Blogbook
Jellywolf is a psychedelic short film for the Fifth Sense shot by Amina Har’el for Chanel No5 L’EAU, with Kiersey Clemons and Lisa Bonet. Via Paste Magazine:
It’s no surprise that a collab between i-D and CHANEL produces serious eye candy, but the latest installment for their digital platform The Fifth Sense may be their most breathtaking yet. From acclaimed director Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach and LoveTrue) and starring Kiersey Clemons (Transparent, DOPE and FLATLINERS) and Lisa Bonet (The Cosby Show, Enemy of the State and High Fidelity), it’s almost like we don’t even need to say more.
The eight-minute short opens with giant jellyfish floating over a rainy Los Angeles, making the mood of the film equal parts surreal and beautiful. And with everything drenched in a neon haze, we follow Clemons into a shamanic beauty parlor (yes, what?!), where we meet Bonet. Clemons’ host, she’s eating normal chinese takeout behind an anything but normal reception desk. The vibe is mysterious and enchanting as Bonet takes Clemons on a journey to discover her spirit animal, the “JellyWolf,” through a series of potions, spells and, most importantly, scent. Inspired by CHANEL’s N°5 L’EAU, it’s an electric journey celebrating female relationships and strength, and we’re swooning.
Uncertain is a beautifully shot documentary about the town of the same name in Texas, following some of its inhabitants on their day to day lives. Via the Guardian:
Wonder and horror stalk this remarkable documentary from film-makers Ewan McNicol and Anna Sandilands. Its setting is the tiny town of Uncertain (motto: “America’s best-kept secret”), a remote outpost that takes its name from its hazy status on the border of Texas and Louisiana. Recently though, the name has taken on a second meaning as the presence of an aggressive weed, salvinia molesta, has begun to afflict the lake that many of the town’s 96-strong population rely on for their livelihood.
This story of decay and ruin is positioned as a backdrop to profiles of three troubled residents: Henry, an old tour guide and fisherman coming to terms with both the death of his wife and a historic murder; Wayne, a recovering addict who is hunting a giant boar named Mr Ed (“The hog with the horse’s head”); and Zach, a young alcoholic with a severe case of diabetes who is keen to escape the rusting, dead-end town he reluctantly calls home.
It’s tempting to slap a “this explains the rise of Trump” tag on just about anything these days, and certainly there’s plenty of grist for that mill here: of that other US, ignored by elites, beset by addiction. (At a stretch, you might even try to draw something from the fact that the invasive fern disrupting the community has emerged from south of the border). But there’s also an unearthly quality at play. This is a realm that seems to pay scarce attention to the developments of the country at large. There’s glimpses of modernity (phones, laptops, games consoles), but for the most part it’s the old ways – hunting and fishing – that dominate.
Die Astronautin is a competition to put the first German female astronaut in space. Already in its finalist stages, it’s now seeking crowdfunding. Via Gizmodo:
Although it sounds like The Hunger Games in space, Germany’s “Die Astronautin” competition—which means “the female astronaut”—seeks to put the first German woman into space. In March 2016, 400 women entered the competition, and yesterday, aerospace recruitment agency HE Space announced it had selected its final six candidates. If the private mission succeeds in securing funding, one of these badass ladies will head up to the International Space Station (ISS) for 10 days in 2020.
By fostering such a large competition, HE hopes Die Astronautin will inspire more girls and women to become interested in spaceflight. “We have shown that Germany’s women have the skills to fly into space,” said Claudia Kessler, CEO of HE Space, in a press statement. “Now we have to prove that the people of Germany believe in the candidates.”
To qualify for Die Astronautin, women had to be German nationals with a degree in engineering or science, between ages 27-37, and in excellent physical condition. Each of the 400 initial candidates were subjected to physical and mental health screenings, narrowing the pool down to just 60 candidates. From there, the pool was reduced to just six.
Bacteriads are literally bacteria-filled ads, posters created by agency The Electric Factory to remind people to wash their hands more often. Via Adweek:
The Electric Factory Group co-founder and CCO Juan Ciapessoni will tell you that you can disrupt any medium, even a traditionally static one like out-of-home posters. “All that matters is the idea, the craft and the innovation applied to the medium,” explained Ciapessoni.
It’s not surprising that he’d point to posters: Recently the 15-year-old Montevideo, Uruguay-based shop has found that tinkering with what exactly those posters are made of is one way to get the eyeballs clients like Unilever’s soap brand Lifebuoy are looking for. In December 2016, the group’s campaign for Lifebuoy—where it took everyday objects, like smartphones and money, and showcased germs on those items in poster-sized custom Petri dishes to get people to start washing their hands more—garnered roughly a million views in just one month.
“Instead of us thinking that billboards or posters are dying or that they need to be digital to succeed, we think they just need to be more disruptive or innovative or have more guts to make an impact in the target,” said Ciapessoni.
Selected for Sundance this year, Black Holes is a satirical animated series about space conquest, featuring Dave the Astronaut and his melon. Via Short of the Week:
What is unusual for films of this kind though is to have amazingly intricate 3D animation paired with it. I mean Black Holes is grotesquely gorgeous, and the amount of labor that went into this 12min pilot is absurd. With heavily stylized but unique character design, tons of locations, and immaculate background detail, the film is a top-notch artistic production which—when juxtaposed with its off-the-wall story—is a weird combination.
For this reviewer it definitely works though. Produced by the French/American company NOODLES, the short film is the brainchild of two brothers, David Nicolas Laurent Nicolas, who are accomplished animation directors with notable French TV shows to their name, as well as the Netflix series F is for Family. Along with Kevos Van Der Meiren, a frequent collaborator of Quentin Dupieux (Rubber), the team had the talent and experience to pull this off, and their ambitions for Black Holes extend past the short: the film’s online launch coincides with a Kickstarter campaign designed to get the funding necessary to produce an entire season of episodes.
The inside scoop on how the people behind the upcoming Lego Batman film animated it, creating blocks that look just like real lego. More about the film via the Guardian:
It doesn’t have the heart, the depth or the novelty of the first Lego movie, but it is relentlessly, consistently funny – which excuses everything.
Voiced with Christian Bale-like gruffness by Will Arnett, this is the macho, humourless, self-regarding Dark Knight we get here, who imagines he’s brilliant at everything and prefers to work alone. “Batman doesn’t do ’ships,” (as in “relationships”) he tells a crestfallen Joker, denying there’s anything special between them during a spectacular opening fight (as with its predecessor, this movie’s Lego-bricked animation is surprisingly expressive and cinematic). Afterwards, our hero goes home to an empty Batcave for some microwaved lobster, a little solo heavy-metal guitar, and a night alone in his home cinema with Jerry Maguire. He’s a bit of a loser, in other words.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfzbPp60cpI
Can Hollywood valets, who normally know cars inside and out, identify a Kia Cadenza blindfolded? The brand tries to find out. Via Adweek:
“Valets are well-trodden as far as advertising goes, especially in the luxury space, but we found a nice little insight,” D&G creative director Basil Cowieson tells Adweek. “They probably drive more luxury cars than Kanye. The thought felt original, and we loved that there was a nice parallel. Valets are not typically considered luxury experts, and Kia is not typically considered a luxury brand. Yet, both have experience with luxury.”
The biggest challenge for the team “was keeping the whole thing under wraps,” says Cowieson. “Our director came up with the idea of creating a mystery event called Project Phoenix. So, as far as valets were concerned, we were making a documentary about luxury. To achieve this, we staged an ‘event’ in downtown Los Angeles, and had them come to work and be interviewed on camera.” (Some light rain fell during the big reveal, but the team believes that just enhances the pseudo-documentary ambiance.)
To cast the commercial, “we hit up specific hotels, and also sent a call around town to see who was interested,” says James Cohen, also a CD at D&G. “We just wanted an authentic mix of actual luxury valets who really like their job. They all valet at different hotels.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZoXyIxqFRc
Sport England’s latest This Girl Can instalment celebrates a broader range of athletes training exuberantly in a range of sports. Via AdAge:
Created out of FCB Inferno and once again directed by Kim Gehrig via Somesuch, the ad rhythmically cuts together more euphoric scenes in which women young and old get their gear on, throw jabs, shake their booties, give birth and hug their babies. It’s set to a soundtrack splicing together an energetic tune and the voiceover of Maya Angelou, reciting lines from her celebratory poem “Phenomenal Woman.” Throughout, each scene follows a subtle story arc–women struggle to get out of bed, sweat through their sport, perhaps take a break to cuddle their child — and finally revel in the endorphins and joy that comes from completing their workout.
The women highlighted in the ad include 69-year-old outdoor swimmer Sue Bairstow, 15-year-old trampolinist Cerys McIntosh, new mother Stephanie Outlaw, blade-runner Debbie Squance and kickboxer Fakhira Mohamad Hassan Mukhtar. “This second brief presented us with a huge challenge, and this time round we have focused on the roller-coaster realities of the relationship with exercise — something that is rarely talked about,” said FCB Inferno Chief Creative Officer Al Young in a statement. “We are confident this will help even more girls and women manage their fear of judgement when getting active.”
“This Girl Can has made a real difference since it launched, with the number of women doing regular physical activity and sport now at an all-time high. But there’s a lot more to do,” said Sport England CEO Jennie Price in the statement. For the second ad, the message “is something women don’t usually hear: it’s OK to take a break, to have a week off, to walk not run. “It can feel like the hardest thing in the world to return … when you fear you’ve lost ground or fitness, but we want to surface this as a discussion point, to say it’s normal to take a break, but that needn’t stop you for good.”
Andreas Fabian, who has a phD in spoons, thinks that his Goûte spoon can make food taste better. It’s shaped like a teardrop glass wand. No doubt this will soon make the rounds in avant garde/hipster restaurants, but for now, we have our doubts. How do you… eat soup? Via Dezeen:
Design studio Michel/Fabian has created a spoon that claims to improve the flavour of food, by recreating the experience of licking your fingers.
The Goûte spoon is the result of years of research by Michel/Fabian co-founder Andreas Fabian into how the design of tableware can affect people’s perception of food and flavour, resulting in a PHD called Spoons and Spoonness.
The spoon has a tip shaped like a human finger, but its elongated overall shape makes it look more like a large icicle. It is designed for eating thick, creamy foods, similar to a honey dipper.
Fabian claims it makes food taste better, because it is more similar to the experience of licking your finger, rather than putting a strange object into your mouth.
The Ad Council’s new Love has no Labels campaign for this year is “Fans of Love”, and features a kiss cam at an NFL game in Orlando. Via the Sydney Morning Herald:
While some NFL players made their progressive political views front and centre last season, the NFL, or at least most of its team owners, pushed conservative causes that may have contributed to the ongoing perception that the league breeds a culture of exclusion and even homophobia.
It appears now that the NFL wants to shed that image. On Monday, just in time for Valentine’s Day, the league teamed up with the Ad Council to release a commercial for the ongoing “Love Has No Labels” campaign, which seeks to stamp out issues such as homophobia and racism by promoting a culture of diversity and inclusion. The ad includes two same-sex couples locking lips for the “Kiss Cam.”