Virtuosos as they are, their three films tell short stories within 40 seconds of people and the individual fates they find in hotels – sad to say, they don’t always end that well for the protagonists… Conclusion: They should have asked TRIVAGO. Trivago knows simply everything, at least about hotels. Hanna Maria and Alex show us an infatuated bellboy, a small kid with a few screws loose, and a gullible hotel owner. We have all three spots and stills for you on GoSee: the perfect occasion for a GoSee Quest.
How was the Trivago campaign made? Frank Lambertz, Creative Director at Trivago, came to us mid-December, 2014 and asked, if we could imagine creating a campaign for Trivago. Frank himself is a filmmaker and gave us a lot of rope to decide which way to go for the creation – and of course we said yes, working under our creative writing label DIE RABAUKEN.
We contemplated at first, which identity and strategy would be best for Trivago in the long run. The result was an image campaign, in which we tried to show how self-ironic and smart Trivago is as a hotel specialist. Trivago tells in three exaggerated larger-than-life, bizarre and mystical stories which hardly anyone has experienced – except for Trivago. The slogan "How do we know? We know everything about hotels" is the recurring tongue-in-cheek point, that ends the stories.
Three spots, three locations... how do you prepare for this? With little sleep and much energy ☺) No, seriously, normally we direct separately. But in this case – very short-notice, three films in various historic periods had to be done simultaneously – it was very helpful, that there were two of us and that we could share the work. Rainer Spix in production was a great help. And also that Trivago trusted us completely, that made our job a lot easier.
Why exactly these three cities? The films will be broadcast worldwide in many different markets. That's why it was important to create a campaign that was as international as possible, one that works as a series, which can be continued in other cities in the future.
And especially these three cities inspired us! Of course, we toy with clichés in the films: the secretive bank robber in southern Italy, the love story of a bell-boy and a princess in New York or the "badass" ghost hunter in Bangkok. The films do not take themselves seriously – exactly like the campaign claim "We know all about hotels,"… and exactly that makes the campaign so charming.
How deeply are you involved in the filming part? Down to the very last detail (cast, looks, locations …)? Of course, we had a clear vision of how we wanted the films to be, and we invested a lot of time trying to illustrate for our partners, how we imagined the moods and film scenes, how we pictured the locations, the set design, the looks and the acting. We absolutely wanted to put across the exaggeration note in the film and, as we all know, sometimes words are not enough, pictures and film scenes are much more expressive.
Even though we both love detail, and we always try to get inspired by the local crews and encourage them to contribute a bit of their own imagination, instead of just giving us what we envisioned. That makes working together much more fun – and especially while filming in Bangkok where we were absolutely knocked out by the visual strength of the stylists and Art Directors.
Keyword – Directing Team: Team work vs. elbowing for the say in things? We have been together for 10 years and we have worked together conceptually for a long time now. Most of the time, we direct separately. And it's a great change for us to work as a duo each time. We simply love to work together and how we can push each other up to higher and higher creative levels, question things we wouldn't have thought of ourselves and help each other. Finally, you get much more done in much shorter a time.
What would you say is your typical "signature" during a project? Clearly our storytelling. Human, emotional stories, which hopefully have the power to open doors in the heads of the audience – that's our goal, and where we think our strength lies.
What sticks with you after a shoot like this? Above all, it's the people we meet, sincerely.
Direction by GoSee premium member DBC – Driven by Creatives representative Hanna Maria & Alex.
Credits - We know everything about hotels . Film Titles: "Italy", "Bangkok", "New York". Client: Trivago GmbH . Trivago Creative Director: Frank Lambertz. Production: Rainer Spix. Producer: Boris Reichmuth. Executive Producer: Rainer Spix. Idea, script & creative directors: Die Rabauken . Directors: Alex Eslam & Hanna Maria Heidrich. DoP: Stephan Burchardt. Editor: Friedemann Schmidt. Music: schnack.music manufacture (Philipp Noll & Axel Huber). Music Title: "Trivago - Wir wissen alles über Hotels". Gema-Numbers: Philipp Noll (260 089) & Axel Huber (598 741). Sounddesign & Mix: Hofkapellmeister (Sebastian Müller). VFX: Liga01
Grading: Marcus Bow Badow. German Speaker: Philipp Moog. English Speaker: Gerry O’Brien. Service Production Company ("Italy" and "New York" Film): Metropolis Film, Montevideo . Costume Design: Tata Lusich
Set Design: Mariana Rivero. "Italy" Actors: Little Luca: Nicolas Fernandez, Old Luca: Ricardo Chabot, Gangster 1: Ricardo Villasante, Gangster 2: Cesar Moreira, New York Actors: Princess: Florencia Macchiarola, Bellboy: Juan Pablo Burgos . Service Production Company (Bangkok Film): Lime Production, Bangkok . Costume Design: Phuwanet Phumithawon . Set Design: Wiroj Hongsunirundon. Bangkok Actors: Ghostbuster 1: Kittiwut Suanta,
Ghostbuster 2: Tatpicha Saridara
About - TRIVAGO, the world’s largest hotel search. trivago’s hotel search allows users to compare hotel prices with just a few clicks from over 200 booking sites for more than 700,000 hotels worldwide. More than 80 million travelers use the hotel comparison monthly and save up to 39 percent for the same hotel room , in the same city. trivago.com
