The Reel Opinion: Eric Quennoy

Thankfully nobody expressed feelings of utter disgust or horror at last month’s inaugural Guest Editor feature, with RKCR/Y&R’s Damon Collins. In fact we had a very positive response, so, as promised, we’ve brought it back for its regular monthly slot – and we’ve even given it a proper name! This time we’ve gone for an international feel with Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam’s Eric Quennoy offering his view on five recent ads of note.

Eric Quennoy
Creative Director Wieden + Kennedy

Specsavers ' Eerie'

Agency: Specsavers, Glasgow

Production: Rattling Stick, London

Director: Daniel Kleinman

What's that thing about a long walk for a short glass of water? A young boy loses his ear at the barber and a woman can't quite finish shoving her dead husband's leg down the Insinkerator because some arsehole - who forgot to change his specs - has accidentally cut the town's power supply by chopping down telegraph poles. This man doesn't need glasses, he needs professional help. Maybe parenthood has made me soft, but I don't want any part of this sad world or its cheap spectacles.

Amnesty International 'Stuff of Life'

Agency: Drugstore, London

Production: Dark Fibre, London

Director: Marc Hawker

Speaking of a short glass of water, this spot shows us a full 50 seconds of gorgeously filmed water shots followed by 5 seconds of gruesome water torture. I understand that sometimes it's nice to disarm the viewer, dupe them into thinking their watching something light and cool, before giving them a big sucker-punch to the nose. In this case, I’m not so sure. The final water torture scene is so powerfully real and horrific as it is that I think it would have just as much impact as a ten second spot.

Drench 'Brains'

Agency: CHI, London

Production: Rattling Stick, London

Director: Ringan Ledwidge

I’ve never worked on a brief for bottled water but I can imagine it’s a planner’s worst nightmare. In this case we get the brainy dude from the Thunderbirds busting some moves under the influence of Drench Spring Water. I laughed on several occasions and rather enjoyed the puppetry until finally, we bear witness to the planner’s desperation: Brains perform best when hydrated. Well at least it’s something for the creatives to riff on, if not in any way differentiating, but shouldn’t the brainy guy then be doing something brainy?

Orange 'Rewind City'

Agency: Publicis Conseil / WAM, Paris

Production: Rattling Stick, London / WANDA, Paris

Director: Ringan Ledwidge

What’s not to like about this spot? It’s beautifully shot, well cast, full of charming little moments and delivers the message clearly. Some cynics may suggest it’s a bit too sweet, but I like the fact that the creatives resisted doing something needlessly whacked out in favour of giving us a simple, well made little feel-good story.

Philips 'Karis'

Agency: DDB, London

Production: Sonny, London

Director: Fredrik Bond

It was a matter of time before someone decided to use a tranvestite/transexual for a feminine beauty product. To the credit of all those involved, this spot is tastefully shot and doesn’t feel remotely exploitative. My problem is more with the messaging. I’m not quite sure, but is this shaver for freakishly hairy women? Also, is it generally accepted that all men are ‘not great with pain’. I know I’m not, but Andre the Giant sure could take it.

NewsReel 13/06/08

There will be no newsletter next week as we take a break for Cannes, but keep checking the blog for news and updates from Reel Co-Editors Jamie and Chris in Cannes. And, as always, please send any news and press releases to sam@thereel.net and we'll do our best to include it here, when we're back as usual the week after.

Red Bee and Red CWe’re sure that they were won over by the high quality of their output rather than the fact that they have ‘Red’ in their name but it does seem a funny coincidence that CCTV, the national state TV network of Communist China has appointed Red Bee Media as an official creative and production partner for their coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

In a true first for the Chinese broadcaster, Red Bee won a global pitch to create and produce the main opening title sequence for CCTV’s flagship Olympic programming and around 300 information graphics. The largest TV network in the world will beam Red Bee’s work into up to 380-million households – no pressure then. In the spirit of the Olympics, a truly multinational team, including specialist broadcast designers and graphic systems developers from Germany, France, China and the UK will be working on the project, and Andy Bryant, Director of Red Bee’s creative business back in London said, ‘This win symbolises the coming of age for Red Bee Media as a truly global creative player. Our expertise creating award-winning identities for some of the world’s leading broadcasters has been recognised on a global scale by CCTV and we are delighted to have been entrusted with such a high profile project.’

McClammy is a f***king Hungryman
Wayne McClammy, the director behind the hilarious (and star-studded) YouTube smashes ‘I’m F***king Matt Damon’ and its follow-up ‘I’m F***ing Ben Affleck’ has signed with Hungry Man for commercial representation. McClammy remains writer and comedy segment director on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ and director on ‘The Sarah Silverman Program’ for Comedy Central. He is also in pre-production to direct the new 20th Century Fox comedy ‘Comedy School’.

Corbett gets a new Identity

Former agency copywriter Scott Corbett has been added to the directorial roster at Identity. Corbett’s most recent work, for PETA, has a sumptuous filmic look and highlights the inhumane treatment of KFC’s chickens. Owner and Executive Producer at Identity Joe Masi is a big fan of the director’s work, ‘The look of his film, his casting, and his ability to tell a story all worked so well together. Scott is very well rounded, and his sense of comedy is unlike many others. His ability is much broader than just comedy as his film has such a diverse, wide range.’

Wiggins in at Fallon
Fallon Minneapolis Executive Creative Director Al Kelly announced earlier this week that he has rehired Chris Wiggins as Creative Director. Kelly said, ‘Chris is joining us as a Creative Director with extensive interactive experience. He’s a great thinker, and he’s very articulate. We’re glad to have him back.’ Wiggins left his last stint at Fallon in 2005, when he moved to Zaaz in Seattle, subsequently leaving his post as Creative Director to jointly found Zeus Jones.

Brimo signed to Epoch
Epoch Films has signed Wilfrid Brimo for representation in the US and UK. Brimo fell into directing when he was signed to Wanda, Paris, as Creative Director of their graphics department in 2000, getting ‘completely addicted to live action and the magic of storytelling’ when he was forced to stand in for an absentee director on a shoot. He is currently among the top four internationally awarded directors in French advertising, achieving plaudits and award en masse, including a Gold and Silver Cannes, for his brilliant trio of animated films for Aides Aids awareness in 2005-2007. He is represented in all other markets by Wanda, Paris.

A No-brainer for Elnino
Elnino has signed directorial quartet Nobrain for French representation. Their award-winning talents combining animation, graphic design and live action have been applied to advertising campaigns for the likes of Pepsi and Citroen, and an MTV Award nominated music videos for No Found Glory.

Venville goes to the movies
Therapy Films’ acclaimed director Malcolm Venville is currently taking time off from commercials work to film his first feature. ’44-inch Chest’ from the writers of ‘Sexy Beast’ (YES, YES, YES, YES it’s Louis Mellis and David Scinto) features an all-star cast that includes Ray Winstone, Tom Wilkinson, John Hurt, Ian McShane, Stephen Dillane and non-other than Steven Berkoff (who is completely idolised by The Reel’s Co-Editor Jamie Madge).

Shooting is due to finish in mid July, when Venville will resume commercials directing, the film is scheduled for release in 2009.

Picture perfect
On Tuesday evening The Reel were present in the belly of The Soho Hotel to see The Picture Production Company Group (PPC) announce that it will be working closely with technology giant Philips to supply media content for their revolutionary Philips 3D WOWvx displays. We watched in awe as 3D images propelled their way towards us without the aid of those irritating green and red glasses and wondered at the possible implications of the new technology: ambient advertising being the most immediate, but home viewing and computer gaming surely not far behind. For more information go to www.theppc.com

Get Bugged
There are still tickets left for the BUG Massive Attack Special on 19th June. The show celebrating the incredible catalogue of Massive Attack videos is scheduled to coincide with the band’s role as Art Directors of this year’s Meltdown Festival.
The night will be hosted by the regular host Adam Buxton. To book tickets go to the BFI website or call 020 7928 3232.

On the radar
The first completed commission from RadarMusicVideos.com, the new social networking site that gives filmmakers worldwide the chance to pitch for music videos, has just gone online where it has secured front pages on YouTube and Daily Motion. ‘28 Costumes’, the band who commissioned the video for £500, are ecstatic. ‘We're really happy with the video, Will and George (the filmmakers) were great to work with and we're over the moon about the coverage we're getting, it's amazing.’

This innovative new approach to the business-end of music videos has certainly got off to a promising start. Current briefs on the site include the new Futureheads video, and budgets ranging from £500 - £5,000. For more information go to: www.radarmusicvideos.com