Nokia N900: “Focus Group”

Channeling the same rebel spirit as the recent Verizon adverts for the Motorola Droid, this viral for the Nokia N900 injects the nucleus of a narrative into what could be a fun campaign.

The turn to grittier aesthetics makes sense. Attempts to unseat the incumbent iPhone using the same glossy look as Apple only confuses customers; the trick is to differentiate the brands somehow. Trouble is, Nokia and Motorola have struck the same chord at more or less the same time.

The recently posted Droid “Stealth” spot directed by Rupert Sanders aims at creating the same sense of epic mystery as the Nokia N900 campaign, albeit with a much slicker production value. It’s the J.J. Abrams school of advertising, with phones instead of “mystery boxes.”

Who will win? At this point, it’s hard to say: but it seems that they’ll still be fighting for second place.

“Focus group” was directed by Jack Masters and conceived by agency Jack Morton. The Mill’s Bif (Fabrice Le Nezet, Jules Janaud and Francois Roisin) helmed the post-production efforts.

Thanks to Harm for the tip.

My God, It’s Full of Stars

It’s Thursday. You probably need a little pick-me-up to get through the week. How about this epic polychromatic music video that Buck has just directed for the Bravery?! Featuring geodesic spheres, tetrahedral pyramids and more lens flares than you can possibly comprehend, it’s sure to fix your late afternoon need for glowing, rainbow-filled sci-fi psychedelia.

Q&A with Buck and Credits:

Smilefaucet Screening/Release Party

If you’re in NYC next week, check out the DVD release party and screening for the 9th edition of Smilefaucet. There will be only one more ever so don’t miss it!

Fontana’s @ 105 Eldridge St. Between Broome & Grand
Wednesday, November 18th @ 7pm — Screenings @ 8:30pm & 10:00pm
$2 @ door

RSVP: info@smilefaucet.com

By and By by the Snorri Bros.

By and By is a new video that the Snorri Brothers directed for Lay Low, a fellow Icelandic artist. Using a simple visual motif that transforms everyday scenes into something recognizable, but totally different than what we’re used to seeing, the video features the first time use (that we’re aware of) of the Mini-Planet technique with timelapse live-action sequences shot around the world. The Snorri Brothers answered a few Questions for us about the making of the video.

Edit: A commenter alerted us of his own video using the technique to equally impressive and trippy effect here. Thanks Tak! As we mentioned this one was the first we were aware of, but I’m sure there are more out there, too …

Q&A and video

Johnny Kelly “Olympic Spirit”

Johnny Kelly’s “Olympic Spirit” spot effortlessly takes us on a delightful stream-of-consciousness iconographic journey. 2D/3D computer animation supplied a guide for each of the final frames, which were hand-cut and photographed to create subtle differences and imperfections.

From Johnny Kelly:
“This project was a lovely opportunity to engage with and contribute to the Olympic games. Being one of the least sporty people I know this was clearly my only way in. The animation is made up of 338 individual paper collages and I was lucky enough to work once more with Elin Svensson, who worked tirelessly to help create these.”

Rupert & Asylum Drop Droids

Verizon literally goes to war with its touch-screen competitors in this new spot for Droid. Brought to you by “author of epicness,” Rupert Sanders and VFX heavy-hitters, Asylum; this piece is a call-to-arms more than it is a commercial. Sure, we expected something like this with Rupert’s recent work for ODST. However, this treatment is unexpectedly refreshing for a phone.

I’m personally glad to see a brand whose image counters to the safety, lightness and warmth of some of our other recent hand-held devices. Congrats to mcgarrybowen for being bold enough to take a little risk with this launch in a time where everything is so safe.

Credits

Johnny Green and The Mill: Guinness “WORLD”

However you may believe the world was created, please allow Johnny Green, Knucklehead and the Mill to show your their version of the story.

Enter a team of rough-and-tumble, blue-collar craftsmen as they release the clouds and the sea, build the mountains and unleash the animals in an effort to explain how a true Guinness pour comes to life.

A nice piece of storytelling here from the production team at Knucklehead, helmed by director Johnny Green. The story is amplified to a beautiful level by seamless vfx work from the Mill, as their contributions give visual life to this concept.

Fumiko no Kokuhaku

Hailing from the land of the rising sun, this quirky independent short film is about the confession of Fumiko. It’s a simple plot but, extremely well executed and will be sure to raise a smile. I’m not entirely sure on what the girl says at the end, but if you are able to understand Japanese then we’d be super grateful for the translation.
The dialog at the beggining and at the end is the same. The girl asks “Would you like to go out with me ?” The boy answers “Sorry, I have to focus on baseball training …”

For more information and staff translation check out Catsuka.

Be sure to check out their amazing Making of to see all the storyboards, character development and research.

Credits

The Father

The Father is a new short film by Sticky Monster Lab, a collective of three artists from Seoul, South Korea. Presented in a split-screen format as if it is the pages of a book, it simultaneously tells the story of a father and son growing up and getting older, struggling with the pressure to succeed. The Father project also takes the shape of an actual book, poster, and vinyl figures of the main characters. Sticky Monster’s ongoing characters, The Monsters, also populate more of their work – including an epic sci-fi short The Monsters and The Runners for a little shoe company from Oregon.

I AM by Tronic

Tronic just finished up this beautiful personal spot, I AM, which aims to bring the voice of the animals back on to the human radar. As Tronic co-founder Vivian Rosenthal says in the attached interview, “they are becoming almost like walking ghosts that are just drifting through a manufactured landscape”.

The simplicity and technical slickness allow for the message to take the front seat, while still providing us with something beautiful and eye-catching to look at.

Sebeastien Agneessens recently sat down with Vivian Rosenthal and talked with a her about the conceptual side of the piece, which you can read here.