Spike TV - Mother

Spike wanted to announce their exclusive six-year contract to show all star wars films, so the question is - how do you get a universe of people who have already seen the movies to watch them again, only on TV?

Show men that Star Wars isn’t just the ultimate sci-fi saga featuring some of the most memorable characters of all time, but it’s also an invaluable resource for man knowledge. With every viewing, a guy can learn something new he can apply to his own life.

Rhapsody MP3 Store - Ad

Online music service Rhapsody has drafted Death Cab For Cutie for this ad featuring an instrumental snippet from the song "I Will Possess Your Heart," from the group's new Atlantic album, "Narrow Stairs."

"We're figuring out how to leverage the right music and the right single for the audience," says Neil Smith, VP of marketing for the Seattle-based Rhapsody. "It ties into our existing campaign but it also gives us the ability to leverage the star quality of the artists we work with."

Rhapsody has used a wide range of artists in its previous advertising, including 50 Cent, Sarah Bareilles, Jennifer Lopez and the Cool Kids.

VCCP - Binge Drinking Viral

VCCP have come up with a series of print, radio, TV, and a viral advert targeted at 18-24s with the strapline ‘you wouldn’t start a night like this so why end it this way.’

VCCP have created two different ads for both male and female drinkers as male and female behavior under the influence of alcohol is very different. The concept of showing people what they look like when they are drunk works as a reminder of how they might have behaved/what they would have looked like after a heavy night out.

Crest Toothpaste - Saatchi & Saatchi

Saatchi & Saatchi made this commercial for Crest toothpaste with the selling line: You can say anything with a smile.

From beginning to end, the spot is inventive and funny, and packed with subtle, hilarious touches. I like the use of odd-looking actors with real, uncosmetically enhanced teeth, for a start. In this ad the ending would be funny enough, but we get an additional detail: As she signs, the lawyer points below the line and says very gently, "and there." It's a powerhouse of economical comic dialogue and timing.

Even on the old paste-promoting medium of TV this is indeed a great example of "advanced creativity and innovation." It's enough to bring a smile to your face.

Christian Bale Is John Conner? Why?

When I first saw this trailer I thought 2 things. Why make a new terminator film when the Sarah Connor chronicles series failed in ratings, and with this franchise pretty much dead (terminated), why does Christian bale take on the risky role as John Connor when his career has skyrocketed after the Dark Knight. Only thoughts for this is a big pay out, injecting some stardom back into the story, or cashing up for good with one final film.

This trailer uses a lot of after effects tools such as Video Co-pilot’s Twitch for the flashing transitions where the sunburn oranges and red switch between each other.

Watchmen - Graphic Novel To Film

Warner Bros. confirmed in June 2006 that Zack Snyder would direct a film adaptation of Watchmen, which is set for release on March 6, 2009. The cast includes Patrick Wilson, Malin Akerman, Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Previously, directors including Paul Greengrass, Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky,and screenwriter David Hayter have been attached to the project over the years.

While Moore believes that David Hayter's screenplay was "as close as I could imagine anyone getting to Watchmen," he asserted he did not intend to see the film if it were made. Due to his disapproval of the film version of V for Vendetta, Moore "refuses to have his name attached to any of the films... based on his books" However, Gibbons has stated he feels Snyder can make a good film and is supporting him.

MAX PAYNE - Game To Film

The 2001 video game Max Payne was optioned by the production company Collision Entertainment to produce a live-action film adaptation. By April 2002, distributors Dimension Films and Abandon Entertainment were attached to the project. Shawn Ryan, the creator of the television series The Shield, was hired to write a script for the planned film. By June 2005, without production starting, Collision Entertainment had taken the project to 20th Century Fox. In November 2007, with a script written by Beau Thorne, Fox announced John Moore as the director and Mark Wahlberg as the star in the titular role.

Cuatrobots Euro 2008 - Motion Tracking

Maybe this is a super-Quickie. Maybe not. All I know is that these four promos for Cuatro’s coverage of the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament from Barcelona-based KOTOC are loads of fun.

Yes, they’re riding the coattails of Iron Man and Transformers, but they successfully capture the energy of those feature films and condense it into power-packed 15-second blasts. And for broadcast promos, these go way above and beyond the call of duty. It’s obvious the KOTOC crew made a personal investment in this project, and I find that level of commitment inspiring.

300 - End Credits Animation

I love end credits of films that tell the story with 5 minutes of animation because its shows how much films are padded out. This After effects animation makes use of its 3d space with animated blood splatters much like that of the Riot Gear collection. Tiered images stacked behind each other allow the virtual camera to roll around them to create interesting transitions between the scenes.

Drive - Fluid Camera/Greenscreen

Movie and television fans are used to seeing scenes shot inside a car. From journeys that wind through the Italian hills in “Roman Holiday” to trips down the streets of Manhattan inside Jerry’s car on “Seinfeld,” most of those scenes have been filmed in one of two ways.

In one, a car is placed on a trailer and pulled along the road, as cameras mounted outside the car film the action. In another, a stationary car is placed inside a studio, and the actors are filmed as various backgrounds are placed outside the car or, more recently, street scenes are digitally placed in the car’s windows.

The inspiration for the race sequences in “Drive” was a scene from Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” in which Tom Cruise is driving his family on a jammed highway in a minivan. In the scene, the camera darts around and through the car as if it is mounted on the back of a humming bird.

“This could not have been done last year,” said Loni Peristere, a founder of Zoic Studios and a special-effects guru for “Drive.” “We’re able to do this because of advances in hardware, advances in software, advances in technique.”

Lakai - Skate Triggered Explosions

Fully Flared is a skateboarding video by Lakai, directed by Ty Evans, Spike Jonze and Cory Weincheque. The video's release was postponed for about two years, mainly due to important team additions. Overall it took about four years to make.

Some team members had a lot of left over footage and are now planning to use it for other videos. Most of the video was filmed with Sony DCR-VX1000 cameras and Panasonic HVX200 (which Ty Evans gained access to towards the end of filming) high-definition footage is used for second angles.

Designer Slash Model

Made for the promotional disc in Stash, this piece features all the great employees at DK.

"Sometimes I wonder...is my work beautiful because I'm beautiful?" "Perfect people create perfect design." "You have to be beautfiul to create something beautiful." Har dee har. Kick ass creative agency Digital Kitchen recently whipped up Designer Slash Model, a sort of mockumentary site that pokes fun at the nauseating glam-o-rama image fest otherwise known as the design scene. This project focuses more on the 2D visual side of things, but there's no doubt us 3D folks can relate.

The Bourne Ultimatum Credits - Mark Coleran

Mark Coleran's previous background as a Graphic Designer for print is apparent in the quality of his motion graphic work. His strong visuals, and screen graphics draw the viewer into a world of interface technology that does not exist.

Although the aesthetic generally associated with the Bourne franchise is down-and-dirty camera techniques and claustrophobic action sequences, the film is also a celebration of technologically mediated voyeurism. It is simply not enough to watch films about films anymore, nor are action movies about action acceptable fare for a discriminating audience.

Eden

GigaOM Show Open from Eden Soto on Vimeo.

Speed Painting - Nico Di Mattia

On the Internet, Speed Paintings are known as a time-lapse video featuring the construction of an image. It is primarily a digital art form whereby the image is hand-drawn and rendered using a tablet and graphics editor such as Photoshop or Painter. The artist may use his imagination or take direct inspiration from a live scene, but will typically choose to recreate an image depicted in a photograph. Whilst the image is in production, every single action on the computer screen is automatically captured and compiled into a real-time video. That recording, which begins with a blank background and ends with the completed piece, then undergoes an editing process. The video is accelerated by a factor of between forty and sixty, components are added or removed and it is also given an appropriate soundtrack. The finished SpeedPainting, which may have taken the artist more than five hours altogether, will usually last little more than three and a half minutes – the average length of a song.
In few words: is the “Behind the Scenes” of an illustration.

M2 Redrock Adapter

This is a piece of test footage shot with Panasonic's DVX200 camcorder with the M2 Redrock adapter equipped to the front. I love the quality that the adapter creates by allowing the user to connect a SLR lens to the front of the camcorder allowing a narrow depth of field to be achieved. This video shows how the rack focus effect can draw the attention of the viewer to each subject. Not too sure about the colour tinting but for a test the results look promising.

Design & Architechture in Cinema

E-On After Effects

The 40- and 30-second TV ads along with 10-second tails are based on a creative idea of making energy visible, using the thought of illumination to bring energy to light.

Head of Advertising and Marketing Communications at E.ON, Catherine Woolfe, said, “We want to be known as the supplier that helps make energy more tangible for people.

“This campaign gives us a great opportunity to have a conversation with consumers in a way that helps them to see what they pay for, so they can have more control over it and so save money and energy. When you can see and experience energy, you can save it.”

The campaign encourages customers to visit E.ON’s website eonenergy.com/see and manage their account online to see how much energy they use with an Energy Tracker.

Japanese Petrol Advert

It's a giant leap from the UK culture to our Asian friends on the other side of the globe . Take the tackiness of this advert for instance, and the fact that it plays to the godzilla stereotype, the propaganda is also blatantly obvious with the flag rising. Everyone respects the country, even godzilla. All a bit in your face.

Japanese McDonalds Advert

If it wasn't for the typical end shot and the oh so familiar clothing, you would not believe this was a McDonalds advert. This must be their new marketing direction to go hand in hand with the refurbishing of their stores. Trouble with this is that even though that they may now have stylish new furniture and signage, they are still selling cheap, processed, fast food.

Completely Unreadable Band Logo of the Week - www.metalsucks.net

In the murky world of black metal, the band logo is still running strong. Trouble is they are so unreadable that you don't even know the name of the band it represents. www.metalsucks.net offers this competition every week where you can win all sorts of metal goodies. All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears and email them your answer.

I Noticed this whilst preparing for my dissertation looking into the death of the band logo within metal. Shame really as such Iconic images have been created through the genre.