W+K Shanghai and Directors Us Turn Smartphone Factory into Creative Funhouse

A seemingly dull assembly line gradually evolves into a crisply designed hipster funhouse in a new campaign for Chinese electronics brand Oppo. The creative was devised by Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, who teamed up with Academy Films and directing collective Us to inject the hero film with just the right balance of magic and future-facing cool.

According to Us, the original idea leapt out at them as it subverts stereotypes. “The creativity, imagination and fun of this script really stood out,” they say. “They really wanted to begin with a stereotypical image of a Chinese factory, then as the film progressed it would become more and more creative.” 

The shoot took place in Bangkok on a tight schedule, with just two weeks of preproduction and two weeks of post.

Throughout the spot there’s a subtle sense of escalation – rather than go the zany route, Us opted for a slicker, smarter approach, with understated upgrades as the spot progresses.  

“Well that’s great that you picked up on that, as that was our main goal. We really wanted it to be a seamless sense of progression,” they explain, saying that the team really zeroed in on the details and that every evolution was carefully considered. “I think we were very lucky to have an awesome team on this one. It was a constant battle during the entire preproduction of how much to hold off, when to introduce elements, how much colour, how much character, camera movement. We really tried to consider every element.”  

It's not the first time that Us have worked in China. They say that while the shared language of creative passion brings the whole team together on a job, these projects have also proven to be illuminating. “We have worked once before with China, we did a spot for IKEA through Wieden+Kennedy also. The only thing that really stood out was the difference in culture and tradition. There are colours or images that can relate to things we would never consider. Other than that, sometimes [there are] language barriers - but it’s all very much focused on the concept and creativity which is awesome."