This is an interesting way to create animation that I haven’t seen before, they just use tape to create the sequences on a large empty wall space. They people behind it also created tape figures around New York of all the firefighters, plane passengers and office workers that dies on September 11th.
Here’s the teaser video for the latest Sony Bravia commercial that I blogged previously…
The latest Sony Bravia advert uses claymation and features hundreds of plasticine (Play-Doh out of interest) rabbits on the streets of New York (apparently chosen as a neutral and aspirational location for European audiences). The previous spots (Balls and Paint) have succeeded because unlike other studio shot ads for electronic goods they haven’t relied on any CG so audiences are impressed and intrigued by their creation. Apparently, during and after the ‘Balls’ campaign, Bravia’s market share increased by 50% and sales volume jumped by 125%.
The piece will uses 2.5 tonnes of Play-Doh on set, 40 animators are working on the three-week shoot and close to 200 two-foot-long bunnies are being used. It also takes four hours to generate four seconds of footage, and altogether the 60 minute ad spot will comprise around 100,000 stills.
The campaign has a similar feel to the Cadbury Gorilla ad as both campaigns have links to the brands in question (vivid, varied colour in motion for Sony and waiting for your Cadbury moment for Cadbury), but on top of that they have created more of an entertainment spectacle that will get people talking and it seems that at the moment it is these types of advertisement that create the most buzz amongst consumers as people are impressed by what they see as its not the same old style of ad.
The spot is set to air in October so no video to post yet but if previous ads are anything to go by it should be worth the short wait.
Sin City…
I know this advert has been out for a while now but I thought I’d post it as I appreciate the move away from “look how fast our car goes and how nice it looks,” towards a campaign that promotes the pure design concept. I feel that this simple message makes the product more unique and desirable as I imagine that people will assume that the car is some what superior as a result of the campaigns creativity. Also, the campaign features no image of the car, 3D solid, or 3D representation, simple the suggestion of form through a combination of lines, which is reminiscent of Prof Hann’s Design Theory lectures. Along with the TV spot the website is also worth checking out. Again their are no images of the car and you can create your own line rhythms. http://www.rhythmoflines.co.uk/
When watching Belleville Rendez-vous, I was reminded of another cartoon that I used to watch as I child called ‘The Cat Came Back.” With its hand drawn style, limited dialogue and the fact that it is also carried along by the soundtrack the two animations share similar qualities that make them both effective. I find it interesting that when compared with a Disney film for example the lines and shapes are static and move smoothly, whereas in this case, the edge of the sun and the main characters body and chin are continuously pulsating rhythmically creating a more visual experence, and when coupled with the audio and the cartoons compelling story, the result is a very entertaining and effective animation.
This is a french animated film that I saw last year. When I first heard about it I was relectant to watch it, but I can now say that I am glad I did. It was created by a French comic book artist, Sylvain Chome and although almost dialoge free, its rich detail and unique animation create caricatures of body shapes and characters, producing a dark, yet playful adventure involving the kidnap of a French Tour de France cyclist. He is taken to the town of Belleville created by art director Evgeni Tomov, which is a combination of New York, Montreal and Quebec. Along with little touches such as Bruno, the pet dog’s black and white dream sequences the elements of this chidrens animation create a stange, surreal, and entertaining film.
I saw this ad in this months Creative Review. I agree with the response written in the magazine that the ad is original amongst other toothpaste adverts which continuously show people satisfied with their newly transformed whiter than white teeth. I would also add that the style and music and whole ambience of the spot make it intriguing and very watchable, so even if for a different product (where this style may not be as original) this style of ad would probably be effective, providing of course, that it was still suited to the product.
Here are some videos by a group called ‘Fujiya & Miyagi’ the first is called ‘Collarbone’ and the video was created by John Davison. I like the simplicity as the calmness and simplicity of the song seems to make the childish style very appropriate and its interesting to see a childs drawings animated and layered up in such a way to create a sense of depth that children themselvse don’t create in their drawings.
I think this video, again by ‘Fujiya & Miyagi’ called ‘Ankle Injuries’ is quite nice. The pulsating movement of the domino animation works really well with the beat of the music, and it creates a compelling image, which takes the idea of pixellated images or lego characters that we’ve seen before, one step further.