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  • 'Sleeping Eros' at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art

    'Sleeping Eros' at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art

    In Greek mythology, Eros was the god of love. He was capable of overpowering the minds of all gods and all men. Literary sources of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. portrayed him as a powerful, often cruel, capricious being, and in classical Greek art Eros was usually represented as a winged youth.

    'Sleeping Eros' at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art
    A radically different visual image of Eros—as a charming, winged child asleep on a rock—was introduced centuries later by Hellenistic artists. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s statue of Eros Sleeping—one of the finest of the surviving bronze statues from classical antiquity—will be the focus of the special exhibition Sleeping Eros, opening January 29, 2013. The exhibition is made possible by The Vlachos Family Fund.

    Eros Sleeping will be shown with 46 related works of art in various media, ranging in date from the fifth century B.C. to the 17th century A.D., drawn primarily from the Museum’s permanent collection. Two works from private collections will also be shown.

    Through these examples, the exhibition will examine the cult and image of Eros before and after the Sleeping Eros statue type, show the breadth of its influence, and trace the wide dispersal of the type in Roman times and its subsequent rediscovery during the Renaissance. The exhibition will also consider the original function and context of the sculpture, how the statue was made, and the issue of originals and copies in Greek and Roman sculpture.

    The Sleeping Eros was among the earliest types of ancient sculpture to be rediscovered during the Italian Renaissance, and it was the subject of numerous figural studies by Renaissance and Baroque artists in Italy—including Michelangelo, among many others—who were looking to the classical tradition for training and inspiration. Some works were close likenesses, such as the fine Drawing of a Sleeping Eros after an antique sculpture by Giovanni Angelo Canini (1617–1666), which will be shown in the exhibition. Other, less literal, adaptations will also be displayed.

    In 1943, when the Metropolitan Museum acquired its statue of Eros Sleeping, it was believed to be an original Hellenistic sculpture or a very close replica created between 250 and 150 B.C. Subsequently, some scholars have suggested that it is a very fine Roman copy of one of the most popular sculptures ever made in Roman Imperial times. Recent research—to be presented in the exhibition—supports the former identification, but also makes apparent that it was restored in antiquity—most likely in the Early Imperial period.

    Details of the research will also be published in an upcoming article in the Metropolitan Museum’s annual Journal.

    A public lecture by the curator on Friday, April 5, 2013, and gallery talks will be offered in conjunction with the exhibition.

    Additional information about the exhibition and its accompanying programs can be found on the Museum’s website at www.metmuseum.org.

    The exhibition is organized by Seán Hemingway, Curator, Department of Greek and Roman Art. Exhibition design is by Michael Batista, Exhibition Design Manager; lighting is by Clint Ross Coller and Richard Lichte, Lighting Design Managers; graphics are by Mortimer Lebigre, Associate Graphic Designer, all of the Museum’s Design Department.

    Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art [January 23. 2012]

  • Phil Mickelson and Luke List For Callaway XHot and RAZR Xtreme

    Phil Mickelson and Luke List For Callaway XHot and RAZR Xtreme

    Here's a look at the new RAZR Fit Xtreme TV ad featuring Phil Mickelson and the commercial for the all new X Hot Irons featuring Luke List for Callaway.

    Credits:
    The principals of design-focused production studio Leviathan are very proud to share the results of their collaborations with advertising agency Factory Design Labs on behalf of Callaway Golf Company. Numerous TV spots and brand films supporting the launch of Callaway Golf's new line of RAZR Fit Xtreme(TM) Drivers, X Hot(TM) Drivers, Fairway Woods and Irons have recently debuted on targeted media outlets and Callaway's YouTube Channel. Leviathan's team has been integrally involved in the end-to-end design, animation and visual effects aspects elevating the visual, artistic, branding and storytelling aspects of these spots and several new Callaway product films and still renderings that are 100 percent CG.

    Leviathan landed its first assignments for Factory Design Labs in 2011, and as a result of the studio's craftsmanship on those high-profile projects, it was chosen as an official partner for design, CG and VFX for the agency's 2013 campaign for Callaway. "Earning the opportunity to develop and apply extraordinary design and VFX solutions for Callaway is one of the most exciting things to happen for our company so far," confirmed Leviathan's executive producer Chad Hutson. "Knowing our contributions need to represent Callaway as the world-class leader moving into the future, we are pouring ourselves into perfecting the brand's look across all media platforms."

    Agency: Factory Design Labs
    ECD: Andrew Price
    Creative Director: Steve Pratt
    Associate Creative Director: Tom Goodrich
    Sr. Art Directors: Jason Shiskowsky, Steve Hurd
    Art Director: Elliot Hasse
    Director of Broadcast Production: Melany Fehrenbach
    Broadcast Producer: Jessi Dana

    Production: Supply & Demand
    Director: Josh Taft
    Co-Head Production: Tracy Hauser
    Producer: Tina Nakane

    Design, Animation, Visual Effects: Leviathan
    CD: Bradon Webb
    Lead 3D: Nathan Davies
    Lead Compositor/VFX: Chris Beers
    Lead 2D: David Brodeur
    Animator/Compositor: Katrina Nelken
    Compositor/Particle Effects: Tim Sepulveda
    3D Artists: Timur Salikov, Morgan James, Adam Stockholm
    Roto Artists: Patrick Schultz, Kurt Lawson, Shawn Sahara, Ashley Whitaker
    Graphics Editor: Mike LaHood
    Producer: Lauren Shawe
    EP: Chad Hutson
    ECD: Jason White
    VFX Director: Matt Daly

  • 'Viking Voyagers' at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall

    'Viking Voyagers' at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall

    National Maritime Museum Cornwall is bringing the Vikings to Cornwall in a new major exhibition called Viking Voyagers, opening on 20 March 2015. The new exhibition, featuring nationally and internationally historically significant artefacts, explores what is behind the popular myth of the bloodthirsty raiders, what it meant to become a Viking and shows how their mastery of maritime technology was the secret to their success.

    'Viking Voyagers' at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall
    Ships and boats were vital to Viking expansion; they explored and colonised, were invaders and migrants and the seas and rivers were the highways and byways to amassing huge wealth and power through raiding and trading.

    Their power was built on their knowledge of boatbuilding and their seafaring skills, enabling them to sail across the Atlantic’s icy waters to Newfoundland and Iceland, down to the warm Mediterranean to Istanbul and as far East along the river Volga as Ukraine and Russia.

    Visions of horned helmets, unkempt beards and fearsome raiding fighters carried by longships that were dragon headed war beasts come to mind when thinking of Vikings. However, this new show dispels the myth and reveals that just like us they also wore jewellery, combed their hair and many were entrepreneurs, using smaller boats and ships to do business and seek new opportunities far from their Scandinavian homelands.

    This new show invites you to encounter these Norse voyagers and the people and things they met along the way, contrasting the mayhem of the raiders, pillagers and ransackers with the resourceful trader, boat builder, craftsman and family man, woman and child.

    The humanising of the Vikings is conveyed through engaging interactive displays that amplify what life was like as a Viking. With institutional and loaning partners including the British Museum, National Museum of Ireland, National Museum of Denmark and Manx National Heritage and others, a stunning number of artefacts show a culture that enjoyed ostentation and hierarchy as well as ritual, religion and the simplicity of family life.

    These archaeological finds, which are over 1000 years old, include weaponry, jewellery, household implements, slave chains and coins, richly showing the global reach of the Vikings and their ships.

    Richard Doughty, Director of National Maritime Museum Cornwall says: “It is enormously exciting for National Maritime Museum Cornwall to be bringing the Vikings to Falmouth and hosting historically significant artefacts, in what is undoubtedly our most important exhibition to date. The Museum’s legacy of award winning work has now afforded us the opportunity to access national and international collections, securing loans with major partner Museums, and offering Cornwall and the South West a unique first in being able to see these items outside of these national and international institutions.”

    “This new state of the art show has taken years to develop. You might think you know the Vikings but you will have never experienced them in the way this new exhibition promises. All I can say is watch out, the Vikings are coming!”

    The theatre is provided by a beach market scene. A full scale replica of a 14m coastal cargo Viking ship, from 11th century Denmark, invites you to climb aboard and discover what it was like to sail and row in these awe inspiring vessels, and explore the wares they carried.

    The iconic Viking small boat, a 6m Norwegian faering, built by ‘apprentice Viking boat builders’ from Falmouth Marine School, is the centrepiece of a ‘touch and feel’ boat builder’s yard. Visitors can hold tools and materials used to design these clinker-built ships with their shallow drafts, which allowed them to navigate inland rivers and conquer kingdoms.

    The history of Britain and Ireland was transformed by the impact of Viking raiding and colonisation. We still utter their words in our everyday language such as starboard, berserk, kid and ransack. What began as small encampments up river grew to be Viking towns such as Dublin, which for a time was the centre of the European slave trade. Cornwall was very much part of the Irish Sea world, and the exhibition will reveal tantalising evidence for Vikings in Cornwall.

    Dr Tehmina Goskar, Exhibitions Registrar at the Maritime Museum says: “The story of the Vikings is incredibly alluring. Not only have they left us with a legacy of beautiful storytelling in their Sagas but also an astonishing material culture. Above all, the Vikings were sailors, their men, women and children thrived because of their skills with boats and seafaring so with our harbour location, celebrating the sea and small boats, there is no better place to come to hear their stories.

    “I am completely delighted to bring amazing Viking antiquities to Cornwall for the very first time, some of which have never been on display in any museum before. Working closely with our Guest Curator Dr. Gareth Williams of the British Museum, a world-leading expert in the Vikings and also an outstanding Viking re-enactor himself, has been an immense privilege and a lot of fun, and hopefully visitors will feel this from the way we tell the story of the Viking Voyagers in the show.”

    The two year exhibition, funded by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and a number of generous trusts and foundations, aims to show how the Vikings were a maritime culture, not an ethnic group but something you became when you wanted an adventure.

    Ben Lumby, Exhibitions Manager concludes: “Aboard their ships Vikings reached further than any culture had before them and they have left huge legacies behind since the 300 years of the Viking Age from the 8th to 11th centuries. This atmospheric exhibition will evoke the Viking world through thought-provoking stories, stunning exhibits and engaging interactives which take you on an epic journey. We invite you to discover who the Vikings really were and what was the secret to their success. ”

    Viking Voyagers runs from 20 March 2015 to 22 February 2017.

    Source: National Maritime Museum Cornwall [Jabuary 16, 2015]

  • "The World Is Listening" The Grammys Ad Campaign

    "The World Is Listening" The Grammys Ad Campaign

    The Recording Academy® and TBWA\Chiat\Day have teamed for the sixth year to promote the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards® with the ad campaign "#TheWorldIsListening." The 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards (www.grammy.com) will be held on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live in HDTV and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network.

    "Slammed Door" featuring Rihanna above and below is "Soundcheck" with The Black Keys and voiceover by Dr. John

    "#TheWorldIsListening" campaign features both established and up-and-coming artists across a variety of print, out-of-home and digital communications, as well as three TV commercials. The first commercial, "Slammed Door," tells five-time GRAMMY® winner and current nominee Rihanna's story. The second commercial, "The World is Listening," features artists including the Kills, Snoop Lion and Taylor Swift alongside emerging artists such as Grace Potter, Kishi Bashi and Dam-Funk. Two-time GRAMMY winners and current nominees the Black Keys will appear in the forthcoming commercial titled "Soundcheck."

    At the heart of this year's "#TheWorldIsListening" campaign is a newly created Web site, www.grammyamplifier.com, which allows musicians to share their tracks via SoundCloud for a chance to have their music tweeted out by a panel of musical icons, including Linkin Park, RZA, and Snoop Lion. While social media has given musicians more ways to share their sounds than ever before, the online music space is increasingly fragmented. As a result, it gets more difficult for emerging artists to be discovered. "#TheWorldIsListening" campaign and the GRAMMY Amplifier aims to help solve this problem by exposing new artists through social platforms — with the ultimate goal of discovering artists with the potential to be the next generation of GRAMMY winners..

    "This year's campaign highlights the raw emotion and desire of the artist's journey, and is amplified via social media in order to draw more music fans into an engaged music conversation," said Evan Greene, Chief Marketing Officer of The Recording Academy.

    Patrick Condo, Creative Director, TBWA\Chiat\Day, said, "Sure, the music industry embraces fame — but music always comes first. From RZA to Rihanna, to the young girl taking her first piano lesson, it's their passion for the craft that will, ultimately, lead them to the public and then fame. This year's campaign celebrates this passion and the talent as burgeoning artists embark on that quest for fame."

    All of the campaign materials prominently feature the hashtag #TheWorldIsListening, a first in GRAMMY history and a testament to the role of social media with regard to the GRAMMY telecast. In February 2012, the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards generated more than 13 million social media comments making it the biggest social media event in the history of television at the time.

    "The World Is Listening" 55th GRAMMYs Full Campaign Credits:
    Artists: The Black Keys, Gary Clark Jr., DaM-Funk, The Gaslamp Killer, Jim James, Kaskade, The Kills, Lianne La Havas, Linkin Park, Moon Duo, Nas, Ozzy Osbourne, Papa, Grace Potter, Rihanna, RZA, Simian Mobile Disco, Snoop Lion, Taylor Swift, Anthony Valadez, Warpaint, Patrick Watson, Jonathan Wilson.

    Global Creative President: Rob Schwartz
    Executive Creative Director: Patrick O’Neill
    Creative Directors: Patrick Condo & Bob Rayburn
    Associate Creative Director/Copywriter: Eric Haugen
    Associate Creative Director/Art Director: Kirk Williams
    Art Directors: Hillary Coe, Rebecca Ginos, Katie Dittman
    Executive Director of Integrated Production: Richard O’Neill
    Executive Producer: Sarah Patterson
    Producer/Music Supervisor: Michael Gross
    Assistant Producer: Whitney Fromholtz
    Director of Creative Technology: Ricardo Diaz
    Account Director: Michele Tebbe
    Management Supervisors: Mike Peditto & James Aardahl
    Account Supervisor: Daryl Conui
    Group Planning Director: Rad Tollett
    Digital Strategist: Kyle Luhr
    Business Affairs Managers: KK Davis & Lisa Lipman
    Typography Design: I Love Dust

    DIGITAL PRODUCTION
    Music Supervisor: Liza Richardson
    Creative Technologist: David Riegler
    Tech Lead: Gevorg Ablabutyan
    Senior Developers: Marcelo Duende & Jake Edur
    QA Lead: Lester Broas
    QA Engineer: Walter Velasquez
    Senior Producer: Justin Taylor
    Producer: Kiley Story
    Tech Lead: Mike Bucks
    Technology Manager: John Byrne

    PRINT & OOH PRODUCTION
    Photographer: James Minchin
    Executive Art Producer: Karen Youngs
    Print Producer: Matthew MacDonald
    Project Managers: Jane Martin, Collin Beckles
    Creative Retouching: Arthaus
    Prepress: E-Graphics

    FILM PRODUCTION
    Director: Saam Farahmand
    Production Company: Furlined
    President: Diane McArter
    VP Executive Producer: Eriks Krumins
    Producer: Dave Robertson
    Original Music, Sound Design, & Mix: Barking Owl
    Creative Director: Kelly Bayett
    Mixer: Brock Babcock
    Sound Design, "Slammed Door" and "Soundcheck": Barking Owl & Michael Anastasi
    Editorial: Arcade
    Editor, "The World is Listening": Kim Bica
    Editor, "Slammed Door" and "Soundcheck": Greg Scruton
    Post Producer: Kirsten Thon-Webb
    Managing Partner: Damian Stevens
    Executive Producer: Nicole Visram
    Assistants: Dean Miyahira, John Jenkins, Pete D'Andrea, Laura Sanford
    Visual Effects: The Moving Picture Company
    Creative Director / VFX Supervisor: Paul O’Shea
    Smoke Artist: Mark Holden
    Telecine Artist: Ricky Gausis
    Producer: Juliet Tierney
    Executive Producer: Asher Edwards

  • 'Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation' at the British Museum

    'Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation' at the British Museum

    The British Museum will open a major exhibition presenting a history of Indigenous Australia, supported by BP. This exhibition will be the first in the UK devoted to the history and culture of Indigenous Australians: both Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. Drawing on objects from the British Museum’s collection, accompanied by important loans from British and Australian collections, the show will present Indigenous Australia as a living culture, with a continuous history dating back over 60,000 years.

    'Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation' at the British Museum
    Bark painting of a barramundi. Western Arnhem Land, about 1961 [Credit: © The Trustees of the British Museum]
    The objects in the exhibition will range from a shield believed to have been collected at Botany Bay in 1770 by Captain Cook or one of his men, a protest placard from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy established in 1972, contemporary paintings and specially commissioned artworks from leading Indigenous artists. Many of the objects in the exhibition have never been on public display before.

    The objects displayed in this exhibition are immensely important. The British Museum’s collection contains some of the earliest objects collected from Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders through early naval voyages, colonists, and missionaries dating as far back as 1770. Many were collected at a time before museums were established in Australia and they represent tangible evidence of some of the earliest moments of contact between Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islanders and the British. Many of these encounters occurred in or near places that are now major Australian cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. As a result of collecting made in the early 1800s, many objects originate from coastal locations rather than the arid inland areas that are often associated with Indigenous Australia in the popular imagination.

    The exhibition will not only present Indigenous ways of understanding the land and sea but also the significant challenges faced by Indigenous Australians from the colonial period until to the present day. In 1770 Captain Cook landed on the east coast of Australia, a continent larger than Europe. In this land there were hundreds of different Aboriginal groups, each inhabiting a particular area, and each having its own languages, laws and traditions. This land became a part of the British Empire and remained so until the various colonies joined together in 1901 to become the nation of Australia we know today. In this respect, the social history of 19th century Australia and the place of Indigenous people within this is very much a British story. This history continues into the twenty first century. With changing policies towards Indigenous Australians and their struggle for recognition of civil rights, this exhibition shows why issues about Indigenous Australians are still often so highly debated in Australia today.

    The exhibition brings together loans of special works from institutions in the United Kingdom, including the British Library, the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. A number of works from the collection of the National Museum of Australia will be shown, including the masterpiece ‘Yumari’ by Uta Uta Tjangala. Tjangala was one of the artists who initiated the translation of traditions of sand sculptures and body painting onto canvas in 1971 at Papunya, a government settlement 240km northwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Tjangala was also an inspirational leader who developed a plan for the Pintupi community to return to their homelands after decades of living at Papunya. A design from ‘Yumari’ forms a watermark on current Australian passports.

    This exhibition has been developed in consultation with many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, Indigenous art and cultural centres across Australia, and has been organised with the National Museum of Australia. The broader project is a collaboration with the National Museum of Australia. It draws on a joint research project, funded by the Australian Research Council, undertaken by the British Museum, the National Museum of Australia and the Australian National University. Titled ‘Engaging Objects: Indigenous communities, museum collections and the representation of Indigenous histories’, the research project began in 2011 and involved staff from the National Museum of Australia and the British Museum visiting communities to discuss objects from the British Museum’s collections. The research undertaken revealed information about the circumstances of collecting and significance of the objects, many of which previously lacked good documentation. The project also brought contemporary Indigenous artists to London to view and respond to the Australian collections at the British Museum.

    Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum said, “The history of Australia and its people is an incredible, continuous story that spans over 60,000 years. This story is also an important part of more recent British history and so it is of great significance that audiences in London will see these unique and powerful objects exploring this narrative. Temporary exhibitions of this nature are only possible thanks to external support so I am hugely grateful to BP for their longstanding and on-going commitment to the British Museum. I would also like to express my gratitude to our logistics partner IAG Cargo and the Australian High Commission who are supporting the exhibition’s public programme.”

    Source: The British Museum [April 23, 2015]

  • The Audi Quattro Experience "Painting Coconuts"

    The Audi Quattro Experience "Painting Coconuts"

    With the release of a documentary short film today, Zulu Alpha Kilo and Audi Canada have put the final touches on the Audi quattro® Experience. This one-of-a-kind interactive installation put participants in the driver’s seat of a custom-made 1:32 scale Audi A4 quattro® slot car for the chance to test their on-track skills.

    Using the world’s first iPad enabled slot car controller, visitors to the installation were able to take their A4 for a wild test-drive around hairpin turns, down long highway straightaways and through icy mountain passes – terrain that would get the better of lesser vehicles.

    The project involved a number of innovations to marry the worlds of slot car racing and technology with the Audi brand:

    •A handcrafted 140 sq. ft. (20’ by 7’) custom slot car track
    •3D printed 2013 Audi A4 vehicle shells fit with Audi quattro® all wheel drive slot car chassis and custom in-car cameras
    •Custom iPad app integrating live in-car camera feed and digital voltage modulator to control vehicle acceleration
    •High definition bird’s eye view race cam with integrated Facebook, Twitter and YouTube share function

    The track also included this brilliant billboard...nice.
    The film, entitled “Painting Coconuts”, captures the entire build through the eyes of track maker David Beattie of Slot Mods USA. Set behind the scenes leading up to launch of the Audi quattro Experience, the film offers a unique look into Beattie’s personal story, his passion for the art of custom track design and the sport of slot car racing. It also delves into his process and the challenges his team faced to execute a project with so many innovative features. The film was directed by Tamir Moscovici (Urban Outlaw) of Industry Films.

    Zak Mroueh, President and Executive Creative Director of Zulu Alpha Kilo, said, “This was the perfect opportunity for us to reimagine what a test drive could be, and bring a truly unique and memorable experience to Audi fans.”

    Jennifer Dobbs, Audi Brand Marketing Manager, said, “In every way, this innovative experience brings to life our passion for design, craftsmanship and sportiness. It’s also a perfect embodiment of the progressive ideals of the Audi brand and our desire to delight our customers in Canada.”

    Captured through the eyes of track maker David Beattie of Slot Mods USA, the film offers a unique look into his personal story, passion for the art of custom track design and the sport of slot car racing.

    It also delves into the process and challenges his team faced to execute a project with so many innovative features.

    Credits:
    Client: Jennifer Dobbs
    Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
    Executive Creative Director: Zak Mroueh
    Creative Director: Shane Ogilvie
    Copy Writer: Jon Webber
    Art Director: Simon Au
    Agency Producer: David Isaac
    Account Team: Adam Lang, Barrett Holman, Christina Polyzos
    Production House: Industry Films
    Digital Production House: Thinkingbox
    Director: Tamir Moscovici
    Media Agency: Mediacom
    Track Fabrication: Slot Mods
    Event Company: Vision Co.
    Cinematographers: Anthony Arendt, Vinit Borrison
    Post Production: Married To Giants And Alter Ego
    Colourist: Wade Odlum
    Editor: Paul Proulx
    Audio House: Pirate Audio

  • Meet "Discipline" The New Publication Celebrating Film, Art, Fashion, Design, and more

    Meet "Discipline" The New Publication Celebrating Film, Art, Fashion, Design, and more

    The FUN issue of Discipline magazine is out now and available from most news agents, Tate Modern, Magma, Foyles, Artwords and more...

    The pursuit of ‘LOLs’ and ‘likes’ is about instant and permanent fun. It’s about ditching the dull and provoking the standard. The second issue of Discipline is a celebration of the big business of fun, where bold is always better. We take a look at the makers and thinkers setting themselves apart from the crowd and we witness just how much hard work and discipline real fun takes.

    Discipline issue two — The FUN Issue

    House of Mirrors by Ryan Hopkinson

    Actress Ariane Labed

    Musician Elliott Power
    The cover star Susan Boyle is joined by John Prescot, Tom Cruise and Leslie Nielsen in an exclusive feature by Carl Burgess. The Fun Issue includes profiles, features, interviews and editorials with the people behind the scenes making the things you love including cinematographer Evan Prosofsky, photographer Ryan Hopkinson, musicians Palma Violets, actress Ariane Labad and much more.

    Discipline is a new publication celebrating the most interesting makers of film, art, fashion, design, interiors, music, dining and more.

    Editor in Chief: Jack Robinson
    Associate Editor: Marta Bobic
    Contributing Editors: Calum Sager, Jennifer Byrne & Nathan James Tettey
    Design and Art Direction: Inventory Studio

  • Starz: Re-Brand Campaign

    Starz: Re-Brand Campaign

    HIFI PROJECT PROVIDES MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN FOR VISUALLY COMPELLING STARZ RE-BRAND CAMPAIGN

    Los Angeles & Minneapolis – (May 13, 2013) Collaborating with ad agency Fallon, HiFi Project is the creative force behind the music and sound design for the new, visually compelling re-brand for cable network STARZ. According to HiFi Creative Director/Composer Paul Robb, this was the most extensive sonic branding campaign to date for the company, which is better known for working on commercial and advertising campaigns such as new spots for Gap, Jaguar, and Chevy.

    HiFi Project was tapped to create an extensive soundscape that was innovative and revolutionary, taking the listener on a musical journey; while design firm yU+co was called on to create a design language that infused the entire landscape of the STARZ platform with their new tagline, “Taking You Places.” “We had a great time on this project because they really gave us a tremendous amount of freedom to create music,” explains HiFi’s Robb. “We were tasked with creating a soundtrack for the network that was thrilling, but never heavy-handed. They didn’t want music that was overly whimsical or cheery, but something that was gripping, seductive, and premium.”

    HiFi initially provided STARZ with 60 original demos, from which network creatives chose five to explore further. After hearing extended arrangements (some as long as four minutes) of the “final five”, a hero track was chosen. HiFi then set about the demanding task of arranging this hero track into five broad style families, for each of the network programming categories. All in all, HiFi Project produced an astonishing 35 complete compositions, ranging from two seconds to over three minutes in duration.

    “From a creative point of view, this was just pure joy,” says Robb. “We were given license to create music and sound design for these beautiful, abstract graphics that yU + co had created. We don’t get that level of freedom that often, so we were thrilled.”

    “Because a great deal of our work is in the commercial and advertising realm,” adds Executive Producer Birgit Roberts, “and there are oftentimes far more restrictive parameters to that type of work, our team really had a great time with the creative process. It was also great to collaborate with both Fallon and the creative team in-house at STARZ on a re-brand of an entire cable network, which was a first for us.”

    Credits:
    Client: STARZ
    Executive Creative Director: Jessica Creasey
    Director of Production: Kandy Barry
    Technical Director: Sean Richardson
    Creative Director: Michael Vamosy

    Ad Agency: Fallon
    Integrated Producer: Angie Schoemer
    Art Director: Ben Pagel
    Creative Director: Andrew Voss

    Design Company: yU+Co:
    Senior Producer: Carey Michaels Keeney

    Music & Sound Design Company: HiFi Project:
    Creative Director/Composer: Paul Robb
    Executive Producer: Birgit Roberts
    Composer: Jason Murgo
    Producer: Melissa Mooney

  • New Ad: Stardust Embarks On A Mission For Baylor University

    New Ad: Stardust Embarks On A Mission For Baylor University

    Stardust, the bicoastal integrated production and design firm, partnered with Proof Advertising to create a rich and complex journey through the history of Baylor University’s great discoveries and achievements. The short film — largely constructed from stock footage from the Baylor Vaults — is treated through layers of graphic textures, paralax effects, shot elements (like fire and lens flairs) and hand-drawn illustrations to elicit an archeological experiment in the visual medium. The result is an emotional exploration into some great moments and achievements across the spectrum; including sports, science, and spirituality.

    “This film for Baylor University is an innovative project,” explains Stardust Creative Director/Co-Owner Seth Epstein, “in that we were asked to work with every kind of image you can imagine — from stills, to archival footage to footage shot on RED. We wanted to create an integrated, seamless and emotional piece. To do that, we wanted the piece to feel human and have the feel of a physical touch versus being digital or cold. We also filmed light, dust, and type elements in our studio, which we then blended into the footage and gave it a magical quality. Now, with all of the technology we use to create pieces, it’s important to mix analog techniques in to achieve looks that can't be accomplished any other way.”

    Stardust Art Director Angela Ko adds that the concepts of “Missions” that Proof Advertising brought to the Stardust creative team for the Baylor project was “inspiring to our creative process in so many ways.” She continues: “Our goal was to create a cinematic narrative to complement the writing and principles of Baylor University, which carries so much humanity and heart. We approached this piece in a way that a Curator would curate an art exhibition — where there is one overall concept and theme, but a range of different pieces composed using different mediums. We wanted to re-contextualize the library of images and footage that was provided by Baylor and sew it together to create one grand picture. Working on this project has brought renewed insight and excitement about what purpose we have as individuals. We hope this piece will have the same impact on the person who watches it.”

    Credits:
    Client: Baylor University
    Advertising Agency: Proof Advertising, Austin, USA
    Creative Director: Craig Mikes,
    Associate Creative Director: George Ellis
    Associate Creative Director: Rob Story
    Account Director: Sparky Witte,
    Executive Producer: Vicki Russell,
    Broadcast Intern: Danny Nouri

    Production/Design/Animation Company: Stardust
    Managing Director/Co-Owner: Dexton Deboree
    Creative Director/Co-Owner: Seth Epstein
    Executive Producer: Blythe Dalton Klippsten
    Producer: Paul Winze
    Art Director/Senior Designer: Angela Ko
    2D Animators: Sandy Chang, Mark Kim, Taekyu Kim
    Compositors: Sandy Chang, Mark Kim, Taekyu Kim

  • Scion FR-S "Bringing the Sport Back to the Car" TV Commercial

    Scion and global creative agency ATTIK are literally putting the pedal to the metal in the youth-focused automotive brand's national cross-media launch campaign for the all-new, 200hp, rear-wheel drive 2013 Scion FR-S sports coupe. Today, the brand and agency executives are very proud to detail their new "Driving is Back" campaign, which is currently debuting numerous advertising placements across the country. "Scion is extremely excited about the launch of the FR-S," said Jack Hollis, Vice President, Scion. "The rear-wheel drive sports car is the brand's halo car that pound-for-pound and dollar-for-dollar, is igniting the passions of a whole new group of driving enthusiasts.

    Together with our partners at ATTIK, we are absolutely thrilled to kick-off the campaign inviting everyone to rediscover the fun of driving with the FR-S." "In this campaign, the radical new FR-S itself is first and foremost," began ATTIK co-founder and executive creative director Simon Needham. "To us, there are very few exciting cars out there that are also practical on some level… and the FR-S gets great gas mileage while maximizing performance. So naturally, our campaign demonstrates the power and handling of this amazing car – most often in the hands of drifting champ and renowned racing driver Ken Gushi, who drove the car in many of the exciting driving scenes. Across every campaign facet, our overall goals are to excite, inspire, drive people to explore the FR-S online and get them into dealerships and behind the wheel." The "Driving is Back" campaign was conceived by ATTIK's creative director Ron Lim, art director Mike Cornell and copywriter Andy Sciamanna, and its out-of-home elements are now live in 40 locations in 26 major U.S. markets.
    Today, the first of three: 30 spots will break… not only on young adult-targeted cable outlets where viewers are accustomed to seeing Scion ads, but also via NBCU syndication, and on NBC, Fox and every major sports network. First comes "Bringing the Sport Back to the Car," which will begin and end a three-month TV buy. Different campaign spots will appear between June 25 and August 5, and more video ads (all commercials and videos were directed by Needham) will run on the brand's social media channels and website well into September. In print, the first spreads will begin to appear mid-June in Sports Illustrated, Maxim, Motor Trend, and Men's Journal, among many others. Banner placements are also blanketing most standard and some new targets for the brand starting today. "Since the FR-S is Scion's biggest push into the sport coupe market yet, we wanted to extend our reach beyond our typical media channels," Lim explained. "This car already has a lot of buzz around it, and we are aiming to build on that excitement. Of course, television is still a powerful mass medium. We also chose mainstream automotive pubs for the first time. Our campaign is much heavier in details than usual as well. We're psyched about our specs and so are the automotive tastemakers; it was important to reach enthusiasts this time out. Andy and Mike really sold the experience of driving the FR-S." Lim also shared insights into some of the more innovative media tactics the campaign will introduce in July. "We're also using smartphone apps to invite readers to watch the FR-S in action through Digimarc codes embedded in the print. Using their smart phones, consumers will be able to peek under the hood of the FR-S and see it in action. This is a great way to feature the very emotional driving experience within a static print ad." According to Lim, Scion and ATTIK chose Digimarc technology due to its successful integration with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue earlier this year, citing its track record, its powerful security features, and its ability to seamlessly present video as part of the agency's print ad, which is entitled Video Test Drive. That ad is scheduled to run in the July 9 issue of Sports Illustrated. Finally, Scion's and ATTIK's executives are also putting the finishing touches on a powerful iAd that will appear in targeted apps for the iPhone and iPad and allow viewers to view videos and explore more features of the FR-S in amazing detail.
    The brand and agency once again have many leading technology, creative, production and post-production partners to thank for their campaign contributions. Among those are commercial production company Blueyed Pictures, editorial company Lost Planet, CGI/VFX company Brewster Parsons, and music company Squeak E. Clean Productions. For ATTIK, additional credits include senior broadcast producer Patty Lum and senior account manager Michelle O'Hea, to name but a few.
    Credits:

    Client: Scion
    Advertising Agency: ATTIK U.S.
    Executive Creative Director: Simon Needham
    Creative Director: Ron Lim
    Art Director: Mike Cornell
    Copywriter: Andy Sciamanna
    Sr. Broadcast Producer: Patty Lum
    Production Company: Blueyed Pictures
    Director: Simon Needham
    Directors of Photography: Brooks Guyere, Daniel Ardilley
    Executive Producer: Jamee Natella
    Producer: Jon Goldberg
    Editorial Company: Lost Planet
    Editor: Saar Klein
    Executive Producer: Gary Ward
    Producer: Jaclyn Paris
    Graphics/VFX/Finishing Company: Brewster Parsons
    Executive Producer: Darcy Parsons
    Producer: Rebekah Koerbel
    CG Artists: Denis Gauthier, Vonetta Taylor
    Music/Sound Design Company: Squeak E. Clean Productions

  • Ten By Fotolia Season 2 — Soongyu Gwon "Lifestyle"

    Ten By Fotolia Season 2 — Soongyu Gwon "Lifestyle"

    Sci-fi fantasy meets Greek mythology in this month's TEN by Fotolia design. Consumed with a passion for art and design, Soongyu Gwon, who works as a Creative Director at D.FY Inc. Design Group in Seoul (South Korea), defines himself as a "digital image maker".The work and style of this man, who is above all in search of the deeper meaning in things, materializes in his ultra-graphic, perfectly mastered works. Inspired and enriched by Korea's 5,000 years of history, as well as traditional asian culture, and being close to nature, his compositions also show the influence of contemporary arts: comics, fantasty and horror movies are Soongyu Gwon's favorite genres since he saw Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive" in high school.

    Two videos, both with subtitles in 12 languages, were shot in South-Korea. The one revealing his everyday world will be available as a sneak preview on the dedicated TEN Facebook page, from February 6th. The one unveiling his work techniques will be available on release day, February 8th, on the Youtube TEN Collection channel

    Credits:
    Directed by Gang Corporate
    Director / Editor / Colorist: Pavle Savic
    Music / Sound Design: Axel Guenoun
    Motion Design: Mister Gü

  • Lexus Unveils The Lexus Fashion Workshop

    Lexus Unveils The Lexus Fashion Workshop

    In an artistic twist on recycling, Lexus challenged four of today's most exciting designers to create innovative fashion items using parts from the Lexus CT 200h (a car that is 90 percent recyclable). The designers created jewelry, clothing, shoes and a very dramatic and Gaga-esque headpiece from gaskets, floor mats and hose clamps.

    The Lexus Fashion Workshop will appear in the January 2012 issue of Vogue, on newsstands this week.

    Elevating the notion of recycling to an art form, Lexus challenged four of fashion’s most inventive designers to rethink their notions of automotive design for an advertising campaign to appear in Vogue. Using some of the more than 2,000 individual parts of a completely dismantled Lexus CT hybrid, a vehicle that is 90 percent recyclable*, the designers created fashionable works of art as part of The Lexus Fashion Workshop.

    From crank bearings to exhaust gaskets, the designers took on the challenge with verve, turning some of the best engineered auto parts into innovative fashion accessories – all while driving home the beauty of recycling.

    ·“Environmental Crown of Virtue”—A truly head-turning piece designed by Moss Lipow using a transmission starter and exhaust manifold gasket.
    ·“The Valve Collection”—Designed by jewelry creator Eddie Borgo using valve lifters, crank bearings and hose clamps.
    ·“Nomadic Sanctuary”—A sleek trench coat, shorts and clutch designed by John Patrick, featuring floor mats made from plant-based plastic, sustainable sound-dampening material, wire harness, leather seat covers and cargo covers
    · “The Luna Shoe”—Created by Alejandro Ingelmo using armrest leather trim and clear plastic tubing.

    “Merging the worlds of luxury automobiles, art and fashion is another example of how Lexus is 'Engineering Amazing' or maybe more appropriately, 'Engineering Unexpected',” said Brian Smith, vice president of marketing for Lexus. “We were able to challenge four designers to turn one of our most progressive hybrid vehicles into innovative fashion pieces, inspiring the designers, and the world, to see things differently.”

    The four pieces will be highlighted in a six-page advertisement in the January 2012 issue of Vogue.Behind-the-scenes videos of the Lexus CT hybrid being dismantled piece-by-piece are available at Vogue.com/Promotions/Lexus. Additionally, a series of exclusive interviews with the four designers will be posted throughout December.
    More here.

  • New Perrier "Secret Place" Campaign Is Part Movie, Digital, Social and A Brilliant Interactive Experience

    New Perrier "Secret Place" Campaign Is Part Movie, Digital, Social and A Brilliant Interactive Experience

    Here is a sneak peek into The Perrier Secret Place campaign that brilliantly combines modern day marketing strategies. We received our preview invite kit today which included the stamp to get in, and we were also given a special invite code to share with our visitors here at Great-Ads, find it and the link after the campaign Q&A's and credits below.

    Perrier Secret Place Premise: If you were at a Secret and Exclusive party and you wanted to party as long as possible, you’d make sure you were as refreshed as possible. And no one can throw a party and ensure you are refreshed to party as long as you can like Perrier.

    Q. Tell us about this latest digital initiative for Perrier?
    Perrier Secret Place puts you in the shoes of a guest who goes to a very very special evening party. A hidden place in an alley in Paris, behind a laundry mat. An evening where all guests will have the opportunity to live their craziest fantasies. And you'll have the best seat in the house to enjoy since all the characters that you see on the screen are clickable. With one click you find yourself in their skin. Living their fantasy.

    Q. How did you come up with this idea?
    We started from the following insight: drinking Perrier during the evening party is the best way to take full advantage of all the opportunities available to you… and until the end of the night. In Secret Place, not only are you at the Ultimate Party living out the experience of the Ultimate Party Guest from the beginning, but you also live out the ultimate evening of 60 other guests who are in the apartment.

    Q. And there is something to win, right?
    Yes. At the ultimate party, we’ve hidden a very special bottle of Perrier. 5 clues are hidden in the rooms of the apartment. They will lead you to the bottle where you are entered into a drawing to win an exclusive invitation to the wildest night of the world party in St Tropez, New Year in Sydney, Miami Art Basel, Carnival in Rio and the closing of the season Ibiza. Only the most experienced gamers will succeed, believe me... Among thousands of different scenarios during the evening, only one leads to the bottle.

    Q. So, it’s a game or an interactive film?
    Both! This project mixes Brand Entertainment and Gaming. We produced 1 hour and 20 minutes of content that allows all users to experience a unique evening scenario. We also used digital interactivity to inject this dimension of Gaming. This involves the quest of finding the bottle and the opportunity to live the lives of all guests by clicking on them.

    Q. Why Secret Place?
    This was inspired by the emerging phenomenon of speak easy. A party venue at the rear façade that has absolutely nothing to do with the place. This is quite in line with Perrier. Completely unexpected.

    Q. How are you using social networks to amplify this experience?
    In partnership with the agency Buzzman, we worked on a social strategy:
    Become a fan on Perrier Facebook and regularly you will get tips to find clues that will lead you to the secret Perrier bottle. We'll give you a little tip. Slip into the skin of the young man who looks through the keyhole and live out his fantasy. Or play a game of "Pillow Fight" (Sounds weird, but it is Perrier!)

    Q. How will the experience function on the mobile?
    We have specifically developed an application that runs on iPhone / Android / iPad. This is not a replication of the desktop experience but a concept designed for specifically for the mobile device. By downloading the application you enter the rooms of the Perrier apartment and you can navigate through each room. The challenge: find the Secret hidden bottle of Perrier in the apartment.

    Q. What was the biggest challenge to pull off this experience?
    This is the most ambitious project to carry. We spent 18 months writing lots and lots of different scenarios. Produced a film in which we choreographed each scene so that it is connecting with one another when the user clicks on the characters. Sound design work has also been a real challenge. Imagine having to reproduce the sound of a bottle on a bar as many times as there are people in the room who can hear it.

    Q. Where will Secret Place be launched?
    The experience will be available worldwide but open to 20 countries to play in the major markets for Perrier France, United States and Canada. This is the first time that Perrier launches a project of this magnitude in the United States. The challenge is enormous. Positioning is also a little different there. Much more premium. We really hope that the French touch--its audacious content-- is embraced well there.

    Q. What results do you expect?
    There is a counter on the site that counts the number of lives that all users worldwide will live on the site. 1 life = 1 click on a character. I want to hear from Perrier that this idea made 10 million lives by the end of week five of the experience’ launch.

    Q. How is this truly innovative?
    We believe Secret Place is truly a digital first. Not because it’s the first time you can click on something and enter into his point of view. But, the ambition was really to say: Imagine you enter in any movie theater, have the quality screenwriting and the direction of cinema but also to have permanent control over the course of the story.

    Q. What kind of partner did you work with to make this type of project?
    Fighting Fish is our production partner based in Paris. This is the first time that we’ve made a digital experience for Perrier conducted by the French. This is an opportunity to remind the world that France is in a good position on Digital Excellence.

    Beyond the fact that Fighting Fish is based in Paris, it was able to fulfill the requirements demanded by this project. The team assembled to deliver this feature was made up of an interactive-hybrid. On the team was Lawrence King, the director of the experience and who is currently working on his own film. Arnaud XXX is the production designer and there were the script writers. Franck Marchal oversaw the sound design – having conducted several reputable orchestras before working with us. Fighting Fish puts digital at the heart of its "production thinking" and Ogilvy Paris thinks the same way. This allows a real synergy between the film's producers and those who are thinking through its interactivity.

    Q. Why is Secret Place the right creative approach for Perrier now?
    Digital and social are playing an increasing role in Perrier's Communications strategy. They have an important, specific role: communicating the edgier, younger, hottest facet of the brand. Reaffirming that Perrier is a must have brand and product when it comes to partying and socialising. And proving, again and again, that the brand loooooves creativity, surprise and inventiveness. This is what Secret Place brilliantly does in my mind. – Benoit de Fleurian, Managing Director | Ogilvy&Mather Advertising.
    The digital space has opened up a new opportunity for brands. It's solved a contradiction that exists in the real world. Physically, you can't make an exclusive experience accessible to everybody. But with Secret Place, that's exactly what we've achieved. We give people the opportunity to live an experience they wouldn't normally live, but have always dreamed about. Like those exclusive parties you've always longed to be invited to. And thanks to Perrier, you can live it not once, but multiple times, through the eyes of multiple characters. This is an idea that is only possible thanks to the technology we have at our disposal today, and a bit of creative thinking. — Chris Garbutt, Chief Creative Officer | Ogilvy&Mather Paris, Group

    Q. The Director is who? And why did you choose this director?
    Laurent King. We chose him because of his ability to manage this kind of project: half movie, half digital and interactive experience. It's really important to have this kind of new director that knows how to direct with all the constraints that a digital experience impose.

    Q. Where did you shoot and tell me one challenge with organizing the shoot or a challenge that arrived at the shoot? How did you overcome the challenge?
    We filmed in an amazing appartement in Paris that was almost a piece of art by itself. We loved the parisian kind of architecture of it, with lovely rooms, very different to each other. It's very rare to find a place with different moods and atmosphere in it. Moreover, we were looking for a place where you can imagine secret parties happening in it. The biggest challenge was to choreograph all the action of the 60 guests. It was a real challenge because every character had a link to each other in terms of scenario.

    Q. Is there a music track?
    The track of the experience is played live by the group called "TOYZ".

    Q. Would love to hear from one of the party-go’ers at this Ultimate Party...
    The Host: All Secret Places have their secrets. You understand why I'll keep this one...

    Credits:
    Secret Place, a campaign imagined by Ogilvy, produced by Fighting fish while Buzzman was in charge of the Social Media and PR strategy.
    Format: Digital/Brand Entertainement
    Chief Creative Officer: Chris Garbutt
    Creative Director: Frederic Levron, Thierry Chiumino
    Copywriter: Baptiste Clinet, Nicolas Lautier, Florian Bodet
    Art Director: Baptiste Clinet, Nicolas Lautier, Florian Bodet, Chris Rowson,
    Global Business Leader: Constance Capy Baudeau
    Account Supervisor: Stanislas Vert
    Film Producer: Diane de Bretteville
    Digital producer: Hugo Diaz, Cyril Duval, Sandra Petrus
    Production company: Fighting Fish, Olivier Dormerc, Cyril Couve de Murvil, Adrien Moisson, Benjamin Przelspolewski
    Sound Design: Le COMPTOIR DU SON / Franck MARCHAL & Alexandre POIRIER
    Film Director: Laurent King
    Story development: Olivier Domerc
    Story editor: Benjamin Bloch
    Production manager: Caroline Petruccelli
    Production designer: Arnaud Roth
    Director of Photography: Frédéric Martial Wetter
    Line Producer: Vincent RIVIER
    Location manager: Timothée TALANDIER
    Main title music: Toys
    Client: NWFB head of marketing and category, Muriel Koch. Sparkling Brand Director, Fabienne Bravard. Perrier International Brand Manager Armelle Roulland
    Social Media & ePR Strategy Buzzman:
    Georges Mohammed-Chérif (CEO & DC)
    Hubert Munyazikwiye (Head of Social Media & PR)
    Nicolas David (Social Media Manager)

    Visit www.perriersecretplace.com and use the invite code "PE757 " enjoy the party.

  • What Are The Sevens? Promo Trailer

    What Are The Sevens? Promo Trailer

    The Sevens, launched today on Secret Location’s website, is a multi-layered narrative experience will also live online at www.whatarethesevens.com and can be enjoyed on a number of levels: as a short film, an interactive game or a fully immersive mystery in which users can participate.

    “The interactive film is the start of a larger narrative that we’ll continue to build on over the next year and beyond,” explains company founder James Milward. “A lot of the time the most experimental ideas we have aren’t appropriate or are too risky to hinge the success of our clients on. As a result, we built this experience as a sandbox for us to play in and experiment with ideas, techniques and technology in a way that will prove concept with real users.”

    For the past four years, Secret Location has produced several experimental interactive experiences, including Rookie Blue: Interrogation Room, Stanfield’s Guy At Home and Endgame Interactive, which won an International Digital Emmy® in 2012. The Sevens begins with a phone call and contains three puzzles for viewers to solve. In a suburban home, a young girl named Julie is confronted with a series of mysterious symbols that, once arranged in a particular order, unlock a phone number and passcode. If users solve the puzzles and dial the number, they are taken deeper into the story’s narrative by being given a chance to solve one final puzzle in order to reveal an alternative ending.

    “The nature of the story is that it keeps drawing you in further and further, making you more vulnerable. It’s the classic Alice In Wonderland rabbit hole scenario,” says Pietro Gagliano, creative director and partner at Secret Location. “We want people to feel shaken up by how deeply immersive the experience feels at the end.” The idea evolved from Secret Location’s portfolio launch four years ago. Set up as a Choose Your Own Adventure-type narrative, the site drove 120,000 people through the portfolio in the first three months. Incidentally, the designers posted a phone number on the bottom of the site for potential clients to call but visitors assumed it was part of the game. “We received nearly 100,000 phone calls in the first six months,” says Gagliano. “Suffice it to say, it was annoying but it did give us an idea and proved that people would call if we asked them to – or even if we didn’t ask them to.”

    The team began brainstorming and writing The Sevens in November 2011 with writer/filmmaker José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço and production began in February 2012. Now that it’s live, the creative team intends to grow the story, add new characters and create related content that can live on other sites, such as YouTube. Secret Location has already rolled out several real world elements connected to The Sevens. In tandem with the site launch, cryptic posters featuring characters from the film and chalk stencils of the mysterious symbols and the URL have begun appearing in select cities across North America, including Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. “We’d love to keep adding elements to this narrative,” says Gagliano. “That’s why we created an open invitation at the end of the experience for the user to contribute ideas.” “This is really not the end,” adds Milward. “It’s just the beginning of a growing story eco-system and mythology that we’re creating around The Sevens.”

    About Secret Location: Secret Location is an Emmy® Award-winning interactive agency that launches products and solves problems through storytelling for brands, broadcasters and producers. Just four years old, the company is a three-time Webby Awards honoree, was shortlisted for a 2011 Cannes Lion and is a Gemini, AToMiC, Creativity International, CASSIES and Marketing Awards winner. Secret Location is based in Toronto, Canada, and is led by President/Executive Producer James Milward. http://www.thesecretlocation.com/

    Credits:
    Created by Secret Location
    Executive Producer: James Milward
    Creative Director & Lead Designer: Pietro Gagliano
    Technical Director: Ryan Andal
    Project Manager: Ashlee Lougheed
    Art Director: Stefan Grambart
    Graphic Designer: Kai Salminen
    Editing & Motion Graphics: Steve Miller
    Assistant Editor: Michael Kazanowski
    Web Developers: Gino Fazari, Michael Phan, Paul Stodolak
    Music & Sound Design: Lodewijk Vos & Joseph Murray
    Cast– In Order of Appearance
    Dad: David Straus
    Julie: Elle McFeeters
    Dog: Pearl
    Mom: Jennifer Fullerton
    Written By: José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço & Secret Location
    Directed By: José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço
    Director of Photography: Henry Less
    Assistant Director: Billy Shand
    Line Producer: Luke Bryant
    Assistant Camera: Nick Giordano
    Gaffer: Dave Lewis
    Art Director: Michael Leach
    Set DResser: Dylan Jackson
    Sound Recordist: Edward Senkowski
    Hair & Makeup: Margot Keith
    Wardrobe Stylist: Sarah Millman
    Production Assistant: Derek Modesto
    Contributors:
    Adam Drake
    Adam Park
    Ann Marie Donnelly
    CJ Hervey
    Graham Budd
    Jenn Hartnoll
    Jory Krüspe
    Josh Manricks
    Kathryn Rawson
    Noora Abu Eitah
    Sabrina Saccoccio

  • Reebok Skyscape Runaround featuring Miranda Kerr

    Reebok Skyscape Runaround featuring Miranda Kerr

    DDB New York just launched a new global campaign, featuring supermodel Miranda Kerr, for Reebok's new Skyscape shoe...and looks looks stunning in it.

    Official Press: Reebok, the fitness brand at the center of women’s footwear innovations for more than 30 years, today revealed its new campaign with international supermodel Miranda Kerr for its new shoe, Skyscape. Created using new materials and techniques for a feeling of unparalleled comfort, the international style icon kicks off a global integrated marketing campaign for the shoe, which is so comfortable, you’ll forget you have it on.

    An everyday shoe for active and casual wear, Skyscape features 360 degrees of foam comfort in a fun, flirty silhouette that pairs perfectly with jeans, skirts or yoga pants. The challenge behind Skyscape was to create a stylish shoe that would keep women comfortable when they are on their feet all day running errands, meeting friends, commuting to work or going to the gym. Rather than just thinking about comfort underneath the foot, Reebok wanted the foot to be enveloped in comfort. In the research and development phase, Reebok looked to other industries for inspiration. For the pillow-like design of the sole of the shoe, the inspiration came from the home furnishings industry, while for the upper, the inspiration came from the lingerie industry – and specifically, molded foam bras.

    The Skyscape upper is crafted using the same manufacturing techniques and processes as molded foam bras, but using materials that have been optimized for the stresses and strains placed on the feet all day. The seamless, 2-way stretch material creates a soft, comfortable envelope around the top and sides of the foot, while allowing for natural foot movement and breathability. The sole of the shoe resembles cloud-like pillows, and provide cushioning, comfort and flexibility for all-day comfort. The flirty lace-up silhouette comes in a broad range of colors to match any outfit or mood.

    A fully integrated marketing campaign featuring style icon Miranda Kerr will launch the shoe, which hits retail outlets globally in March. With TV, print, retail, PR an digital components, the campaign works on all channels to demonstrate the way Skyscape feels and will have women everywhere wondering about the shoe that’s so comfortable, you’ll forget you have it on. Both the film and static elements of the campaign playfully center on this idea and were brought to life by legendary fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon, who captured the static imagery, and famed music video director Dave Myers who shot the TVC. DDB New York is the creative agency behind the campaign.

    “I’m on the move all day so it’s important to have a pair of shoes that balance comfort, style and practicality,” said Miranda Kerr. “My Skyscape shoes are a wardrobe staple that come with me everywhere I go, they’re the perfect in-between shoe to wear to work, running errands or to the gym, and because they’re lightweight and compact they’re also great for travel. Skyscapes come in a range of fashionable colors so there’s a pair for every outfit!”

    Martina Jahrbacher, Head of Reebok Walking, commented, “Reebok has a rich heritage in developing product especially for women and of looking outside of the footwear industry for the newest techniques, and I am proud to say that we have done it again with Skyscape. It took us more than two years to complete this shoe, as we were dedicated to creating a shoe that will perfectly support our active female consumer and, at the same time, was unlike any other shoe in the industry. At Reebok, we’re constantly looking for new ways to develop the best footwear and the innovative processes we’ve incorporated to develop Skyscape have created a shoe that you really have to try on to believe.”

    Creative Credits:
    Ad Agency: DDB New York
    Campaign: “Layers Off”
    Client: Reebok
    Product: SkyScape
    Celebrity Spokesperson: Miranda Kerr

    Chief Creative Officer: Matt Eastwood
    Creative Director, Art: Mariana Costa
    Creative Director, Copy: Julie Beasley
    Head of Production: Ed Zazzera
    Senior Producer: Heidi Baltzer
    Senior Business Manager: Lynda Blaney-Smith
    Global Business Director: Chris Tussing
    Management Supervisor: Damaris Marszalek
    Account Supervisor: Amanda Foderaro

    Production Company: Radical Media
    Director: Dave Meyers
    Executive Producer: Jim Bouvet, Maya Brewster
    Head of Production: Frank Dituri
    Producer: Carla Tate

    Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors
    Editor: Mikkel Neilsen
    Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum

  • IKEA 2013 | Bright Shiny Colours Advert

    IKEA 2013 | Bright Shiny Colours Advert

    Press:
    IKEA, the leading home furnishing company, today announces the launch of a new cross-platform advertising campaign titled ‘Bright, shiny colours’, which aims to inspire the nation to bring life into their homes with inspiring new home furnishing solutions available in-store this autumn season.
    The campaign coincides with the launch of the new 2013 IKEA Catalogue and launches with a TV advert in the UK and Ireland on September 8, during the ‘X-Factor’ on ITV1. Three versions of the advert have been produced and include 60” and 30” adverts that run until October 7, as well as a full length two-minute ‘music video’ running exclusively online at http://www.youtube.com/ikeauk.
    The ‘Bright Shiny Colours’ advert, created by the agency Mother, tells the story of a woman who goes on a magical journey through the new IKEA Catalogue. The woman’s home starts out in beige and white before we see her step ‘through the catalogue’ and into a Technicolor IKEA showcase full of inspiring designs. When she emerges from the other side she has bags of inspiration to transform her home.

    The advert is shot like a music video and pays homage to great dance sequences from the films Flashdance and Singin’ in the Rain, as well as the legendary Top of the Pops dance troupe Pan’s People. The music, ‘Bright Shiny Colours’ was originally a Shirelles track, but was given a modern re-working by quirky band 99 Trees.
    The campaign will be supported by other activities in owned media platforms including the IKEA FAMILY loyalty programme, the IKEA Website and in-store communication, as well as through earned media with PR activities.
    Peter Wright, IKEA UK and Ireland Marketing Manager, said, “With the new season approaching we adapt our homes to make them cosier as more time is spent out of the cold. But that doesn’t mean our homes have to look and feel the same all year around. We want our new campaign to demonstrate that it’s easy and affordable to bring new life into your homes, through showcasing in a fun and surprising way the many new products and solutions we have available in the new Catalogue and our 19 stores, which will ultimately give them a reason to reconnect with IKEA.”
    The campaign was developed with the new functionality of the 2013 IKEA Catalogue in mind, which now includes a range of extra interactive content. Readers can use their smart-phone to get even more inspiration when holding it over the page, for example looking behind closed doors, changing curtains or even viewing demo films, pictures and 3D content, all accessible by using the IKEA ‘app’ for Iphone and Android.
    Freddy Mandy, a creative at Mother, said: “We got excited by the bright, colourful new range of IKEA products and wanted to make a film that showcased them in an exciting way. Working with David Wilson and 99 Trees allowed us to make something that feels fun and energetic. It brings to life what we think it would be like to take a trip through the new IKEA Catalogue.”
    IKEA also recently updated its website, www.IKEA.com, with a mobile version as a result of increased mobile traffic to the site. Customers can browse products, create shopping lists, find the latest offers and locate their nearest store with the updated user-friendly mobile site.
    Credits:
    Creative Agency: Mother
    Art Director: Mother
    Copywriter: Mother
    Planner: Mother
    Agency Producer: Mother
    Director: David Wilson
    Production Co.: Blink Ink
    Producer: Patrick Craig
    Editor: James Rose
    Editing House: Cut & Run
    Post Production: MPC
    Animators & Illustrator: Jonathan Harris, Michael Zauner and Nick Edwards
    Audio post-production: Sam Ashwell @ 750mph
    Sound Design: Sam Ashwell @ 750mph
    DoP: Marc Gomez Del Moral

  • The Art Of Raw — G-Star Denim Campaign

    The Art Of Raw — G-Star Denim Campaign

    G-Star Denim new Spring/Summer 2013 campaign 'The Art of RAW' animated video is not what we've been use to seeing to seeing in typical denim ads. The campaign captures the G-Star fascination with the many facets of RAW in unexpected combinations, as seen in the Skeleton Dog art object within the campaign and the artist collaboration with electronic dance music producer Skrillex.

    Accompanying the Art of RAW video is a custom created track created by electronic dance music producer Skrillex. He is a natural fit for the artist collaboration; RAW talent, self-made digital music pioneer and genuine fan of the G-Star Elwood denim. Currently Skrillex is packing stadiums with his signature sound, "a mixture of dubstep, electro-house and fidget," in the words of the producer. G-Star appreciates Skrillex as a RAW talent who has developed in a range of disciplines, from lead-singer, to solo artist, to producer with his own record label.

    The video, ending with the G-Star signature Skeleton Dog, celebrates a passion for denim craftsmanship and its unlimited possibilities. Known for innovating 3D design in denim, G-Star and the brand's designers continually seek to pioneer new construction techniques, fabric treatments and denim creations through experimentation with the RAW Art Series, including the Skeleton Dog centrepiece. By looking outside and beyond the world of fashion, G-Star is able to uncover and apply new concepts within the medium of modern denim.

  • "Emily's Story" for the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada

    "Emily's Story" for the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada

    “Emily’s Story” is the true story of a child’s life threatening illness and the joy Children’s Wish Foundation brought to her and her family’s life. Beautifully animated by Crush, "Emily's Story" is one film in a campaign for the Children’s Wish Foundation via KBS+P Toronto and sponsored by Gravol.

    The creative team at KBS+P Toronto, copywriter Cristina Simonetto and art director John Roberton, developed a wonderful, gentle script before looking for an animation company to bring it to life. The team at Crush team jumped at the opportunity to contribute to such poignant story, and were excited to participate in a project that not only bought a children’s story to life, but also raised awareness for such an amazing cause.

    Crush’s Julia Deakin designed Emily and all the characters, and worked with Crush’s Yoho Yue and Jullian Ablaza to bring Emily’s world to life. Jullian worked with talented illustrators, Ashley Barron and Flavia Lopez to create the world using a mix of paper and other media.

    Yoho Yue and Joel Tellier rigged and animated the characters, with subtlety and sensitivity to Emily’s story. The team at Apollo Music took the pictures and added a beautiful, haunting score.

    Everyone who touched the project was profoundly moved by Emily’s story and are so proud of the final piece.

    Every child should enjoy a life full of laughter, shared joy, and memories with the people they love. Since 1984, The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada has granted over 17,000 wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. Children’s Wish is proud of its tradition of never refusing a wish to an eligible child. The maker of Gravol has been proudly supporting Children’s Wish since 2008, helping kids like Emily.

    Donations to the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada can be made on Gravol’s site: http://gravol.ca/en/highlights/the-children’s-wish-foundation-of-canada/

    Credits:
    Agency: KBS+P, Toronto
    Creative Director: Dan Pawych
    Senior Art Director: John Roberton
    Copywriter: 
Cristina Simonetto
    Broadcast Producer: 
Clare Cashman
    Account Supervisor
: Adam McClare
    Account Executive: Paige Heathcote
    Animation and Visual Effects: Crush
    Creative Director: Gary Thomas
    Senior Designer & Animator
: 
Yoho Yue
    Senior Designer & Animator
: 
Julia Deakin
    Designer & Animator
: Jullian Ablaza
    Animator: Joel Tellier
    Illustrator & Assistant Animator: 
Ashley Barron
    Illustrator & Assistant Animator: Flavia Lopez
    Assistant Animator: Kyle Steffler
    Assistant Animator: Errol Colautti
    Senior Producer
: Janice Rebelo
    Executive Producer: Jo-ann Cook
    Music & Sound Design: Apollo
    Creative Director: Yan Dal Santo
    Sound Design: Harry Knazan
    Music Composers: Daenen Bramberger and Mike Wise
    via: GlossyInc.

  • The Lamborghini Project

    One of the world’s most elite (and expensive) cars recently became a canvas for the creative whims of the techie minds at The Media Merchants, a technology-driven production agency based in Vancouver.

    In November, the agency gathered influencers in the city’s creative, technology, design, advertising and automotive sectors for The Lamborghini Project, an exclusive audio-visual event centered around projection mapping onto a Lamborghini Reventon.

    At $1.5 million, the Reventon is the luxury automaker’s priciest road car. Only 20 have been produced and sold to the public. Using its raw, understated and angular exterior as inspiration, creative technical director Anthony Diehl and animator Stuart Langfield projection mapped a series of real-time visuals on to the vehicle’s dark grey, semi-matte finish.

    Initially, Media Merchants conceived The Lamborghini Project exclusively as a projection mapping experience but once they began the meticulous process of mapping animated images onto the car, they realized they had a one-of-a-kind opportunity to do something even more ‘live.’

    “One of the surprising and fun elements of the project was getting everything aligned perfectly and then discovering that we had a pretty awesome VJ setup sitting in front of us,” says Anthony Diehl, creative technical director on the project. “Although it wasn’t part of the original plan, we couldn’t help ourselves and took the opportunity to run a live VJ set with visuals created in real-time.”

    Diehl and Langfield developed the animated visuals using hybrid 3D and 2D techniques developed specifically for the purpose of projection mapping onto 3D objects. Working from the idea of ‘contrast,’ they sought to highlight the Reventon’s dark, moody and clean lines through a combination of predefined op-art imagery and improvised, real-time effects.

    “It’s a scalable technique, allowing us to add or remove projectors for the final execution depending on technical or budget considerations, even after the animated content has been produced,” explains Diehl. “We really tested out the extent of this process on the Lamborghini project and it worked beautifully.”

    The video content was created using MadMapper and Modul8 VJ software run off two Macbook Pro laptops networked together for playback sync and then plugged into three 7000 Lumen Panasonic projectors and one 6000 Lumen Christie Projector.

    For the music, Media Merchants turned to Mitch Lee of Redemption Audio for a soundtrack that contrasted pure and crisp strings, pianos and snyths with distorted percussion, dissonant noise and an ominous silence. The end result perfectly underscored The Lamborghini Project’s gorgeously subtle symmetry.

    Credits:
    Projection Mapping: The Media Merchants
    Creative Technical Director: Anthony Diehl
    Animation Director: Stuart Langfield
    Sound Design: Mitch Lee for Redemption Audio
    Post Production: JUMP Studios
    Videography: Perfect Pictures, Van Media
    Director of Photography: Dan Dumouchel
    Lamborghini Reventon: SR Auto Group
    via: GlossyInc.

  • DIRECTV Spot — Road Trip

    DIRECTV Spot — Road Trip

    When MJZ Director Rupert Sanders and Grey New York needed high-end VFX to bring a World War II epic, a medieval fantasy battle, and a bit of science fiction together in a new spot for DIRECTV, they turned to the team at MPC. The spot is a showcase of MPC’s impressive skillset and resources. The LA office led a team that included artists across MPC’s global family of studios, taking the project from rough concept design to photo-real rendering to flawless compositing.

    “This was one of those projects that only comes along once in a while,” noted MPC LA Managing Director Andrew Bell. “To help create three disparate and fantastic environments with such an incredible director and agency is a VFX team’s dream come true.”

    Acclaimed production designer Dominic Watkins (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, The Bourne Supremacy) and his art department helped MJZ transform a quiet canyon two hours north of Los Angeles into the otherworldly scenes. Working with MJZ’s footage of a battle scene populated with 50 extras in authentic military garb, Jeeps, a burnt-out half-track, derelict troop carriers, and a Sherman tank, MPC joined forces with the physical special effects experts at Full Scale Effects to help provide in-camera explosions and balloon lights to illuminate the vast canyon. MPC enhanced these elements in VFX as well as adding the parachute flare in CG.

    They also collaborated to create the computer-generated dragon and a spectacular live-action fireball of dragon’s breath. Watkins worked closely with Sanders to recreate the backdrop with several imaginative twists, including a matte painting, a gnarled tree reaching toward the moon from a built-up hill, and a valley rippling with trees, scorched earth, and the skeletons of fallen combatants. The spot’s samurai warrior was shot onsite with a high-speed Phantom camera and lit by glimmering heatwaves to match the CGI dragon.

    “One of our greatest challenges in this sequence was to have the dragon’s fireball interact with, but not touch, the warrior and his stallion,” said Mike Wynd MPC LA’s VFX Supervisor. “We solved this problem by digitally rearranging the scene to provide more distance between the two opponents with some of the live-action trees moved and foreground scrub added.”

    To create the UFO scene, a small second-unit MJZ team shot the car traveling down a darkened country road. MPC then added the computer-generated spaceship and digitally added light to the ground, the car, its shadows, and the surrounding scenery. The studio also added additional atmosphere and jolted the power poles and cables with an alien-induced shake.

    MJZ shot the plates of the back-seat observer with a green screen outside the windows and MPC composited the outside environments in afterward. MPC sealed the effort with interactive lighting in both the live-action and digitally enhanced segments.

    View the: 60 version below the credits.

    Credits:
    Client: DIRECTV
    Spot: “Road Trip”
    Air Date: May 2013
    Agency: Grey New York
    President/CCO: Tor Myhren
    Executive Creative Director: Todd Tilford
    Executive Creative Director: Perry Fair
    SVP Creative Director/AD: Denise O’Bleness
    Executive Producer: Andrew Chinich
    Associate Producer: Lindsay Myers
    VP Account Director: Tamar Arslanian
    VP Account Director: Beth Culley
    Production Company: MJZ
    Director: Rupert Sanders
    DOP: Greig Fraser
    Producer: Laurie Boccaccio
    Editorial Company: Work/Spotwelders
    Editor: Neil Smith
    VFX: MPC LA
    Managing Director: Andrew Bell
    VFX Supervisors: Franck Lambertz, Mike Wynd
    VFX Team: Ben Persons, Brendan Smith, Sharon Marcussen, Brinton Jaecks, Ryan Knowles, Mike Wynd, Ross Denner, Daniel Marsh, Fred Durand, Ian Wilson, Danny Wynne, John Cherniack