Cannes 2008
The advertising community descended to the French coast once more this year for the usual heady mix of creativity, infidelity, nominations, awards and excess. 9,500 delegates (not including press and other hangers on) from over 85 countries travel for the week in the sun that can make or break peoples respective careers. In its 55th year Cannes doesn’t seem like its going to slow down, on the contrary, with the new addition of the design lion award, it looks like its picking up the pace.
More importantly for us, this years Cannes saw the expansion of the all conquering Film Lions category. The category saw the inclusion of filmic work that was not simply for terrestrial broadcast and included films created for the internet, mobile content, outdoor solutions and the current industry fave buzz-word-new-cool-we-love-it-lets-have-its-babies: Branded Content.
Winners
You know the drill, Phil the Goril(la) and Halo 3 won the Grand Prix and a whole lot of other top spots were awarded for their greatness. A full list of the winners can be seen on the official website, but we thought we’d give you the lowdown on the Reel’s take. Thankfully, our lucky subscribers have already been privy to the lion’s (excuse the pun) share of the work on our monthly shiny DVDs and website – and in the upcoming Cannes Special featuring our choice picks – but while you’re here why not check out our own awards:
Spot So Funny We Watched It Twice Then Forwarded It To Anyone We Knew With Eyes And A Sense Of Humour – Skittles ‘Touch’ - TBWA\Chiat\Day / New York (Gold winner)
Best For Boys Who Want To Be A Footy Player – Nike ‘Next Level’ – 72andSunny / El Segundo (Gold Winner)
Ad That Made Us Reassess The Filmic Cannon Of Its Director – Nike ‘Next Level’ – 72andSunny / El Segundo (Gold Winner)
Most Impressive Use Of A Giant Charlie Brown Inflatable – Coca Cola ‘It’s Mine’ – Wieden+Kennedy / Portland (Silver Winner)
Ad We Thought Was Aces From The Second We Saw An Unfinished Cut – ChoiceFM ‘Kill The Gun’ – AMV BBDO / London (Silver Winner)
Spot That Made Us Cry Like Big Girlies Despite Us All Being Big Manly Men – Orange ‘Rewind TV’ – Publicis Conseil / Paris (Bronze Winner)
Most Money Spent On Dominoes – Guinness ‘Tipping Point’ – AMVBBDO / London (Bronze Winner)
Coolest Car-cussion – VW Golf ‘Enjoy The Everyday’ – DDB / London (Bronze Winner)
Prettiest Girl In An Ad – Philips ‘Karis’ – DDB / London (Bronze Winner)
Saatchi’s Directors Showcase
The Saatchi’s director showcase is always a benchmark event for us at The Reel, and one that always divides opinion and sparks heated debate. This year’s showcase was kicked off with a rather bizarre piece of physical theatre from Argentinian group “Fuerzabruta”. Depicting the life of a creative (who gets shot, flies around a bit, runs through walls and has a supremely violent management meeting) the theatre piece, whilst very good and certainly enthralling some members of the crowd, generally had us in a state of confusion – were we going to see any directors work!!?
Our pining for celluloid was sated when the curtain closed on Fuerzabruta and lifted for a glut of brilliant pieces with highlights from the fantastic BLU (look earlier on the blog for this unmatched piece of genius) a 3D wonder from Encyclopedia Pictura, eccentric genius from Roel Wouters, some sublime one-shot dancing from Joey Garfield and an animated masterwork with a neat political twist from Pablo Polledri.
Once again, the showcase was a broad mix of styles, tone, tempo and technique and was a joy to watch, even for the audience who were all nursing a classically brutal Cannes hangover. Sweet. We're there next year then. Only with more berrocca. And fruit. But less braincells.
Straight8
Waking early on a sunny Friday morning, The Reel, alongside a group of other creatively minded types, braved the party-induced hangovers and dragged themselves to an exciting screening with a difference - Straight 8. Challenging anyone to make a 3 minute film on one cartridge of super 8, editing only in-camera, Straight 8 is a masterclass in low-fi, high imagination filmmaking. Screened for us in Cannes were the ‘Best of an Ad Bunch’, featuring work from (amongst others) a comedian, agency folk, production folk, editors and a cardiologist!?!
The results were nothing short of fantastic! Filled with invention and wit, the limitations of the format seemed to inspire flights of fancy that drew applause from the eager audience. In fact, in a situation reminiscent of the Sex Pistols’ infamous gig in Manchester’s ‘Lesser Free Trade Hall’ in ’76, many lucky punters left the auditorium inspired to become 8millimeter filmmakers themselves (Reel boyz included). For those of you intrigued, the films are set to be shown around London as part of the Rushes Short Film Festival and then are jetting around the world. For all details on screenings and info on how to enter work, check out the website – www.straight8.net. Get involved!
The advertising community descended to the French coast once more this year for the usual heady mix of creativity, infidelity, nominations, awards and excess. 9,500 delegates (not including press and other hangers on) from over 85 countries travel for the week in the sun that can make or break peoples respective careers. In its 55th year Cannes doesn’t seem like its going to slow down, on the contrary, with the new addition of the design lion award, it looks like its picking up the pace.
More importantly for us, this years Cannes saw the expansion of the all conquering Film Lions category. The category saw the inclusion of filmic work that was not simply for terrestrial broadcast and included films created for the internet, mobile content, outdoor solutions and the current industry fave buzz-word-new-cool-we-love-it-lets-have-its-babies: Branded Content.
Winners
You know the drill, Phil the Goril(la) and Halo 3 won the Grand Prix and a whole lot of other top spots were awarded for their greatness. A full list of the winners can be seen on the official website, but we thought we’d give you the lowdown on the Reel’s take. Thankfully, our lucky subscribers have already been privy to the lion’s (excuse the pun) share of the work on our monthly shiny DVDs and website – and in the upcoming Cannes Special featuring our choice picks – but while you’re here why not check out our own awards:
Spot So Funny We Watched It Twice Then Forwarded It To Anyone We Knew With Eyes And A Sense Of Humour – Skittles ‘Touch’ - TBWA\Chiat\Day / New York (Gold winner)
Best For Boys Who Want To Be A Footy Player – Nike ‘Next Level’ – 72andSunny / El Segundo (Gold Winner)
Ad That Made Us Reassess The Filmic Cannon Of Its Director – Nike ‘Next Level’ – 72andSunny / El Segundo (Gold Winner)
Most Impressive Use Of A Giant Charlie Brown Inflatable – Coca Cola ‘It’s Mine’ – Wieden+Kennedy / Portland (Silver Winner)
Ad We Thought Was Aces From The Second We Saw An Unfinished Cut – ChoiceFM ‘Kill The Gun’ – AMV BBDO / London (Silver Winner)
Spot That Made Us Cry Like Big Girlies Despite Us All Being Big Manly Men – Orange ‘Rewind TV’ – Publicis Conseil / Paris (Bronze Winner)
Most Money Spent On Dominoes – Guinness ‘Tipping Point’ – AMVBBDO / London (Bronze Winner)
Coolest Car-cussion – VW Golf ‘Enjoy The Everyday’ – DDB / London (Bronze Winner)
Prettiest Girl In An Ad – Philips ‘Karis’ – DDB / London (Bronze Winner)
Saatchi’s Directors Showcase
The Saatchi’s director showcase is always a benchmark event for us at The Reel, and one that always divides opinion and sparks heated debate. This year’s showcase was kicked off with a rather bizarre piece of physical theatre from Argentinian group “Fuerzabruta”. Depicting the life of a creative (who gets shot, flies around a bit, runs through walls and has a supremely violent management meeting) the theatre piece, whilst very good and certainly enthralling some members of the crowd, generally had us in a state of confusion – were we going to see any directors work!!?
Our pining for celluloid was sated when the curtain closed on Fuerzabruta and lifted for a glut of brilliant pieces with highlights from the fantastic BLU (look earlier on the blog for this unmatched piece of genius) a 3D wonder from Encyclopedia Pictura, eccentric genius from Roel Wouters, some sublime one-shot dancing from Joey Garfield and an animated masterwork with a neat political twist from Pablo Polledri.
Once again, the showcase was a broad mix of styles, tone, tempo and technique and was a joy to watch, even for the audience who were all nursing a classically brutal Cannes hangover. Sweet. We're there next year then. Only with more berrocca. And fruit. But less braincells.
Straight8
Waking early on a sunny Friday morning, The Reel, alongside a group of other creatively minded types, braved the party-induced hangovers and dragged themselves to an exciting screening with a difference - Straight 8. Challenging anyone to make a 3 minute film on one cartridge of super 8, editing only in-camera, Straight 8 is a masterclass in low-fi, high imagination filmmaking. Screened for us in Cannes were the ‘Best of an Ad Bunch’, featuring work from (amongst others) a comedian, agency folk, production folk, editors and a cardiologist!?!
The results were nothing short of fantastic! Filled with invention and wit, the limitations of the format seemed to inspire flights of fancy that drew applause from the eager audience. In fact, in a situation reminiscent of the Sex Pistols’ infamous gig in Manchester’s ‘Lesser Free Trade Hall’ in ’76, many lucky punters left the auditorium inspired to become 8millimeter filmmakers themselves (Reel boyz included). For those of you intrigued, the films are set to be shown around London as part of the Rushes Short Film Festival and then are jetting around the world. For all details on screenings and info on how to enter work, check out the website – www.straight8.net. Get involved!
