New Director: Christian Schilling

What makes an ad stand out? You may think it’s the idea or the way that it’s brought to life that’s important, but just as vital is the spot’s relevance to the brand.

This year’s first prize-winner in the Classical category at the Porsche International Student Advertising Film Awards, Christian Schilling, captured the jury’s hearts with his Kill the Noise spec spot for Ohropax earplugs because it successfully married the brand to the ad. While on holiday by the Baltic Sea, searching for inspiration to complete his summer holiday homework ahead of his second year, the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg student came across the noise protection product tucked away in his washbag. “The core of the product itself inspired me,” Schilling says. “Ohropax is such an unremarkable but convenient product. I loved the simplicity of it. Furthermore, the everyday life and habits of humans inspires me.”

Intrigued by the fact that most people have at some point been driven mad by annoying noises, Schilling brainstormed ideas with his tutor on how to revive the brand – initially coming up with the slogan ‘Kill the Noise’, before developing the idea “of a woman, who wants to kill her husband because of the noises he makes”. Chewing with his mouth open, loudly licking fingers to turn newspaper pages, spluttering, snoring and slurping… no noise was too small or subtle to include.

As the spec was part of the Directing Commercials module at the school, the budget was obviously limited. Schilling had seen actor Max Reimann star in other student films and thought that he could play the husband perfectly. “I was looking for someone with a likeable charisma but at the same time, a dishevelled appearance,” Schilling admits. “Sorry for that Max!”

The shoot took place locally – “to keep transport costs low” – and the thrifty team found an empty house in a village near Ludwigsburg after a month’s search. The project took four months to complete, with the shoot itself lasting just three days –a miracle considering the complicated shots captured, like when the camera zooms out of the husband’s snoring pie hole or when the wife slices the hard-boiled egg precisely in half. But this was all down to producer Christian Arnold’s meticulous organisation and the fact that Schilling had planned every shot.

“One of my other passions besides writing and directing, is editing,” he says. “It’s in the editing room where all your thoughts come together and start to make sense.”

For Schilling, he realises that today’s directors need to be versatile and able to oversee the entire production process – from storytelling, image capturing, sound and music. And it seems he’s very capable of doing it all, considering how many times his name crops up in the credits.

But it’s the magic that happens on-set that keeps him most excited and switched on. “Something unexpected will happen while you’re shooting and you’ll have to find a solution in minutes. I hope I will find myself in this situation regularly.”