You Won’t See Another Super Bowl Ad Like This One

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos teamed up yet again with famous actor Emma Stone for what is very likely to be the only Super Bowl commercial this year shot on 35mm Kodak 2302 black and white film stock with Panavision lenses.

The new, beautiful black-and-white ad campaign was shot for Squarespace and centers on Stone’s efforts to register emmastone.com, a domain that was, unfortunately and expectedly, already in use.

The multi-part advertisements follow Stone’s journey to reclaim a piece of her digital identity, leveraging the high-contrast Kodak 2302 film stock, which is often used for printing and very rarely as a camera negative. Kodak 2302 has a very slow speed, strong contrast, and very fine film grain. Mathieu Zarbatany, Group Creative Director at Squarespace, tells PetaPixel that the team chose Kodak 2302 for its rich tonal structure and distinct texture.

For the two-time Oscar-winning Stone, the ad campaign is not entirely an act.

“This commercial is based on true events. Having the opportunity to play myself in my own home was a joy and a memory I won’t soon forget, despite the pain that came rushing back. Thank you Squarespace for honoring my experience,” Stone says.

She is no stranger to working with Lanthimos. The two are very frequent collaborators, working together most recently on Bugonia, Kinds of Kindness, and perhaps most famously, the beautifully shot Poor Things in 2023, which PetaPixel has written about numerous times. Actually, Lanthimos is a pretty regular name on PetaPixel, as the filmmaker is not just a talented photographer himself, but also a massive fan of 35mm film.

For Bugonia, Lanthimos used the full 3:2 aspect ratio of 35mm film, which is a very unusual choice in Hollywood. He is also playing with aspect ratio norms in the new series of advertisements for Squarespace, having shot them in open gate 4:3 aspect ratio on an Arri 235 with Panavision Primo lenses.

“We shot everything in open gate at a 4×3 aspect ratio to preserve as much vertical information as possible. That extra height gives us more flexibility and a stronger sense of presence in the frame. We are releasing the work in that original format, including the negative film frame borders, so the audience experiences the material as it was captured rather than a cropped or adapted version,” explains Zarbatany.

There will be many interesting, well-shot ads airing during the Super Bowl tonight. For many, the commercials are even more exciting than the game. However, despite what is sure to be a healthy mix of funny, poignant, and cinematic ads, it’s a very safe bet that none will look quite like Lanthimos’ new Squarespace ads.


Image credits: Squarespace, Yorgos Lanthimos