The ‘First Kiss’ video was filmed in less than a day.
It is a beautifully executed black and white film of 20 strangers kissing for the first time and was inspired by photographs taken by the late, great photographer, Richard Avedon, of people kissing.
The short film clip by filmmaker Tatia Pilieva, portrays the excitement, anticipation and awkwardness of that first kiss. It is actually very moving in an unexpected way and has caught the imagination of viewers, generating millions of youtube views and social media shares in the past 24 hours.
However, in reality the video is an ad for LA fashion company Wren. Melissa Coker, founder of Wren, and Tatia Pilieva thought it would be ingenious to capture complete strangers in the act. Coker said that she likes to create concepts that have a value of their own: ‘I don’t want to see any close-ups on shoes or skirts, or boring things like that.’
Several musicians, actors and models star in the film and noone knew they were going to be kissing until they turned up. All the women wear Wren clothing, but there is hardly any emphasis on the brand. The result is a candid display of human interaction -most couples start off awkwardly, most of them are really lovely and most surprisingly, seem genuine. Some pull up close and seem truly smitten, kissing passionately. At times, it is really moving. It ends with one of the female stars asking: ‘Do we make out more?’
Coker is keen to point out that this was not a carefully masterminded marketing campaign. The video of the first kiss has gone viral and ultimately this is a positive thing for her company ‘We are a tiny label’ she says. They have three employees. ‘It’s a very noisy world out there, so I want to make things that are different and interesting and a more creative way to tell our story.’
If you would like to see the video of the first kiss, click on: