So, McBride, executive creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco and art director Eric King worked closely with Stefan Arni and Siggi Kinski of the Icelandic music and video collective to produce four spots, "Run," "Kiss," "Ride" and "Dance."

Gus Gus are represented in the US by Public Works, Santa Monica, CA and in Europe by London-based Tsunami. Their creative output can best be described as heavily techniqued art film meets Scandinavian-flavored electronica, as exhibited in Gus Gus videos and the films presented during their live performances.

Each spot uses stop motion-like visuals of mechanically moving young people sporting the high-tech threads. "Run" splices angled shots of a man and woman running through a Tokyo subway while "Dance" has an ecstatic young couple dancing on a rooftop before a Tokyo skyline, window light bleeding into the night sky. "Kiss" features a young couple (the man is actually Kinski) engaged in a passionate moment on a rocky Icelandic cliff, while "Ride" has another couple on a motorcycle, shot from every angle as they cross the barren Icelandic countryside. The mood evoked is one of organically processed motion, with the Gus Gus track "Lactic" remixed into four variations, adding to the feel that the spots are rhythmic glimpses into the lives of these young hipsters.

Calling the job a convergence of philosophy between Levi's and Gus Gus, McBride, a fan of the group's music and visual experimentation, says he was something of a go-between or facilitator between the two parties.

"I was like the justice of the peace in the whole ordeal, bringing [Levi's and Gus Gus] together as a creative observer," says McBride, explaining how Arni, Kinski and King were instrumental in making the campaign fly. "We all collaborated on the subject and story lines which are simply about watching something happen, a kiss or riding a motorcycle. We kept it simple so people can get drawn into the technique and organic movement."

The spots were shot by English DP Alex Barber using a Nikon F2 still camera, with the specific frames animated in three loop cycles to produce a rhythmic, locomotive feel, matching the tempo of the music. Arni says a Gus Gus concert McBride caught at Los Angeles' El Rey Theater inspired the collaboration.

"Chuck was able to refer to a certain film he had seen at our concert, "Remembrance," which had a hypnotic feeling and straightforward simplicity he could refer to when talking about the project. So we put down the new storyboards and came up with these situations from his comments," explains Kinski.

Arni articulates the mood conveyed by the four spots:

"Motion combined with a stoic, constant energy; smooth but powerful -- and I think the Icelandic ones possessed a calm beauty." Both directors credit the DP, Barber, with coolly dealing with natural and human obstacles.

"Lighting changes in Iceland all the time so it was very difficult. For example in "Kiss," one minute it wasn't snowing and then there was a bank of snow coming in from the sea so he had just two minutes to finish the shot," says Arni.