Blogbook
Remember to check out Sir David Attenborough’s Planet Earth II tonight on Channel 9 at 730pm! Called his defining masterpiece, Sir David is clearly not slowing down anytime soon, even though he’s in his 90s. Via the Daily Telegraph:
The six-episode series, which screens on Channel 9 from February 15, took three years to make across 40 countries and 117 filming trips but as these stunning pictures show, the result has been worth it.
The new series comes a decade after the ground-breaking original and features revolutionary new technology — including drones and miniature low-light cameras — to get viewers closer than ever before to the animals.
“What Planet Earth II is doing is saying ‘Let’s get ourselves into the lives of the animals, and see it from their perspectives,” executive producer Mike Gunton says.
The series is broken into six episodes covering islands, mountains, jungles, deserts, grasslands and, surprisingly, cities.
“The highest concentration of leopards in the world live in a city, Mumbai,” Gunton says.
“Why do these animals do so well?
“It’s because humans bring this incredibly intense concentration of resources, like food and energy. Animals suddenly have the opportunity to piggyback on that.”
The most spectacular scenes take place in the wild as cameras get up close to a lioness stalking her prey in Namibia, tree frogs in Costa Rica, pygmy sloths in Panama, and spider monkeys in Guatemala.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6u10YPk_34
ICYMI: Audi dropped a gender equality ad for the Superbowl 2017, with a father thinking out aloud about how to explain the world and lack of equal pay to his daughter. In this political climate, the ad quickly became a flashpoint. Via Adweek:
Citing data from Networked Insights, the Wall Street Journal reported that 25 percent of the comments about the ad on social platforms have been negative, 13 percent have been positive, and the rest have been neutral.
Loren Angelo, vp of marketing Audi of America, told Adweek on Friday that the automaker was expected a strong reaction and remains committed to the ad and it message.
“We knew this would spark a conversation, especially on a stage as large as Super Bowl, and we remain up for the challenge,” he said. “Pay equality has been a part of the public conversation for some time now and we believe the message deserves a platform.”
It was perhaps inevitable that Audi’s advertising message would prompt scrutiny of its own practices when it comes to equal pay. Adweek asked the brand about it on Wednesday, before the criticism gathered steam.
“There is a lot that goes into calculating pay—individual performance, experience or tenure in the job, etc. But we are confident in our processes for evaluating pay equality and can confirm equal pay for equal work between men and women,” Angelo told Adweek at the time.
That somewhat convoluted answer, even as it asserts a real commitment to the cause, has not done much to assuage critics.
ICYMI–the upcoming Wolverine film, Logan, looks to be a far grittier, darker offering than the usual Marvel fare, and we’re looking forward to it. The title of the above TV spot that aired during Superbowl is called “Grace”, and is the latest in a series of various spots for the upcoming film. Via Independent:
From reports that star Hugh Jackman took a pay-cut to ensure the studio wouldn’t push for a PG-13 rating, to the first trailers pushing a gritty, more realistic style that takes pains to differentiate itself from the rest of the X-men universe – Logan is truly establishing itself as a totally unique beast, and quite the final outing for Jackman’s take on Wolverine.
Two scenes were shown to journalists as part of a slate of upcoming Fox films, and if there’s one takeaway from that experience: Logan is violent as hell, and its R-rating hype is far from a hollow promise.
[…]
Logan takes place in a near-future in which Wolverine finds his healing factor is losing its effectiveness, meaning he’s begun to succumb to the effects of age. He can still survive bullets and is shot multiple times throughout the scene, but each time he’s winded and knocked down by the pain, with his efforts now far more noticeably strained.
Being Batman is a documentary that looks at the life of Stephen Lawrence—a man who has self monikered himself the “Brampton Batman.” Via Short of the Week:
Lawrence, dressed as the iconic hero, ventures out at night to patrol the city streets. He’s a real-life Bruce Wayne, complete with an outfit and arsenal that would make any cosplayer green with envy.
But, this story is more than just a quirky tale of a man who dresses up like a pop culture icon. On this site, we’ve often discussed our exhaustion with the “profile documentary” format. But, sometimes, a subject is so *ahem* batsh-it, it sort of makes the whole thing feel fresh again. Through stunning visuals and an impressive musical score, Freeman explores what makes this real masked vigilante tick, delving into his subject’s psyche. We watch as Lawrence pontificates about his own personal experiences and desires, touching on topics as varied as one’s identity to reflecting on moments of personal loss.
While there is obviously something inherently cool about seeing a fully decked out Batman roam the streets (the kind of thing to show up repeatedly in your Facebook timeline), there is also a darkness that underlies everything—and we’re not just talking about Lawrence’s costume.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QO1LVh9O1I
Genius is National Geographic’s first scripted show, with Geoffrey Rush playing Einstein. It looks like something out of a Netflix original series! Its Superbowl ad featured Einstein playing a Lady Gaga song, but the actual series is a serious one. Full extended trailer:
Via Deadline:
Genius is being written by up-and-coming writer Noah Pink, who will co-executive produce. Executive producing are Imagine’s Brian Grazer, Howard and Francie Calfo; OddLot’s Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane; as well as Sam Sokolow and Jeff Cooney from EUE/Sokolow. Anna Culp is co-producing alongside Melissa Rucker. Filming is expected to begin this summer in Prague, with the premiere on Nat Geo slated for next spring in 171 countries and 45 languages. Search is underway for showrunner.
Launching scripted series had been a priority for National Geographic which found early success in the genre with its Killing movie franchise, followed by its first scripted miniseries, Saints & Strangers. The green light for Genius comes four months after the channel appointed its first dedicated scripted executive, EVP of Scripted Development and Production Carolyn Bernstein.
“Genius is perfectly emblematic of our vision to create premium, distinctive and highly entertaining content Natgeo channelthat fits the National Geographic brand,” said National Geographic Channels CEO Courteney Monroe. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the exceptional teams at Fox 21 TVS, Imagine Television and Oddlot to tell rich, provocative and powerful stories that celebrate human ingenuity.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvHFM8c7cPM
Iconic filmmakers the Coen Brothers were back this year with an ad for Superbowl, one playing heavily on nostalgia, for Mercedes Benz. Via Forbes:
As much as the Super Bowl will be about the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons, so too will it be about the battle for television advertisement. The annual event for the NFL is historically one of—if not the—largest television audience of the year. Super Bowl 50 in 2016 saw 111.9 million viewers, with 72% of U.S. home TVs tuned into the telecast. That metric was the highest since Super Bowl XVI in 1982.
Advertisers look to tap into this hefty viability, and with FOX charging $5 million per 30 second spot, companies look to ensure that they win the battle of the Super Bowl ads, many of which will be all new airing for the first time during game.
Into this steps Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz. The company has tapped Merkley and Partners as the ad firm for their spot, but what’s most interesting may not be its star (Peter Fonda) and the story line (think the 60’s classic, Easy Rider), but the directors for it.
The ad sees Joel and Ethan Coen directing. The pair noted for movies such as “No Country for Old Men,” “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski”. This will mark the third Super Bowl ad for the pair (prior were for H&R Block in 2002 and Honda 18 years ago).
The ad targets the upcoming debut of the high-performance Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster with Fonda not pulling up to a bar filled with aging bikers on his signature chopper, but in the top-of-the-line sports car.
As Ad Age notes, it’s part of Mercedes new strategy of giving more marketing attention to AMG, which is its sports car and high-performance sub brand.
“The AMG brand, over the past decades, has gained a phenomenal following among true performance enthusiasts and we pay that off with a continuous stream of new products leading up to this year’s much anticipated Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster,” said Drew Slaven, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA). “So the goal with the spot was to pay homage to the history that brought us to this point with something iconic but authentic that would resonate with people who have a passion for open air driving, who live for the call of the road and who share a little of that rebellion from the norm. This film, which came out late in the ‘60’s, as did AMG, was the perfect vehicle for a fast drive down memory lane.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dQ9a5EFZeI
Superbowl was on the 6th. You know what that means ad industry–a rollout of the most expensive ads in the ‘verse. Now that all the ads are out for Superbowl 2017, which ones were your favourite? This Melissa McCarthy ad for Kia is probably ours. Via Adweek:
After putting Christopher Walken in a Super Bowl commercial for the Optima sedan last year, Kia is turning to another celebrity, Melissa McCarthy, to hype its Niro hybrid crossover on this year’s game.
The actress and comedian, 46, provides the voiceover for two 15-second spots breaking this week, titled “Many Names” and “Need/Want.” She will appear on camera in the :60 on Super Bowl LI, which is happening Feb. 5.
UPDATE, Jan. 23: The automaker just released this teaser, showing McCarthy in safari gear, running in a panic from … something.
The automaker tells Adweek: “Starring Melissa McCarthy and scheduled to air in the third quarter, the ad traces a heroic and harrowing journey stretching from the polar ice caps to an arid desert, and continues to prove why the Niro is ‘a smarter kind of crossover’ with its no-compromise package of style, utility and fuel economy of up to 50 miles per gallon combined.
You can now apparently turn lettering into fonts via Photoshop CC with Fontself Maker. We’d still highly recommend using/purchasing fonts from foundries, but this looks like a fun tool to try. Via the website:
Fontself is democratizing type-making. We aim to open the gates of font creation to a broad audience of creatives, graphic designers, art directors, illustrators, enthusiasts, students and educators.
How? By simplifying the type-making process to its simplest form, right within the most common creative apps: Adobe’s Photoshop & Illustrator. Millions of creatives around the world could now just start making their own fonts. Our tools are also meant for the creatives who don’t necessarily constrain their artwork to black or white. Their lettering can be colorful, their sketches have a certain grain.
We leverage the latest color font technologies to let you make any type of fonts. Because we deeply believe that the more people experiment font creation, the more they will pay attention to the typographic choices around them, and the more they will appreciate the exceptional amount of work, dedication & talent that professional type-making requires.
The result of a 2015 Kickstarter campaign, Fontself Maker now has plugins for Illustrator and for Photoshop CC. CreativePro has a longer description of how to use it, if you’re curious.
The Narrow World is a great sci fi short by director Brent Bonarcorso, with impressive visual effects and a faux documentary feel. Via Short of the Week:
Part faux documentary (similar to what Neil Blomkamp popularized in District 9) and part lyrical tone-poem (think Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival), director Brent Bonacorso’s The Narrow World is a sci-fi short for a smart, discerning audience. Purely on a technical level, this is an impressive effort—the sort of thing that is practically designed to set the internet abuzz and garner mainstream studio attention. It’s a formula we’ve seen before to varied success, but there’s no denying the polish on display here. Bonacorso, already a SotW Alum for his stunning fantasy film West of the Moon, feels very much like a director poised to do much bigger things.
And, we do mean big! The film’s central alien character is massive, and Bonacorso, an innovative commercial director with an extensive background in VFX, does an impeccable job of capturing its scale. Compositions are stunning; the creature ambles methodically across various mountain and smog-hazed cityscapes. It’s definitely a refreshing change of pace to have a Kaiju-sized creature on screen that is not causing catastrophic city-wide damage. For a film with such high-profile genre elements, it’s a surprisingly introspective viewing experience. I won’t argue that the film is wholly unique—it’s clearly a pastiche of other ideas from other films. But, it’s the sort of thing where the individual parts have been reconfigured and remixed to add up to a more satisfying whole.
Every year at Super Bowl we look forward to Animal Planet’s alternative event, the Puppy Bowl XIII. This year’s no different. Via Adweek:
Animal Planet’s mantra heading into the Puppy Bowl—its annual telecast featuring puppies playing football, held a few hours before the Super Bowl—is always, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. “We stick with what really works for us: putting puppies that are available for adoption up onscreen and letting them do their thing. That’s been the secret sauce,” said Jason Goldberg, vp, client and brand partnerships, Discovery Communications.
But for this year’s Puppy Bowl XIII, which airs next Sunday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. ET, the network has partnered with sponsors to add a few new bells and whistles, including virtual reality and branded content.
Animal Planet and Pedigree are bringing VR to the Puppy Bowl for the first time, providing a “pup’s-eye view” of the action via Buttons, one of the 78 adoptable puppies (from 34 animal shelters and rescue organizations nationwide) competing on “Team Ruff” and “Team Fluff.”
VR “has been a corporate priority for us. We’re one of the leading producers of VR content,” said Goldberg, adding that the concept was a good fit with Pedigree, which has been sponsoring the Puppy Bowl for 12 years straight and was looking to “reinvigorate” its involvement.
“Every year, Animal Planet and ourselves have challenged each other to be more resonant and meaningful with what’s happening in the world of media,” said Melodie Bolin, Pedigree brand manager. When Animal Planet suggested VR, “we were so excited about it, because how cute is seeing everything through the eyes of a puppy on the field?”
The VR content is available via Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl hub page, YouTube, Discovery’s VR apps and Facebook.