Burberry 'Open Spaces’ Fall 2021 Ad Campaign

Review of Burberry ‘Open Spaces’ Fall 2021 Ad Campaign by Creative and Film Directors Megaforce and Photographer Ewen Spencer with models Xiaoyi Liu, Charlotte Samaroo, Joshua Smith, & Ben Loade

Burberry takes flight in a gorgeous and moving new campaign for Fall 2021. The campaign sees the brand once again partner with Megaforce, the creative and film group behind its brilliant Holiday 2020 campaign (and The Impression Award Winner for Best Branded Film of 2020). Titled “Open Spaces,” the new campaign features a similarly inventive combination of physical movement-based performance and CGI wizardry.

Opening with a Tarantino-esque trunk shot, the film follows a group of young friends who rise early for a day of exploring the natural beauty of the countryside. As a strong breeze blows over a wheat field, they discover an ability to tap into the power of the wind, and they take to the skies with joyful elegance. We see them glide like kites over the waves of grain, dance through the air between a forest’s trees, skim over a lake, and finally going beyond the edge of a cliff to hang over the sea far below.

Rather than relying on any simple Superman-like flying or tired CGI tricks, it is the physical performances of the film’s stars that make it so beautiful. Their acrobatic, dance-like performances while suspended in air are quite moving, and, working together with the special effects team, they find incredibly inventive ways to explore the possibilities of height and flight. The fluttering strings and electronics of avant-garde composer and musician Ryan Lott’s soundtrack beautifully emphasize the dance-like quality of the film and its movement.

While through most of the film the stars are exploring the air and their motion through it together but separately, the film ends with a strong moment of unity as they come together in a sort of aerial group hug. It’s a smart way to put an emotive punctuation on a cinematic experience that feels uplifting but abstract, closing the film with a positive image of power, togetherness, and endless possibility.

It’s exciting to see the creative partnership between Burberry and Megaforce continue. The previous collaborative campaign felt like a groundbreaking synthesis of human touch and technology the likes of which we hadn’t really seen before, and this campaign pushes the partnership even further.