Nokia's Everyday

When Swedish director, Gustav Johansson, was given an open brief by Nokia, he chose to create another day in the week! Gustav talks about his concept of a day in the week especially for us. A day he calls ‘Everyday’. Shot in the most northern parts of Sweden, this film takes you into a surreal dream of possibilities.

"Nokia contacted me with this very simple brief to create a short film about ‘Everyday Adventures’. The brief that went with it was open and free for me to interpret. So when I started to think of a concept and wrote down all of the days of the week, the idea that there should be another day in the week suddenly came to me. I love to see the beauty in small things, so the idea of having another day to admire the beauty of things, I found very romantic."

“When I started to think about the word ‘Everyday,’ and how it sounded like the other days of the week, it was obvious that an extra day should be called ‘Everyday!’ I started to think of all of the things you could do with this extra day. As I did so, the script for this film seemed to simply write itself. I have always thought that was the sign of a good idea - when it just writes itself like this one did.”

“The way the actors, Amie Henriksson and Daniel Nilsson Maki explore the day in their own minds, makes this film feel very natural and free from direction. I especially like the part in the film where Daniel points out that it’s just an extra days and that they can’t travel too far! The relationship between Amie and Daniel was so strong that I was keen not to bring in extra characters. This film was always going to be about them, and what they would each do with this extra day. The whole film developed this almost dreamlike feel to it, which I enjoyed.”

“I like to look at people as a person and not as actors, when I am directing. I like to cast personalities rather than cast actors, if you know what I mean. I am not a big fan of creating too much of the character for them. I would rather find that character at the casting level rather than telling them what to do when I am directing. This allows for an authentic personality to come through the camera lens in the end. I think this is the way it worked in shooting ‘Everyday’.

“I like to look at people as a person and not as actors, when I am directing”

“Casting ‘Everyday’ was a very interesting casting process because we used friends of the assistant director, who was helping me with the casting. We obviously had a casting session here in Stockholm, but in the end we decided on Amie and Daniel based on their webcam recordings. They both lived in a different part of Sweden, so I could not meet them in person. I just had to go with my instinct. The first time I actually met them both was at the airport at Luleå in Northern Sweden where we were shooting. I was a bit nervous at first doing it this way, but these two actors felt right to me. I felt a real connection with them as people, and I think you need this connection when directing something like ‘Everyday’.”

“The opening sequence is shot in Sweden’s most nothern city called Kiruna. The light there is so magical and perfect. There is something really special about it, which can be hard to explain. The days during the winter are so short and in the summer the sun never sets, so sunlight has a very special meaning in this part of the world.”

“A location guy here in Kiruna, has some great stories to tell, which people elsewhere in the world find hard to believe. He told us that in winter, that he and his family have ‘sun lunches’. Their family’s kitchen faces east and catches the sun for the one hour that it is up in January.  So the whole family cooks their meal, they sit down at the table, and then wait for the sun to arrive. I first heard this story while I was up here shooting a TV commercial a year ago and this idea really struck with me. I found it so beautiful that I wanted to use it in something like it ‘Everyday’.”

“In the end, ‘Everyday’ is a dream about something we would all love to have: another day in the week especially for us. When I wrote this, I wanted it to be personal. I wanted to show the moment where Amie and Daniel were deciding what they would do with this new day. I think this film really achieves this dream.”

Credits

Director

Gustav Johansson

Writer

Gustav Johansson

DOP

Niklas Johansson

Producer

Erik Torell

Production Company

Camp David

Colorist

Mike Cosola

Design

Albin Holmqvist

Agency

Nokia Brand Studio

Artists

Gustav Johansson

Gustav talks about directing music videos and films, and winning Cannes at only 22 yrs.

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Location

Kiruna, Sweden