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Words Hurt is an interactive music video by Romain Chassaing, a “Choose your own adventure” that moves into bizarre territory. Check it out here. Via Short of the week:

A Choose Your Own Adventure styled interactive music video, Romain Chassaing’s immersive new video for Naïve New Beaters track Words Hurt lets its audience decide on its protagonists path through life. Letting the viewers make a number a decisions for its charismatic “hero” (played brilliantly by the band’s frontman David Boring), Chassaing’s story begins with letting you choose whether he cheats on an exam before deciding whether to ‘Trump it up’ in politics.

The latest in a line of music videos for Parisian trio Naïve New Beaters, Words Hurt takes the interaction one-step further than the brilliant 360-degree experience Chassaing created for the Heal Tomorrow track. Presenting two contrasting routes to take at key-points in its lead character’s life, although this video obviously give its viewers a curated path through its story, the journey it takes you on really makes you feel as if you play a part in how it unfolds.

A blend of comedy and social commentary, Words Hurt once again showcases Chassaing’s exceptional production values, with its attention to detail and meticulous design closely rivalling the lead performance for stand-out element in his video. The director continues to make fun and ingenious content for French production house Solab Pictures and we can’t wait to see what he comes up with is his next collab with Naïve New Beaters.

A trailer for the highly anticipated tv series The Dark Tower has dropped! It’s based on Stephen King’s bestselling dark fantasy books. And can we say, Idris Elba looks amazing. If you’re new to the series, The Verge has an explainer here:

To understand the film, you need to know a little bit about the books that the film is associated with. Stephen King is easily one of the best-known genre writers in the world. While King is known as a horror writer, having written classics like Carrie and The Shining, he’s more than that: he experiments with epic fantasy, horror, and science fiction. The Dark Tower, as a series, is a bit of a mash-up of all those genres, and it’s a series he considers his magnum opus.

He later explained in the foreword to the first novel of the series, The Gunslinger, that “The Dark Tower books, like most long fantasy tales written by men and women of my generation… were born out of Tolkien’s [Middle-earth].” He goes on to say that he read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in the 1960s, and that he wanted to write his own sort of epic, fantastical quest novel. But he didn’t want to just copy Tolkien. After seeing The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, he realized that he wanted something that encompassed more. “I realized that what I wanted to write was a novel that contained Tolkien’s sense of quest and magic, but set against Leone’s almost absurdly majestic Western backdrop.”

The Wizard Oz is a short film about Oberon Zell-Ravenheart (aka Oz), who is going to run the world’s first real life Hogwarts. That’s right. Via Short of the Week:

Welcome to the world of Oberon Zell-Ravenheart (aka Oz), a self-described Wizard whose life has seen him raise Unicorns, spend time with the “worst mass-murderer of the 20th century” and embark on a quest to find Mermaids. Danny Yourd’s magical 23-minute documentary The Wizard Oz takes you on a whirlwind tour through the life of this enchanting man as his fantastical tales make for an utterly spellbinding watch that could rival many works of fiction.

Inspired to create his short after reading an article on Vice called ‘Meet The Wizard Behind the World’s Only Real-Life Hogwarts’, Yourd knew instantly he wanted to make Oz the subject of his next film. Initially reaching out to discuss the Wizard School he was setting-up, the director soon decided to hone the focus of his film on the magical man himself after hearing more about his fascinating life.

Shot over five days (two separate trips to film Oz in Santa Cruz) on the Sony FS7, though The Wizard Oz’s main draw has to be the amazing stories of its charismatic subject, to overlook the impeccable product of this short doc would be doing a huge disservice to Yourd and his crew. Combining archival footage with what the director describes as “low-budget location shooting”, the film seamlessly blends its beautifully-shot interviews and inventive cutaways to create a film that flows so effortlessly its seemingly long (for a short film) run-time unravels in what feels like a blink of an eye.

Symmetropia is a bizarre short film about a man trying to confront his fear of… Symmetry? Written and directed by Zachary Davis, it starts with a man being given a really intense version of immersion therapy. And then it just gets odder.

Credits

A Holliday Picture
A Juliet Zulu Production
Written and Directed by Zachary Davis
Produced by Meg Weber and Zachary Davis
Andrew Robinson
Joseph Piacentini
Original Music by Clint Snow
Edited by Skot Coatsworth
Cinematography by Everett Nate Yockey
Visual Effects by Ivan Vidovic
Assistant Camera by Duncan O’Bryan
Production Coordination by Peter Black
Production Assistance by Lindsay Black
Art Department by Jeff Johnson

About the Director

Zachary is the co-founder and has been the Executive Creative Director at Juliet Zulu since 2009. He is the founder of Allies Film Camp, Never Coffee and the contemporary art gallery B ay º. Via marmoset:

For filmmaker, Zak Davis, it’s all about creating compelling characters. Inspired by comics and driven by a need to create moments that are true to character, the co-founder and Creative Director of Juliet Zulu, a Portland-based creative agency, crafts both commercial advertising and personal work, collaborating with a tight knit group of friends and coworkers.

Making of video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltxLeLGozDk

In more strange brand campaigns this week for fast food chains, McDonalds has just introduced the Frork, a cross between fries and a fork. Via Adweek:

Fast food is fast developing a reputation for fast-laugh product development.

Did you think Burger King’s alleged Whopper toothpaste was a little much? McDonald’s has tossed its own goofy offering into the mix—the Frork, which is basically a plastic red handle into which you can stuff three french fries to use as prongs.

Created to promote its Signature Crafted Recipes sandwich line, the item is introduced in an “infomercial” starring English pitchman Anthony Sullivan, known for promoting such renowned American inventions as OxiClean and the GrillGlove (“great for lobsters!”).

“Will the Frork change your life? Probably not,” Sullivan says. “Will the Frork improve your Signature Crafted Recipes eating experience? I mean, sure … maybe.”

In Sullivan’s defense, the hyperbole is measured with some tongue-in-cheek deprecation. The tricky-to-pronounce Frork is “flavor-focused” yet “fundamentally superfluous!” It’s “ludicrous…ly easy to use!”

Meanwhile, Sullivan and a chef with a deranged late-night grin demonstrate the Frork’s merits by using it to mop up sauce around dripping Signature sandwiches, including the Pico Guacamole, Sweet BBQ Bacon and Maple Bacon Dijon.

In one of the stranger Mother’s Day brand campaigns we’ve seen so far, KFC dropped a romance novella for Mother’s Day and it’s… actually surprisingly good? Called Tender Wings of Desire, you can get it for free. Via Adweek:

“Sometimes it seemed as though the two of them had been made to love each other, and they tried to do so at every given opportunity.”

Thus begins Chapter 9 of Tender Wings of Desire, the 96-page romance novella ostensibly written by Colonel Sanders as part of a KFC stunt for Mother’s Day. While it’s doubtful that the Colonel himself wrote the tale—what with him being dead nearly 40 years now—what’s even more unlikely is that it’s actually pretty good.

Created with Wieden + Kennedy Portland, which has also been responsible for the brand’s recent litany of celebrity Colonels, the book’s writing is credited to “outsourced author” Catherine Kovach, a former Bustle.com feature writer who also penned a historical fantasy called Evangeline.

Zoopla has a new ad campaign, and it involves hermit crabs. The brand noted that they chose hermit crabs because they’re expert movers. Via the Zoopla site:

There’s a very good reason we’ve chosen hermit crabs to represent Zoopla – the creatures are expert home movers.

Hermit crabs have soft abdomens which they protect by salvaging shells that once belonged to other sea animals and climbing into them. When they outgrow their current shell, they begin searching for a new larger one.

But the selection process is not one a hermit crab undertakes lightly. The next shell must be roomy enough to allow for further growth, but snug enough to stay on its back. The quality of the shell should also be good – defects such as holes or rot will cause problems down the line.

No surprise then, that the shell exchange process is one of the most stressful times in a hermit crab’s life – especially where the availability of desirable shells is low.
If you’ve ever moved home, this is all probably starting to sound familiar. And that’s why we believe the hermit crab is the perfect candidate to highlight the range of tools, services and advice on Zoopla which make the moving process smoother and more straightforward.

Welcome To My Life is a brand new short by Elizabeth Ito of Cartoon Network. It’s a beautiful film that offers a fresh take on kid’s animation. Animac sat down with Elizabeth Ito for an interview during Annecy International Animated Film Festival:

Animac Magazine: During the panel, you mentioned some of your goals for Welcome To My Life, like characters you could relate to, a calmer sensibility… If your short becomes a full-length show, are these some of the themes you hope to explore in a deeper way on it?

Elizabeth Ito: Yeah! I’m a really big fan of documentary stuff, so I would like it to have that same feeling. I used to say it should be like a reality show, but there’s some really trashy reality shows, so maybe not like that! (laughs) But yeah, I would really like kids to feel like they relate to this character who is different but likable. I think that would be really awesome.

Animac Magazine: You also mentioned during the panel that you tried to make Welcome To My Life for Disney before Cartoon Network. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Elizabeth Ito: It was so long ago, I’m trying to remember a lot of it, but it was different because it’s a different studio – there’s limitations on the freedom to do kinda different stuff… One of the things that people keep talking about – I think George [Gendi] mentioned it – is there’s this awesome freedom at Cartoon Network to make these shorts in a really unique and personal way, and it’s really hard to be able to do that at Disney, I think. It might be different for other people, but for me, if stuff is way too different it makes them a lot more nervous there… Luckily, at Cartoon Network, I really enjoyed working with the creative executives who’ve helped bring in people who have these different visions.

This humorous campaign by Format.com, a portfolio platform for creatives, tries to show that designers do things better than everyone else. Via WDRB:

Format, the world’s most loved portfolio-building site, today revealed a rebrand centered around a bold message: Few Can Do What You Do.

“Being an inspiring artist is both a noble pursuit and prestigious accomplishment. Our new slogan-Few Can Do What You Do-is about acknowledging this greatness; the greatness of those who have chosen to pursue their dreams by working in a creative industry. We want to empower visual artists, celebrate their uniqueness and help them succeed,” explains CEO Lukas Dryja.

To bring this message to life, the company has launched a quirky multilayered campaign that reflects the vast creativity of its community. A tongue-in-cheek video series calls out the all-too-familiar truism that creatives think they’re better than everyone else, simultaneously poking fun at and applauding the tribe. Each of the five shorts spotlights a boastful creative and a bizarre set of activities that they’re better at than most, because, few can do what they do.

In the same vein, the team’s built a straight-faced chatbot named Dr. Luova Dahl, “the leading simulated expert on chat-based research for creative thinking”, that offers to uncover the source of one’s creative greatness. Is your creativity harnessed from your heart? Do you sparkle with short bursts of brilliance? Or do you feel ideas to fruition? Only chatting with the doctor will tell.

With the campaign comes a new logo, visual identity and redesign of Format’s portfolio-building platform, its most significant update to date. Hundreds of hours were spent gathering user feedback, designing and coding to deliver a more intuitive and powerful platform that looks and feels sharper, cleaner and simplified.

“Within Format, we made a conscious choice to pull back on branding to push forward user content-but don’t expect a result that’s devoid of personality,” says Creative Director Marshall Lorenzo. “Over the last seven years, Format’s cultivated a highly intelligent, tuned-in audience and matured as a brand, developing its own distinct voice and style to match. Our new visual identity is much more confident and contemporary, as is our tone.”

Full playlist of videos here.

Out of Australia comes this great-looking science fiction action film, The Osiris Child. Australian director Shane Abbess has pulled together a love letter to the 80s and 90s sci fi genre for what was apparently a low budget, not that the film comes off that way. Film description:

Set in the future in a time of interplanetary colonisation, Sy (Kellan Lutz), a mysterious drifter, meets Kane (Daniel MacPherson), a lieutenant working for an off-world military contractor, EXOR. The unlikely pair must work together to rescue Kane’s young daughter (Teagan Croft) and reach safety amid an impending global crisis which was brought on by EXOR itself. Teaming up with a pair of renegades (Luke Ford and Isabel Lucas), Kane and Sy clash with EXOR in an attempt to escape while battling the savage creatures that roam the barren planet. Science Fiction Volume One: The Osiris Child is directed by Australian filmmaker Shane Abbess, of the films Infini and Gabriel previously. The screenplay is written by Shane Abbess and Brian Cachia. Surprisingly this is not based on a book or anything else. This film first premiered at Fantastic Fest last fall.

News.com.au also adds:

The Osiris Child was shot in Sydney but also in Coober Pedy in South Australia, the rugged landscape serving as the perfect stand-in for a barren planet.
It’s not the first time the area has been chosen to replicate a lawless dystopia onscreen – it served as the backdrop to 1985’s Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
Lutz enjoyed working on The Osiris Child so much he’s already thinking about the next chapter.
“Hopefully we’ll get to do a sequel,” he said.