Intel and Toshiba follow up the social success that was “The Inside Experience” with “The Beauty Inside” – an online film out of Pereira & O’Dell and B-Reel, directed by Drake Doremus.

 

 

The episodic film is about Alex, a twenty-something who lives in Los Angeles and restores antiques. Sounds pretty bland, until you discover his affliction: he wakes up every day with a new physical appearance – something that has been happening throughout his whole life.

 

Just like the “The Inside Experience”, the online campaign has a strong social component and stars Topher Grace, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and dozens of ordinary fans (both male and female) who auditioned via webcam to help portray the protagonist, Alex. 

 

As the main character’s appearance continues to change over the course of the film, multiple people will be chosen to play him and auditions, which can be submitted via the project’s Facebook page, will continue until the the project ends on 20 September.

 

In a recent interview, Pereira & O’Dell co-founder and chief creative officer, PJ Pereira, told Lürzer’s Archive that “The Beauty Inside” was the best digital and integrated campaign to come out of the agency.

 

“Because it is a big, innovative project that is centred on a beautiful love story – the struggle of a young man Alex to find love given his unique “condition”: he wakes up every day in a different body.”

 

“That premise allowed us to ask anyone to take their webcam and be Alex for a day, which created a totally new film-making and film-watching experience. But that’s just a little detail next to the story itself and people are loving it. A lot of the comments on Facebook and YouTube are that consumers would pay to watch this. It’s quite incredible!”

 

“Every little detail has to be invented, and most of them are invented live while the project is happening.”

 

Drake Doremus, whose film Like Crazy won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year, was chosen to direct.  The film was shot in a week in Los Angeles and edited to allow gaps for the fan clips, which are being woven into episodes.

 

Unlike its predecessor, which had a dark tone befitting of the thriller genre, “The Beauty Inside” would most likely be found in the ‘romance’ section of your DVD rental store if it was released.

 

The campaign features the Toshiba Portege Ultrabook, which Alex will carry and use as a “personal journal” throughout the story. Fans in webcam recordings have been scattered throughout, that are presented as Alex’s video diaries to himself.  The first episode of the film gave viewers the chance to interact with Alex via social networks.

 

Video: Intel & Toshiba “The Beauty Inside”. Episode 1: “Hello My Name is Alex”

 

Video: Intel & Toshiba “The Beauty Inside”. Episode 2: “Leah”

 

Carry on watching the episodes on the project’s YouTubechannel | Want to know more about Pereira & O’Dell? Read the interview with PJ Pereira.