To say the Snorri Brothers are innovative and experimental is by no means to indulge in hyperbole. Their visual style is unparalled and they approach their work holistically, composing the music and performing the cuts, resulting in a total Snorri package.

What makes the Snorris' work unique is how their film is crafted. Individual frames or photographs are combined in a collage to make one shot. Most often, a pivotal focus remains centered while the background rapidly changes.

Signed to Stink in the UK and Smuggler in the US, the Snorri Brothers - Einar and Eidur - have been directing since 1998. Natives of Iceland, the pair followed a photography career to the US in '97. They shot a fantastic video for REM's "Daysleeper" in 1998 that combined 10,800 stills; have pioneered a body-mounted camera called the Snorri-Cam; worked on Hummer and Kenneth Cole this summer; have shot promos for Simple Minds and Brit band The Streets, and spots for Polaroid, Radio One Holland and Benetton among others. And in 1999, the Snorris were featured on the Saatchi & Saatchi New Director's Showcase.

However, their intensely specific style - and way of working - has kept them from exploding into the mainstream. But the Snorris are also busy with a screenplay, a flip book and music.

"We've always been too out there, and only a few people go for our style," says Einar. "We want to keep total control. We are a bit hard for people who want to control us. But people come to us because they want our style."

"We like when we're not selling anything, but are promoting a feeling or concept," adds Eidur. "Our commercials exist in different layers."

Recently, Boston-based Modernista! went for their style for the launch of Hummer's H2 (see Boards, Sept. 2002) - with mixed results. "We shot Hummer in a specific way and had strong ideas as to the editing," says Einar, stating that though they're grateful for the opportunity, it didn't turn out as they planned.

With Kenneth Cole, however, the music, shoot and edit were all in their hands. A split-screen New York love story compiled from digital photographs, the spot for Cole fragrance, New York, allowed the Snorris to do what they do best, which is, according to Eidur, make magic.

"When the sound and image are on the same wavelength, the results are always stronger," adds Einar.

As for future commercial work: "[Agencies] come to us because we are different and they give us a lot of freedom," says Einar, "but we want to get [the right] feel from the client and the agency beforehand. We'll be more careful in the future, and not only for us, but for the client as well."

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