What it had to solve
Reignite awareness of the National Art Pass and remind people of the power and proximity of art — written specifically for cinema, using its sound, screen and space to cut through advertising noise with tranquillity.
The idea
A 60-second film built like a slide carousel: slide apertures move slowly and deliberately, giving cinema audiences a sensory tour of UK art spaces.
How it works
Scenes were captured honestly: a blind visitor enjoying an audio installation was cast with a regular attendee of the Tate's visually impaired programme and filmed with the Tate's accessibility officer on set. MullenLowe led creative, Mediahub handled media, with Academy Films, The Post Arm, The Quarry and Jungle Studios on production.
What it did
Launched in cinemas in December 2021 as a love letter to galleries about being back in those spaces after lockdown, positioned to entice film fans to experience museums in the real world with a National Art Pass.
Background
In December 2021 MullenLowe Group UK launched 'Slideshow', a cinema ad for Art Fund written specifically for the medium — designed to use cinema's sound, screen and space to remind people of the power and proximity of art, not by filling every inch but by using tranquillity to cut through advertising noise.
The 60-second film takes viewers on a sensory tour through a cross-section of museums, galleries and historic houses where the benefits of a National Art Pass can be enjoyed. Creative directors Bronwyn Sweeney and Loren Cook asked what they would want to sit back and watch in a cinema — a captive audience, a massive screen and better sound than most homes — and made the whole ad behave like a teaser trailer for art spaces.
The film is explicitly about the human experience of being back in galleries after months of lockdown. Diversity, inclusion and accessibility were built into the craft: the scene of a blind visitor enjoying an audio installation was cast with a regular attendee of the Tate's visually impaired programme and filmed with the Tate's accessibility officer on set to ensure accuracy.
Why it lands
Cinemas had just reopened; an audience sitting in the dark was the exact emotional target for a film about missing physical spaces.
Against loud cinema advertising, a slow, tranquil film stood out precisely by refusing to shout.
The National Art Pass is about visiting many venues, so a cross-section tour of venues mirrors how the product works.
Casting a real attendee of the Tate's visually impaired programme, with the accessibility officer on set, made the inclusion on screen factual rather than decorative.
What you can take
Cutting through does not always mean louder: in a captive cinema, quiet and slowness can be the intrusion — and accessible, honest casting turns a claim of inclusion into a verifiable one.
Since then
'Slideshow' launched in cinemas in December 2021. Art Fund marketing director Carolyn Young said the agency had captured the enriching, unexpected and moving experiences museums and galleries offer, and hoped the film would inspire people to return to visiting — enjoying and supporting those places across the UK with the National Art Pass.
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