"Wildfire"

11 January 2016

4 mins 33s

Questioning the nature of love

In 1997 a psychologist named Arthur Aron conducted an experiment designed to advance our understanding of the mechanics of human closeness. He devised a list of 36 personal questions which pairs of complete strangers were to ask each other, sitting on opposite sides of a small table; and these culminated in an instruction for them to gaze unwaveringly into each other's eyes for four minutes.

This process of opening up - over three sets of twelve questions gradually increasing in intimacy - became a thing in itself, with newspaper article headlines such as 'The 36 Questions That Lead To Love' (NY Times). Indeed, you've probably heard of the 'Love Quiz' as it became known, if you haven't actually tried it out yourself.

So someone was always going to look for a way to extend its reach - and that's the case here. Director Tom Clarkson has replicated the experiment (to a degree) for Seafret's 'Wildfire' promo, and it's compelling viewing.

Supers reveal some of the questions being asked and responded to, and the expressions and body language we witness are both touching and fascinating. The track itself doesn't massively engage us, but it's really fitting for the promo - in fact, it feels like it's been chosen to suit the clip rather than the clip being conceived for the music.

According to the info onscreen at the start, two of the original participants were married within six months. We're not told how everyone got on this time around, but judging by the interaction between some of the couples, we suspect a number of romances began as a result. It's a testament to the success of this promo that we're desperate to find out more.

UK

Promos