The Blog

Below is the trailer for the film…

I recently watched Blade Runner for the first time and felt slightly underwhelmed by the plot as a whole which doesn’t appear to contain much of a rhythm that could carry a viewer along. I have read up on the film and apparently on its release it divided critics, had little success and pretty much disappeared before coming back as a science fiction cult classic. A Wikipedia article reads “Film critics were polarized as some felt the story had taken a back seat to special effects and that it was not the action/adventure the studio had advertised. Others acclaimed its complexity and predicted it would stand the test of time. Roger Ebert praised Blade Runner’s visuals and recommended it for that reason; however, he found the human story clichéd and a little thin. Ebert also found Tyrell’s character unconvincing and the apparent lack of security measures allowing Roy to murder him problematic. Also he believed the relationship between Deckard and Rachael seemed “to exist more for the plot than for them.”

Stylistically though I was very impressed with the film. There are strong elements of film noir in Blade Runner, for example there are the conventional femme fatale and hero, and also a first person narration. Blade Runner tackles the future implications of technology (genetic engineering) on the environment and society and the tension between past, present and future is apparent in the retrofitted future of Blade Runner, which is high-tech and gleaming in places but elsewhere decayed and old. The movie asks questions about the meaning and value of human life and what it is to really be human as ‘replicants’ with a restricted four year life span seek for it to be extended and the humans try to ensure that the ‘replicants’ stay on the ‘off-world colonies,’ killing any that come to earth. But as the movie develops, it is often the replicants that show more emotion when their fellow replicants die, than the humans do towards each other. The film also makes extensive use of eyes and manipulated images to call into question reality and our ability to perceive it. A soundtrack made up of a dark melodic combination of classic composition and futuristic synthesizers by Vangelis mirrors the film-noir retro-future of Los Angeles 2019.

I saw this ad in the paper on Friday and just thought “eh?” It was by the TV listings and 10:30 was the middle of Big Brother. Just now I have come across the TV campaign that the ad must have been referring too. Its by Juan Cabral who also worked on Sony’s Bravia Paint and Balls.

The gorilla patiently waits for his Cadbury moment and then begins to shine. I think its one of the best ideas I’ve seen recently and it made me laugh, which is always a good thing.

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Late addition…

I just found this advert for ABC’s new comedy Carpooler’s. Both use the same idea but after seeing the Gorilla, for me, the ABC ad just falls flat.

A nice advert for wind generated power. You may have worked it out before the end, but I think its a nice watch and entertaining all the way through, with the final idea being that the main character - the wind, needs to have something useful to occupy himself with - that being power generation. A good advert that is just as entertaining after the first view.

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/

I took this of the Graphics Blog (http://graphicslog.blogspot.com) posted by Alan. I really like it and its probably the kind of thing he would have done if he could. But it really hits home as it has such a believeble feel, and by ‘hearing’ the opinions of someone who has suffered the greatest impact of an illness the message is so much stronger.

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.

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.

This is a simple and fun ad, reminiscent of childhood and musical chairs. The race at the end coupled with the precision choreography makes the ad entertaining and enjoyable to watch.

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.