I directed this TV commercial in Amsterdam some months ago and never shared it. Don’t ask me why, sometimes I’m sloooow with updates. This one was for NPO Radio 2, Dutch radio station. It was an intense job, but as always we pulled it through ; )
This project is a special one, because people (the client and the creatives) had faith to make quite an unusual commercial, and also because I was a part of the art direction team.
I suggest you first watch the video above, then scroll down for some behind-the-scenes photos.
While staying in Amsterdam a few weeks ago, I spontaneously went to a soprano concert at Het Concertgebouw, which is one of the world’s best concert halls. Since I’ve never been to a soprano concert before, and I don’t anything much about it, I didn’t know what to expect. Well, it turned out to be a very interesting experience.
When my friends and I excused ourselves to our seats a minute before the concert began, all the audience, who were 60 plus, glared at us with disapproval. I could sense that there’s an unspoken rules, which I was not aware of. Everyone cleared their throats at the same time, turned the program at the same time, clapped or not clapped at the same time. The soprano’s voice was beautiful, although I was more intrigued by the synchronized behavior of the audience.
The air was stiff and so as my throat. The whole second half of the concert, I had to restrain myself from coughing. When the moment came when everyone cleared their throats, I would miss my turn, and had to wait till the next moment, which I would miss again. In the midst of all this, I had a gut to take my phone out as discretely as possible and take a photo during the concert.
It may sound like I disliked this experience, but I really enjoyed this strange, out-of-place, uncomfortable experience. I’d definitely go again. I understand why young people won’t go to these concerts, but I think you should. It is nice to be out-of-place sometimes. And if you do, please share your experience with me ; )
I was in Amsterdam recently for a job and stayed at my producer’s house for the weekend. Yes, it is a boathouse. It’s at a quiet place surrounded by nature in Amsterdam north. Although Amsterdam north is becoming more and more popular, this neighborhood is still a well-kept secret. So I can’t tell you where this is ; )
I was there for work, but this felt like holiday.
And I got to stay with a big dog, Marley! A dream : )
Matisse is one of my favorite artist, so I was overly excited when I found out that there’s a big Matisse exhibition in Stedelijk Musem in Amsterdam while I was there a few weeks ago. It was a big exhibition dedicated to him, and I was lucky to see the show without a huge crowd.
Prior to this exhibition, I haven’t had a chance to see his big paper cut works in real life. So when I walked up to the second floor (which was dedicated to his paper cuts) and entered the big hall filled with his gigantic paper cuts, I was blown away. I was especially mesmerized by the details. The colors, the roughness in the cuts, the layering of the paper pieces… They were all very very very impressive and inspiring.
Across the street from MENDO, a well-know hip design/art bookstore in Amsterdam, there’s a down-to-earth small bookstore called BOEKIE WOEKIE. The shop celebrates books by artists. This cosy shop is full of zines, self-published books, small editions, hand-made books and special magazines. In fact, many of the books here are art pieces.
Once you go in, you can easily spend a good hour to scan all the little things in every little shelves. It became my regular stop every time I go to Amsterdam.
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Boekie Woekie (in nine streets) Berenstraat 16 1016 GH Amsterdam
I was in Amsterdam for two weeks for a V&D commercial shoot. It’s nice to direct, nice to be on set, nice to work with an awesome crew, nice to make something nice and nice to be in Amsterdam. If you have missed the previous post with the final films, here’s the link.
Here are some photos from the set. Some photos are from me, some from Michael (director of photography), some from Steve (production manager), and some from Thijs (production assistance). Thanks guys for sharing the photos with me : )
My monitor and my sketchbook.
First time shooting with handsome Arri.
This is me, trying to look productive ; )
Our cat model, working very hard.
One of the best part of being on set – awesome food.
I used to call Amsterdam my home for three and a half years before I moved to Paris. As much as I loved my time in Amsterdam, I got bored of its small-sized, cosiness of the city towards the end of my stay, and I chose to move to a bigger, rougher city. Although I moved away almost four years ago, for many different reasons, I can’t cut my ties with Amsterdam. I go back more often than not.
Every time I arrive at Amsterdam central station, I always let out a happy sigh. I always feel like I’ve returned home. Once I hop on a grandma bike borrowed from a friend, I feel like I own the city again. Especially this time around, despite all the biking under the rain during the two-week stay, I fell in love with Amsterdam all over again.
Would I move back to Amsterdam? Probably not. But I’ll always come back to my ‘second home’ time to time.
It became my ritual to get a small bucket of french fries at the train station before I hop on the train back to Paris : ) Do you have a ‘second home’?
I just finished making a director’s cut of the films I’ve directed for V&D in Amsterdam, Dutch department store all over the Netherlands. The work was loads of fun as it was full of DIY, gift wraps and holiday cosiness, but also intense since we had to realize two TV commercials and three online tutorial films in just a few weeks. You can see the complete credit list on my portfolio site.
So here are the final online tutorials. Hope you get inspired by these tutorials and turn your gift wrapping to an art form this holiday season ; )
And here is one of the TV commercials for the Sinterklaas season.
I was in Amsterdam for some meetings few months ago. I was in between meetings, and this cozy café inside Oude Kerk (the oldest church in Amsterdam) let me linger for a few hours. I believe these are the only photos I’ve taken during the whole trip.
and how are you.
I'm Jin Angdoo.
This is what I do. But here is a little more personal and casual place where I hope to share and meet like-minded people.
Welcome. Hope you stay awhile.
If you'd like to know a bit more about me and the blog, please read my very first post : )
And you can contact me here.