NewsReel 01/05/09

Sounds like it smells

The Reel bloody love the movies, so when lovely friendly production companies like Academy invite us to a screening of a feature we jump at the chance! The latest chance freshly jumped at is ‘Sounds Like Teen Spirit’, an affectionate documentary about the trials and tribulations of a group of Junior Eurovision Song Contest contestants. Directed by BAFTA, Broadcast and Grierson nominated ‘best new director’ Jamie J Johnson, the movie is laugh out loud funny and genuinely moving – a mean feat achieved through candid confessions and heart-wrenching acknowledgments from the young stars. We proper loved it, and you’ll get a chance to love it too when it hits the screens on the 8th May (see it before Star Trek).

www.soundsliketeenspiritthemovie.co.uk

If you have any doubts, just check out this clip:

Jamie J Johnson is represented for commercials by Academy Films, so if you want an ad about singing kiddies then you know who to call!

www.academyfilms.com

Cannes like em young


To get the youngsters away from their boxsets of Skins and knife crime, YouTube and Cannes Lions have launched a global competition for young creative talent aged 30 or under to attend this year's Festival and compete in the Young Lions Film Competition. At midnight on 15 May (GMT), YouTube will release a brief on www.youtube.com/canneslions for a 60-second ad for a major charity. Anyone born after 27 June 1980 can submit an ad to this channel until midnight, 17 May.

Not only that, but entrants have to market the film themselves too. The mini ad types will have two weeks to drive as many people to their YouTube video as possible, by embedding it, blogging about it, tweeting it, digitally beaming it to every iPhone in the land, the choice is yours (theirs). At the end of those two weeks, their panel of judges will pick two separate winners. The prize? An all-expenses paid trip to Cannes to take part in the Young Lions Film Competition as Team YouTube.

As The Reel will be at Cannes this year, the prize is better than even the wettest behind the ear admaker could imagine. So – are you young? Are you imaginative? Are you able to condense that into 48 hours of creativity? Then get to it!!

www.youtube.com/canneslions

Tsujikawa gets Passionate


We’re big lovers of J-culture here at The Reel, so when we heard that cult Japanese film and music video director Koichiro Tsujikawa had joined Passion Pictures for commercials and music video representation in Europe we did a merry jig.

Tsujikawa has won worldwide admiration for his remarkable films and music videos. Using both live action, stop frame and computer animation, his work includes a long running series of music videos for experimental musical artist Cornelius, videos for Sketch Show, and Supercar, short films Eyes and Kimagure Robot and commercials for Smirnoff, Shiseido and Sony Ericsson.

Executive producer Andrew Ruhemann says, “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Koichiro Tsujikawa to Passion Pictures. In an industry bursting with talented directors, Koichiro’s work is truly in a class of its own. His films are stunningly inventive and beautifully crafted. He has been on our radar for a long time and this signing is great news for us. We look forward immensely to working with Koichiro and his team at Spoon in Tokyo.”

We look forward immensely to seeing it too!

http://www.passion-pictures.com/preview.html#page=d141

Bare Fundraiser

Bare Films, in association with Park Village, will be holding a fundraiser on the 7th of May 2009 to raise funds for a wheelchair for Will Pike, a former Bare employee. Will was seriously injured in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. There will be an auction with prizes, hosted by Nick Hancock, as well as karaoke and much merriment.

Things wot you can win include:

• Awesome package deal: 750 MPH are offering sound time, The Whitehouse are offering 2 days editing, and MPC are offering flame and telecine time, all useful for an aspiring film maker!
• Panavision have donated an ARRI 16SR3A Super 16 Camera Package for a 1-day shoot, valued at over £2500
• Peter Webb of Park Village is donating a limited edition print (number 2 of 25) from the original negatives for the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album sleeve shot. These negatives have been missing since 1971 and have only recently been rediscovered, and so the print was previously unavailable and is therefore very rare
• Jim Weedon has donated a Nizo Super 801 camera in excellent condition. Made in the ‘80’s, this camera is worth £800
• Anya Hindmarch has donated a handbag in a style made famous by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City
• Jaegar have donated a session with a stylist, plus a free outfit
• Make-up consultancy with Mary Greenwell, who has worked with Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow and Vogue to name but a few.
• DDB have donated a MOT Test Gift Voucher from Kwik Fit (along with a child's Kwik Fit Fitter outfit!)
• DDB have donated two tickets for the Chelsea and Everton Cup Final held at Wembley. These cannot be resold.
• Lucky Voice are donating vouchers for private karaoke rooms for 15 people, normally worth £180.00, which can be used at their Soho and Islington branches.
• AKA UK have donated two tickets to the Hairspray theatre production, valid on a Monday-Thursday performance from 4 May – 12 June (not including 25-29 May)
• Gymbox Covent Garden have donated two free classes for one person and a friend! Options include pole dancing, parkour, etc

Tickets will be sold from the Bare office at £20.00 each, which entitles you to a drink and a snack at the fundraiser.
Please note that tickets are available IN ADVANCE ONLY, and will not be available at the door.
NB: The tickets are selling fast, so please reserve one quickly to avoid disappointment!

With a prize fund for filmy-types, gym-bods and Kwik Fit fitters you’d be a mug if you don’t get your tix now now NOW.

www.barefilms.co.uk

Off The Shelf

Talent Imitates, Genius Steals.

A phrase whose roots are attributed to great pioneers such as Oscar Wilde, Picasso and Nerissa Nields. When the old adage is applied to advertising campaigns, a few creatives might agree whilst some will be in angry rapture. A bunch of others might also write it down and then attach it to a brand…

In the past few months, there has been a notable surge in agencies and brands appropriating older filmic ideas and promos to sell a brand to the public. Joey Garfield’s RJD2 video was mainline adapted for Visa, Kristofer Stroms whiteboard short was tailored for The Carphone Warehouse and interestingly the Fiat Grande Punto spot was “licensed” from Nexus Director Roel Woulters previous zZz promo.

There have been a few articles in various trade press magazines debating the subject of who did what first and citing older court cases like the famous Medhi Norowzian Guinness case as a point of reference.

That noted, fact remains that the practice of half-inching ideas is something that as an artist or creative individual, you cant protect yourself against. So in the cases that the directors get an opportunity to stamp their name to an idea that was theirs in the first place. You can be sure that they are going to do it. Aren’t they?

We were curious what the directors involved in this appropriation of their work for commercial purposes tought so we asked a couple of the Auteurs who have been involved in the trend exactly how they felt…

Kristofer Strom

There is an obvious trend emerging where Agencies / Brands are wholesale adopting or buying the core ideas and treatments of directors in an off the shelf fashion. Some example bands include Visa, Renault, Cravendale milk.

As a Director – is this something that you are aware of?

Oui

How did the Carphone Warehouse spot come about?

It all started in 2006
I made an animation, got huge amount of visits on YouTube and it all started rolling.
I've been asked to do the same thing before but it wasn't until CPW we felt that it was right here we could really get the most out of it print, press, tvc, idents and all.

Did you see it as a direct extension of the original piece of animation that you did?

Absolutely

Was the original music being included something that you fought for? Or was it
always going to be part of the makeup?

CHI had included the music in their first sketches and really wanted them to make the music and sfx. We tried a couple of new tracks especially written for the different animations but it all ended up being the same track as in the original video.

How much input did the creative team have? If any – were they content to let you go to work because they sort of knew what they were getting?

As always it all starts out with "do your thing..." but ends up with -"...but that needs some tweaks". They definitely had input on it all but I think we've all been working in the same direction, trying to get as much weird and great stuff out of it as possible.

Do you think that this trend will continue – as brands seek to align themselves with cool ideas and quality existing pieces of work?

Absolutely

Does it come with the turf when brands and creatives (inevitably) are influenced (or on occasion shamelessly plagiarise) directors work or is this something that is in decline?

When putting stuff on the internet you're aware of that it could get ripped off by anyone. But you could also get some great stuff out of it.

The worst ones for me is when they first ask me if I could do it, they show me their idea, budget and all that, and when I say no they go do it anyway...but it looks like crap.

With that is this trend of hiring the original talent – a better answer?

Original is good, best answer? Don't know. I can imagine there's a lot of original talent getting copied and that the copy is better than the original.

Do you think the consumer is happier as a result?

Are consumers ever happy?

Is this something that directors can thank the advent of YouTube and other online video.coms for? Are they acting as a whistleblower?

Indeed, I keep getting job offerings through my YouTube and Vimeo pages.

Are you working on anything special at the moment?!? Anything that we can shout about at The Reel?!?

Well, there is something me and Bart Yates at Blinkink have been cooking for a while. It'll be awesome. Can't tell you more then that.

PIC PIC ANDRE

There is an obvious trend emerging where Agencies / Brands are wholesale adopting or buying the core ideas and treatments of directors in an off the shelf fashion. Some example bands include Visa, Renault and Carphone Warehouse. As Directors – is this something that you are aware of?

Yes, it offers a new perspective, a more original (and sometimes conceptual) way of transmitting messages. The whole trend seems to have taken its roots within the music industry as popular artists starting calling upon very special and distinctive talents to direct their music videos. The advertising industry seems to have jumped onto this band wagon. However, this trend is much more apparent in countries such as the UK or even France as Belgium is still far behind in this respect. It fit us as long agencies are calling the “originals” rather than asking people to copy the original .

How did the Cravendale spot come about?

W&K creative (Sam & Frank) saw the episodes of the "A Town Called Panic" trough the Resfest film Festival in London (Thanks Jeremy, Jonathan and Sandy !) . They decided to propose to their client this specific animation look and style to launch the new Cravendale image. And Cravendale jump on it!

Did you see it as a direct extension of “A Town Called Panic”?

The Cravendale campaign was conceived with "A Town Called Panic" in mind. Their inspirations and the universe their ideas evolved in were the same as the ones behind "A Town Called Panic". The 3 main characters in the Cravendale commercials are direct extensions of the tv serial. In a way, Cowboy, Indian and Horse became Pirat, Cyclist and Cow. The goal was to preserve the sense of humour of the original tv serial, keeping in mind that we have to deliver a commercial message. We hope we stay funny.

Have you gained more fans since the ad was aired?

Yes, definitely! 30 fan groups of the ad on Facebook which is pretty rare. In a few months, the feature film will be released and we imagine this will work nicely in synchronicity with the ads. It is an uncommon situation in the ad world, and pretty exciting. Good client, Good Ad Agency, (we hope Good ads)...

Why The Cow, the Cyclist, the Pirate and a chicken?

The Cow came in as a direct link to milk. The Cyclist represents a sportive and healthy lifestyle (an idea the client wanted to put forward in association with his brand of milk), he is also an interesting character as he has a very distinctive look and an array of accessories to go with his function. The Pirate was initially supposed be a caveman Man but Wieden & Kennedy thought a pirate would be a more "sexy" and "attractive" character. The idea was to find characters with distinctive styles and accessories so as to be able to create their respective environments in the bedroom scene. When you screen the films, there is a lot of small details attached to the lifestyle of each of the three main characters.

How much input did the creative team have? (If any) Were they content to let you go to work because they sort of knew what they were getting?

The creative team draw the line in touch with the client. W+K knew what they need to express. After the client agreed on each straight “story” the job of pic pic was to make the films funny, and add personality to the characters.

Do you think that this trend will continue – as brands seek to align themselves with cool ideas and quality existing pieces of work?

We hope so, if it helps to have better tv commercials on tv.

Does it come with the turf when brands and creatives (inevitably) are influenced (or on occasion shamelessly plagiarise) Directors work or is this something that is in decline?

We understand that everything influence everything. In our case, we are more than happy that our “style” have been spread in the UK through the Cravendale ads.

With that is this trend of hiring the original talent – a better answer?

Always ask the original, agencies asking not to the original talents are bad agencies, and clients accepting that are bad clients as well.

Do you think the consumer is happier as a result? Ask the consumer ! Is this something that directors can thank the advent of YouTube and other online video.coms for? Are they acting as a whistleblower?

YouTube is great as it is a platform that allows a direct link between artists and their potential audiences. The only trouble is that there is no editorial on such a type of website and that you already need to know what you are looking for in order to come across interesting things. It is therefore sometimes a matter of pure luck that the work of an original artist can come to the attention of the right people.

Are you working on anything special at the moment?!? Anything that we can shout about at The Reel?!?

Yes!! We are currently busy finishing off the post-production of the feature length version of "Panique au village"!! The film is to be released in Belgium as of June 17th and European wide release are to be scheduled in the course of 2009.Please find below a synopsis of the film as well as some stills attached."Cowboy and Indian are the kings of mischief. As soon as they have a plan, you are sure to find trouble around the corner. This time, they have decided to throw a birthday bash for Horse and build him a brick barbecue as a present. But they get their brick order wrong and next thing they know, a billion bricks are delivered to their doorstep. As a result, what was supposed to be a pleasant birthday party turns into a fully-fledged tsunami!"

News Reel 24/04/09

It’s a movie special in this week’s NewsReel, with filmmakers aplenty releasing their wares on the populace. If you’ve got something you want mentioned in our weekly round up, just chuck a press release in this direction – editor@thereel.net – and we’ll trim the fat and serve if up as pretty as pie.

Nowt so Shifty as Eran


Between The Eyes director and former Reel One To Watch Eran Creevy’s new feature Shifty is out in cinemas today and, by all accounts, it’s triple aces. Funded by Film London’s Microwave scheme and shot in a mere 18 days, the film is a great example of cinema releases on a micro-budget. Best to mention Prime Focus who did the movie’s post work, as they supplied the pretty pics for us – cheers!

As we like excuses to show our favourite promos – here’s a little memory jogger for those who’ve heard of Creevey before.



Ubik pixel up the pieces


Not To Scale's London based directing duo Ubik - have just returned from New York where they premiered their short short "Voxel" at the F5 film festival and conference.

The F5 festival was organised by the team behind animation's premier online destination motionographer.com. The F5 team invited their favourite studios and directors around the world to create short films around the themes of rebirth, rejuvenation and regrowth, unfettered by clients demands, each team created a unique and expressive short that embodied the spirit of the F5 festival, creativity for creativity’s sake.

Painstakingly creating pixel-art in live action, the short is hella great, so watch and enjoy with your eyes and head now!

East End Damage


Nexus director Barnaby Barford will be screening his unique first film based on his highly acclaimed ceramic figurines at this year’s East End Film Festival.

“Damaged Goods… the making-of” will be followed by a Q&A and is a classic boy meets girl tale - but one with shattering consequences. On the cluttered floor of a bric-a-brac shop a poor, down-at-heel boy looks up to the top shelf to see a beautiful girl in tears amongst the crystal and silver. Played out by ceramic figurines and accompanied by an original composed score, the story follows the boy’s attempt to rescue the girl – and the tragedy that inevitably occurs when high culture falls for low. The film will be shown on Friday 24 April between 5.30pm & 6.30pm as part of the festival.

Curious? Well check out the trailer on this linky link. http://www.nexusproductions.com/938/damaged_goods_trailer.mov

Monkey Magic

Hey, you look like the kinda guy/girl that loves simians, Blur and wicked comic book artwork. You are! Brilliant, then check out this! Bananaz, a 91 minute behind the scenes documentary on cartoony but actually real and really good band Gorillaz music follows Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett from 2000-2006. Initially documenting the ideas behind the band, filmmaker Ceri Levy kept filming as the adventure grew into massive ape success. It took Ceri and editor Seb Monk two years to work through and cut down all the footage that had been gathered. The resulting film is an intimate, honest and often hilarious account of the working relationship between Albarn and Hewlett, which premiered online at babelgum.com on Monday 20 April. The post was done by Prime Focus. Aren’t they good. Ch-ch-ch-check it oooout - http://www.babelgum.com/gorillazgobananaz.

and finally

There’s nothing better than a good Antipodean rant, so we blinkin’ love this scathing attack at skinny-jeaned-thick-rimmed-spectacled-hang-out-in-Hoxton-because-you-think-its-cool and "Oh myGod, look at that piece of non-art" London'.

The video has been made in response to the Australian-based Glue Society losing the 42Below Vodka account to the UK-founded Naked Communications.



The Glue Society (as far as we can tell) has nothing to do with the viral - instead it is a Melbourne-based strategist, known on YouTube as 'Simontsmall' who is responsible. Titled 42Below London Adland, the video attacks everything which is dear to the centre of the UK advertising industry, criticising stereotypes and a supposed lack of originality.

Despite being proper funny and all that, we at The Reel reckon there is more than a healthy dose of influence from sideways animation nutcase Cyriak in there, alongside a fat slice of Zero Punctuation’s comedy style. However it’s also a clear reference to the old 42Below spots – so we now have the chicken and the egg situation with both sides likely screaming "I was first". At the end of the day it’s now on YouTube, so any whiff of falsehood is going to get savaged by the comment masses anyway.

and finally finally

Statham + You Tube + Choose Your Own Adventure + Balls to the wall madness = One of the best movie promotions we’ve seen in ages.



Same for The Expendables please!!

News Reel 17/04/09

The King gets told to Burger off…


Thomas Thomas films latest production for Burger giants BK appears to have has rubbed Mexico up the wrong way. The imagery in the ‘Texican’ spot featuring a diminutive luchadore wrestler dressed in a cape resembling a Mexican flag and a lanky yank has caused Mexico's ambassador to Spain to write a firey letter to Burger King's head offices, asking for the ad to be removed from air.

Press officials at Burger King Corp. offices in Miami, Florida, and Madrid, Spain, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Well… At BK… They DO have it their way…

James Pilkington and Simon Levene develop a taste for Mustard

Mustard Films have signed James Pilkington and Simon Levene to their roster. Pilkington was formerly of Partizan and The Sweet Shop and Levene arrives from Coy and was previously with Therapy.

John Doris, managing director, says they both “have a great pedigree of award winning performance based comedy work” and is delighted to add them to the Mustard ranks.

Karni & Saul fly on a Rokkit

Rokkit continues to make clear its desire to be seen as the most creative and artistically expressive environment for directors and clients, with high-profile signings and expansion.

The subject of considerable attention in London, directing duo Karni & Saul have opted to join Rokkit for commercials and music videos.

In another move, Rokkit will now represent music video directors previously housed at Stink. Directors including Ne-O and Stylewar will join Karni & Saul and the existing Rokkit directors to create a formidable music video roster.

EP Nick Hussey, who has just come on-board to run Rokkit with Jacobs, explained the move. "We see Rokkit as a hub for the best creative ideas, and to that end music videos are key for us. It’s one of the most dynamic creative outlets for directors, and still a great business to be involved with.”

In addition independent Rep for Music Videos and Commercials, Siobhan Murphy, previously MD of Cops and Robbers, has taken up the post as Music Video Rep.

http://www.rokkit.tv/

TBWA\ Manchester Appoints New Executive Creative Director

TBWA\ Manchester today announced the appointment of Pete Lewtas as the agency’s new Executive Creative Director.

Lewtas will head up the creative department at TBWA\Manchester, whose clients include EA, Nissan, BP, COI, PZ Cussons and The Co-operative. Lewtas was previously ECD for IPG Team Nokia New York and prior to that was Creative Director of Fuel Amsterdam.

With experience on global brands such as Volvo, Mazda, Nokia and Absolut Vodka, Lewtas is recognised for his award wins at the One Show, D&AD, Andys, and Cannes. The appointment sees his return to the TBWA\ network from being Creative Director at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York earlier on in his career.

Lewtas added: “TBWA\Manchester has a lot of talent, a fantastic list of clients and a great deal of untapped potential; it’s in an ideal position for us to deliver more for clients by building on this creative strength.”

Soup picks up Moonpig.com business

Moonpig.com, the online personalised greeting cards company, has chosen Soup to handle its brand strategy and digital advertising business without a pitch.

It is the first time that the company has hired an agency to work on brand strategy and Soup will now be briefed with redeveloping the brand's identity in line with its increased customer base, as well as creating advertising to drive traffic to the website.
Iain Martin, the managing director of Moonpig, said: "We chose Soup because they have a reputation for working with innovative challenger brands."
Nick Thompson, the managing director of Soup, added: "Being a digital agency, it's always great to work with really successful dotcom brands. Moonpig.com is a brilliant example of this, with real innovation and entrepreneurial spirit at the heart of the company."

We’re just hoping that Soup don’t change the jingle…

Less than 2 weeks left for submissions to 11th Rushes Soho Shorts Festival

Submission deadlines for Rushes Soho Shorts are galloping up.

The deadline (if you don’t know) is Thursday 23rd April.

So far this year the festival has received attention from 1,177 cities in 107 countries across 5 continents. With submissions coming from such a broad cross section of filmmakers it’s making the selection process ferociously competitive and promises a strong programme for the festivals 11th year. The entry form for this year’s Rushes Soho Shorts Festival can be downloaded at http://www.sohoshorts.com/

Submissions by hand will be accepted up to the deadline date and by post as long as they are post marked with the deadline date, 23rd April.

The festival celebrates the previous year’s best director in the competition categories: Short Film, Animation, Documentary, Music Video, Newcomer and Broadcast Design.

2009 includes additional programmes highlighting work from abroad along with numerous guest programmes showcasing amazing work produced in the UK and overseas.

The 10 day event will also see a short film market day, a large range of seminars, lectures, networking events, receptions, Bar-B-Q’s, parties and live music performances with yet more events being planned for the Autumn in London, Denmark, Australia, USA, Asia, South America and Jersey (to name a few).

The Bigger Picture

Got a nice telly have ya? LCD is it? Nice and flat? HD up the ying-yang? Plays your Sex And The City box set all pretty like? Well chuck it out the window and clear some space on the wall – Philips’ Cinema 21:9 has come to town, and it’s brought an impressive interactive campaign with it!

Created for Tribal DDB Amsterdam by London based digital production company Stick Digital, the interactive campaign promotes Philips’ latest entrant into the television market. Since the television’s 21:9 frame lends itself so readily to film, the agency tapped the friendly Stinkers to create a piece of filmed content that could hold its own with Hollywood’s best. Director Adam Berg responded with an idea for an epic ‘frozen moment’ cops and robbers shootout sequence that included clowns, explosions, a decimated hospital, and plenty of broken glass, bullet casings and blood.

Check out the site and extraordinary film here - http://www.cinema.philips.com/

Got questions? Well so did we – so we’re fired them to Exec Producer and uber-nice-guy Mark Pytlik for a bit of insight.


What was the concept Tribal DDB approached you with?

Tribal knew that the core proposition of their 21:9 TV was that it was really going to appeal to cinema heads, so they came to us looking for something really cinematic. We kicked around a lot of ideas, including a Children Of Men-style tracking shot, but once we got Adam involved in the project, the 'frozen moment' (which is a technique he'd done before) started to emerge as the runaway favourite approach. From there we had lots of fun trying to build it into a story that had some sort of linear arc to it, which was more difficult to do when everything's frozen than you might assume.

The subject matter (gun-toting clowns causing merry hell) is quite dark. Who came up with it?

That was Adam as well. The film is pretty obviously a synthesis of tropes from some big action films from the past decade -- I think we all wanted to work in a language that would be immediately understandable as 'cinematic'. As for the clowns, what can you say? I don't think they'll ever stop being scary.

How important was it to make the film as cinematic as possible?

Massively -- this was a core part of the main brief. I could spend all day listing off the things we did to make sure this felt more like a piece of cinema than an ad. We brought in Stillking (Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace) to service the shoot in Prague, hired a motion control rig, shot on 35mm, got MPC's Jean-Clement Soret (Slumdog Millionaire) to do the grade -- the list goes on.

Can you let us in on trade secrets and tell us how many shots it took to make the complete loop?

What -- and spoil the movie magic?

What were the biggest challenges you encountered with the shoot and how did you overcome them?

Lots. The shoot was, incredibly, only a two-day shoot, when realistically, it should have been more like four. So that was challenging. It rained for about three hours while we shot our exteriors, which was a nightmare, as rain and motion control do not mix. I lost all my fingernails that evening. The post was a bear, too. I honestly don't think Richard at Redrum in Stockholm slept for the last four days before delivery.


Likewise, were there challenges in creating the microsite to house the film?

Because the final film and the hotspots didn't really come until the end of the project, we spent a while building the microsite feeling 99% positive -- but not knowing for sure -- that the transitions would look and feel as seamless as they did in our plans. Otherwise, most of the challenges on that side came from the timeframe -- it was basically a race to the finish from the very start. We had developers here all weekend before the soft launch knocking down bugs. I don't think anyone minded until it was time to try and go home. Have you ever ridden a bus sober at 3am on a Saturday night in Shoreditch?

What was the thinking behind the embedded hotspots?

The TV has three main selling points: the 21:9 frame, the ambilight, and the picture quality. The agency equated each of these to a different member of a film crew (Director, DoP and VFX Supervisor) and then used the behind the scenes conceit as a launching pad to talk about the importance of each to cinema. We also really wanted to make the transitions from film to behind the scenes absolutely seamless -- the idea was that you should feel like you were slipping back and forth between both worlds really easily...

If you could watch any movie on the Philips 21:9 screen, what would it be?

Is Tron too predictable an answer? If so, then, I don't know, Fried Green Tomatoes.

So there we go, tough shoot, scary clowns and a dose of Tron. What more could you want? We look forward to seeing more digi-magic from the Stink Digital crew in the future.

beta.stinkdigital.tv

Here are the credits for all you 'who did wot' lovers out there:

AGENCY
Tribal DDB, Amsterdam
Executive Creative Director: Neil Dawson
CD: Chris Baylis
Senior Project Manager: John Reardon
Producer: Jeroen Jedeloo, Iwona Echt
Art Director: Mariota Essery, Andrew Ferguson
Copywriter: Carla Madden, Chris Baylis
Account Planner: Sean Chambers
Technical Lead: Jan Willem Penterman

FILM
Production Company: Stink Digital
Executive Producer: Mark Pytlik, Daniel Bergmann, Stephen Brierley
Producer: Simon Eakhurst, Stephen Brierley
Director: Adam Berg
DoP: Fredrik Backar

Service Facilities: Stillking, Prague
Stillking Line Producer: Zuzana de Pagter
1st AD: Jiri Ostry
Production Designer: Petr Kunc -
Czech Production Manager : Jiri Kotlas -
Stunt Co-Ordinator: Lada Lahoda @ Filmca

Editor: Paul Hardcastle @ Trim
VFX: Redrum, Stockholm
Post Production Supervisor: Richard Lyons
Music & Sound Design: Michael Fakesch
Additional Sound Design: Tim Davis
Colorist: Jean-Clement Soret @ MPC London
UK Production Manager: Jemma Daniel

INTERACTIVE
Production Company: Stink Digital
Executive Producer: Mark Pytlik
Project Manager: Christophe Taddei
Lead Developer: Ian McGregor
Key Developers: Vincent Roman, Jamie Copeland, Matt Sweetman
Additional Development: Pierre L. Thiebaut
Design: Eric Chia
Title Sequence & Trailer: Maximiliano Chanan, Odin Church

Reel Opinion - Nick Hussey

There are three things we at The Reel look for in a Reel Opinion guest – shrewd, insightful observations, caustic wit and a neat haircut. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before we knocked on the virtual e-door of Rokkit’s new Executive Producer Nick Hussey. Here are his sublime takes on five choice selections from The Reel’s March DVDs.

Nick Hussey

Executive Producer

Rokkit

Comic Relief - Brand Aid

Agency: Fallon London

Production: Spank Films London

Director: Steve Bendelack

Perfect Comic Relief fare that's cleverly populist. Chris Bovill & John Allison have an amazing track record of engaging us all, without pandering to a knowing elite or going for the lowest common denominator. Getting the permissions for each of these icons must have been, er, comically grim. I'm sure the clients at Admiral and Bounty didn't take long to say yes though. Amazing that Meerkat gets straight in there. That's a sign of an effective (dirty word but the best word?) ad. I'd be interested to know how it went getting the permissions for the defunkt icons. I haven't checked, but I wonder if there's a politically correct spread of UK ad agency ideas on that table. It pains me to think of the negotiations. I hope the producers on this still have hair.

Nike - The Cortez Brothers

Agency: Nike EMEA Brand Design Amsterdam

Production: Picasso Pictures London

Director: tokyoplastic

Tokyoplastic did a great job with creating the look of this, but it does feel flabby. Why should I watch it all? Maybe if you're a Cortez freak, this is Nike Porn. But I definitely drifted off the stop-motion shoe colour frenzy. It needed a backbone, or some characters throughout. Instead it came off as a moving brochure. Which is cool for instore screens, but not entertainment in it's own right. I have a pretty major problem with the track, which is like chewing batteries sweetened with molasses. Nike Amsterdam do wicked stuff, but I think out of context this film is just a really shiny catalogue.

WWF - Earth Hour

Agency: Hasse & Lasse Stockholm

Production: Film De Liberte AB Stockholm

Director: Joakim Eliasson

Some beautifully shot moments that could have been bound together more tightly with narrative. We've seen a lot of spots and shots of light switches being turned off, and charity fatigue may mean that viewers do the same. Turn off, not think on.
My favourite scenes involve mimicking darkness with the bags and blindfolds, and I think that was a route worth pursuing further. It's essentially a pretty montage, and thus was overlong, needing trimming to 30-40 seconds. I found the visuals emotive for their images of human society, but it didn't remind me why I should be turning off my lights. Back to the narrative. Perhaps a juxtaposition of the fun side, verses the beauty of nature lost in time? Hell, I'm certainly no copywriter. I should back off.

Visa - Bill

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi London

Production: Academy / Ghost Robot

Director: Joey Garfield

Taken directly from a music video that the director did with wonderful dancer Bill Shannon, this is really all about that performance. Its an arresting idea that hasn't been shoehorned with the project, but fits nicely. However, and I am quibbling, because I'm a fan of this spot, it's difficult to get enough of the languid beauty of Bill's moves into the timeframe, along with the necessary Visa narrative. I would have preferred to have seen a one-shot treatment, as with the RJD2 original, to get that across. Coming from production, I'm more circumspect about the direction and photography. Specifically it was too sparse and bleached for me, but I can see how that was necessary to leave us concentrating on the dancer. It stands out in the ad break and brightened my day, so I come away tasting sweetness.

Puma - Lift

Agency: Droga5 New York

Production: MJZ New York

Director: Rupert Sanders

Gondry. There I said it. Sanders would hate me for it, but that's all I can think. That whole projection moving set thing is impossible to disassociate from him. But that's unfair to all involved. I loved it. A technicoloured STORY that bears up to, infact requires, repeat viewing. And the Puma client have been cool enough to step back from insisting the brand be constantly on screen. We've seen these one-shot fantasias done before (specifically by Monsieur G) but this is a locked off shot that lets us take in what we can, as it comes at us apace. Clever, thought-provoking, serious, funny, wild and saucy. And I just realised, it's a wicked music vid cut to ad length with a shot of a shoe. Promos will rise again. Let's hope.

NewsReel 09/04/09

A new media mutt in the kennel

The communications A-Team of Peter Law, Veronique Rhys Evans, Sam Espensen and Georgie Easton have all left The Media Foundry, part of Cagney plc, and set up a new communications agency named Red Dog Communications. Founding clients of Red Dog include big dogs TBWA\London, STREAM\, The Viral Factory and Media Equals, with announcements of new client wins expected shortly.

Speaking of the new endeavour, Veronique Rhys Evans said "Red Dog has been set up to meet all the needs of our clients in this challenging environment. Some of the greatest ideas are borne out of recession, where there are great opportunities for a small, entrepreneurial business like ours. Like all the best dogs, we'll be smart, loyal and tenacious."

Red Dog Communications is a full service consumer and corporate agency. With a team this full of BITE, we’re sure they’ll be HOUNDed with offers and will LEAD the way in PUP-PR. GRRRRRRRRRRReat stuff! Ha ha ha … *groan*

http://www.reddogcommunications.co.uk/

Transparent’s seasonal signings

It's out with the old and in with the new, as Transparent "spring" into action with new signings US giant Kinka Usher and Argentinians Martin Hodara and Luciano Qulici for UK representation.

Past winner of the Directors Guild of America Director of the Year, Usher's recent 118 118 extravaganza for Brooklyn Brothers has brought him to a new UK audience. "The competition was formidable" says Eilon Kennet Transparent's MD "and we're delighted that Kinka has chosen to work through us in the UK. We already have interest from two major London agencies."

"We've been in discussion with Martin and Luciano for some time now and this is the perfect opportunity to formalise our agreement. Hodora has already shot his first job for the UK for Lowe."

To check out all of Transparent's directors go to http://www.transparentuk.com

Easter tele-treats!

If you’re appetite for The Great Escape and Bond has wained and you’re looking for a visual treat to entertain over the Eater weekend, Skellig, the latest movie by Feel Films & UK commercials director AJ Jankel, may be right up your street. Premiering on Sky on Easter Sunday, the film, adapted from David Almond’s multi-award winning and critically acclaimed book, is the first project to reach the screen from Sky’s investment fund committed to original drama in high-definition.

Director Jankel first exploded onto American and UK television as the co-creator/director of the memorable cyberpunk series, Max Headroom. With partner Rocky Morton she created original and inventive music videos for leading artists leading to numerous awards and the inclusion of their work in the permanent collection at New York’s Museum Of Modern Art. Jankel and Morton partnered with David Zander in 1991 to form highly successful production company MJZ. Jankel/Morton directed many commercials during their partnership winning accolades for brands such as Coca Cola, GM, IBM, AOL, Hellman’s, Bell, Speedo and for her Hallmark ‘Kiss’ campaign JANKEL earned “World’s Best Humour Commercial” and “Best Directed Commercial, Best of Show” at the International Broadcast Awards plus GOLD Award for “Best TV Commercial Campaign” at The Worldfest Remi Awards.

…and finally

We’re big fans of (Ke)Vin Deisel and Paul ‘The Charisma’ Walker here at The Reel, so imagine our excitement upon spotting that their latest opus has got the Addictive TV treatment. Following their official remix of Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire, British audiovisual artists Addictive TV have just remixed the new blockbuster Fast & Furious. The film is produced by Hollywood studio Universal, who asked Addictive TV to create an alternative web-trailer.



This is Universal’s first foray into film remixing, and one which puts Addictive TV in the unique position of having now created film remixes for nearly every major Hollywood studio. The London based audiovisual artists and performers have made their name as trail-blazers in the art of audio/video remixing - especially when it comes to movies.

We can’t wait to see what these guys will do with The Expendables.