April 1st is known for two things: the day when all the jokers out there dust off their whoopee cushions to make April Fools of their family, friends and colleagues; and the day when the majority of Government and Non-Government Organisations in the UK get a big fat new budget to see them through the proceeding twelve months – which they’ll invariably spend by Christmas. So it’s no coincidence that our May issue features a bounty of nine executions from NGOs - and we've picked three animations from the pack that we think are worth talking about.
Amnesty International must have got a bigger slice of the charity pie than most, as they have commissioned two executions in their ongoing fight for human rights. We're sure many of you have seen or heard about their hard-hitting 'Stuff of Life' campaign but 'Torchure' is the one that really grabbed us. The idiosyncratic, cutesy, hand-drawn animation style of Sweetworld's Yasmeen Ismail juxtaposed against the harsh subject matter really packs a punch and expertly points out the uncomfortable relationship between the Olympics and Chinese human rights violations.
Amnesty International has had the distinct benefit of riding on the back of the Olympic juggernaut in order to highlight China's poor record on human rights. Burma, on the other hand, are unlikely to have any Olympic juggernaut riding through soon, but this dignified spot for the website noneofusarefree.org quietly and effectively makes the point that 'None of us are free (while one of us is chained)'. This time the animation is computer generated and from expert stylus wielders Shilo, who give the ad an almost poetic feel. Nobody could have predicted just how prophetic it would prove to be as within weeks of its release Cyclone Nargis wreaked havoc and the world's attention was drawn to the military junta's unjust rule of the beleaguered country.
Christian Aid (also pre-Cyclone Nargis) has shown the positive work that can be done in developing countries like Burma after disaster strikes. Using the example of the charity's work in Honduras after last year's Hurricane Felix, SHOP London has employed the services of 2AM and pixel art pioneers eBoy to spearhead this year's campaign. The result is a positive and uplifting spot that shows in an extremely effective computer game style (complete with bouncy 8-bit music) the great work that the charity do in the developing world. We liked it so much that the May issue of The Reel will feature a gorgeous eBoy cover.
