burberry’s ‘Festive’ spot, directed by Megaforce (who also directed John Lewis’ ‘Snapper’) and cinematography from Haris Zambarloukos, the action takes place in London’s less glamorous areas, drawing attention to the life and cheer outside of ‘typical’ Christmas scenes – without ever crossing over into gritty. The mood is warm and welcoming, even despite the rainy day, with a cinematic feel that’s instantly recognisable as classic. Film is often Megaforce’s preferred medium and even though ‘Festive’ and ‘Snapper’ differ greatly, it’s easy to feel the sense of warm authenticity that film lends to both spots.

When the British Heart Foundation launched their ‘The Gift That Keeps on Living' campaign film, telling the story of a typical Christmas day for a young couple, it moved away from festive extravaganza to celebrate the true spirit of Christmas and the joy of little things. Sweet and necessarily nostalgic, it’s no wonder that the director Molly Burdett opted to shoot on film as it lends the instant intimacy of quiet family moments that’ll be remembered for years to come.

Now, it’s time for something a little more light-hearted: what happens when Santa’s lead reindeer lets fame get to its head? Can Christmas be saved with only eight reindeer on Santa's clock? Those are the questions explored in the Netflix-style mockumentary ‘The Reinfell’ about Rudolph, created by agency Pol and directed by Kasper Häggström with cinematography from Benjamin Loeb, for the Norwegian Postal Service. Cinelab processed and 4K scanned the 16mm and S8mm footage, which emulates the grittiness of the documentary genre, spoofing it perfectly in the process.

 

Taking a fresh approach to the Christmas ad genre is Floyd with the luggage brand launching their first ever festive spot in 2024. ‘The Wild Wild Winter’, from director Jasper Cable-Alexander and DOP Vini Curtis, channels the luggage’s retro stylings by reimagining the archetype of the cowboy. With his Floyd suitcase in tow, the cowboy goes on a wondrous wintry journey that shows him embracing his softer side. Captured on 16mm, the format lends the Austria-shot spot the brand’s signature retro aesthetic.

In 2019 Cinelab helped to restore one of Christmas’s undeniable stalwarts, that bittersweet hit – ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! – which, believe it or not, only earned its rightful festive number one spot in the charts last year and has reclaimed the spot in 2024 too. The music video was lovingly restored by Cinelab, ensuring that the classic will be enjoyed by audiences for decades to come and illustrating the importance of preserving iconic cultural touchstones. And its popularity shows no signs of fading, with one billion combined views on YouTube and Hulu and counting. To expand on the all-important restoration service, Cinelab recently partnered with Prasad to offer a new 4K Scan & Restore package, and together they'll be helping to preserve even more of the work that could otherwise be lost. 

Year after year, filmmakers return to Cinelab Film & Digital – and not just for Christmas. It’s a testament to the lab’s reputation, built over a decade of business and collaboration, as it has proven its ability to help bring creators’ vision to life in an increasingly digital landscape that’s losing the human touch.