Girona Film Festival
The Challenge
The challenge with an established festival like that of the Girona Film Festival lies in finding a way to honor its rich heritage without compromising its ambitious, forward-looking spirit.
Furthermore, a festival is a place that houses multiple voices, multiple aesthetics, and the Girona Film Festival is one which does not discriminate based on genres. Therefore, we needed to create something that was not genre-bound.
“The director of the festival communicated to us that he had had a dream in which he heard a heartbeat playing before his movies.”
During the process of uncovering the sonic spirit of the Girona Film Festival, Lluís (the director of the festival) communicated to us that he had had a dream in which he heard a heartbeat playing before his movies. He said that he believed this to symbolize the individual hearts of each of the filmmakers who showed at the Festival.
The Process
To accommodate the weight of this project and tackle the challenges embedded in it properly, we set out to apply our process in the most intentional way possible. This meant that first, we dove deep into the festival’s visual identity. We found the bright red and gold color palette to symbolize the festival’s vibrant spirit.
Furthermore, we gathered insight on the festival’s philosophy. There was a strong emphasis on the idea of the first impulse. The philosophy of not second-guessing, of going with the first thought or first gesture. The first impulse is, in essence, about trusting the intuitive force that pulls us to an idea, a film, or in our case, a sound.
The Solution
After a series of iterations with our talented pool of producers, we landed on the ideal concept, by Joaquin Homero:
The audio logo is composed of a strong memorable melodic line played by a string instrument, which repeats twice, helping to anchor the logo in our minds. Secondly, you can hear a supporting piano which plays a simple counterpoint melody to give context to the string melody. And finally a single kick drum is played throughout the track symbolising the heartbeat heard in the Directors dream.
“Working with Sonic Minds has been one of the most inspiring and enriching experiences in the recent history of the Girona Film Festival.
From our very first meeting, their team demonstrated a deep understanding of the festival’s essence: an international platform dedicated to giving a voice to emerging creators, where every film, every story, and every silence has a purpose.”
Lluís Valentín, Director, Girona Film Festival
