# Make Main Character Moments

> The 2021 campaign for Novemberfestivalen, Sweden's national short film competition for filmmakers aged 16 to 26: a new tagline, the festival vignette that opened every screening, and five trailers for social.

- Case study: https://tiedtke.se/work/make-main-character-moments/
- What it was: Campaign
- Client: Novemberfestivalen
- Agency: TIED Visuals
- Year: 2021
- Medium: Video, Brand
- Gabriel's role: Creative Direction, Directing, Cinematography, Editing, Color Grading

## Key numbers

- 6 film acts opened, plus opening night and awards
- 5 trailers for social
- 45 min festival talk that followed

## The challenge

Novemberfestivalen came with a color palette and a feeling (calm, solitude, being in the moment, becoming one with nature) but no idea yet, a tight timeline and a budget that had to cover everything. The campaign had to speak to 16-to-26-year-old filmmakers who live on TikTok, follow on from the previous year's “For the Love of Film”, and work both as a vignette before every screening and as short trailers for Instagram and Facebook.

## The approach

The idea arrived during my own main character moment: in the back seat of a car on a winding road on Gotland, window down, the sun just set in a pink sky, acoustic indie on the stereo. TikTok's #MainCharacter trend was all about living ordinary moments as if you were the lead in a film, which is exactly how filmmakers already see the world. I wrote the tagline “Make Main Character Moments” to work on three levels: a nod to an aesthetic young filmmakers know, a nudge to keep making films and live in the moment, and a promise that the festival is where they get the spotlight. The tone was romantic with a wink: funny enough that you smile at someone going all in on the moment, sincere enough that you want to do the same. I pitched it with a script, moodboard, storyboard and mockup, and shot in southern Norway. Then I edited and graded the vignette, a version for each film act, and the five trailers.

## The outcome

The vignette opened all six film acts, the opening night and the awards ceremony, and the five trailers ran on the festival's social channels in the run-up. The festival then invited me on stage for a 45-minute talk about why the message matters more than the title, and why prestige-free collaboration is how you get there.

## What people said

- “Deeply impressed by the first draft. Absolutely spot on.” (Novemberfestivalen, on the first cut (translated from Swedish))

## Films

- Full trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhTxaCWCeBI
- Trailer 1 of 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUTMBb-7ZXo
- Trailer 2 of 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZCyfsSrdxo
- Trailer 3 of 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWbJWjQVguc
- Trailer 4 of 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa6dt1WmySk
- Trailer 5 of 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpGSD3cyF8I

## Links

- Watch the full trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhTxaCWCeBI