Blogbook

Fan-o-rama is a fanmade Futurama film with great special effects, bringing one of the most beloved contemporary cartoons to life. Via Indiewire:

The fan-made film “Star Trek: Axanar” may still be in limbo due to a pending lawsuit with Paramount Pictures and CBS, but it would appear that “Fan-O-Rama: A Futurama Fan Film” has avoided the legal wrath of 20th Century Fox. The first trailer for the film has been released, introducing viewers to Fry and Bender’s “single-minded mission for the sweet elixir of life: beer.”

The filmmakers have given themselves a Q rating (for “questionable”), as “audiences will no doubt question the creators’ motives, self-respect, and sanity.” What may first surprise viewers is that “Fan-O-Rama” is a live-action affair, with practical effects and prosthetic costumes that bring to mind a “Mario” or “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie from the early ’90s.

“Fan-O-Rama” is the brainchild of Dan Lanigan, who first began working on the project in 2014. No official release date has been announced, but more information is available on its website.

The makeup team has done an uncanny job with characters like Professor Farnsworth and Leela, and Bender actually looks great. Although live action adaptations of cartoons, let alone cartoons as zany as Futurama, have often been a miss, we’re looking forward to more.

OSSA is an amazing new stop motion film by Milan-based Dario Imbrogno about a puppet being deconstructed in a dance sequence:

“All the world is a stage”. In this theater the dance of a puppet, destructured in time and space, shows us the mechanisms that pulls the strings.

Via the Stop Motion Blog:

OSSA is a short gem from Italian artist Dario Imbrogno, for the creative boutique Withstand Film. Dancing on the line of deconstruction and formation, this piece is a powerful example of the metaphorical capabilities of stop motion artistry. OSSA shows a metamorphosis in the human form, as well as environment. In addition we get a nicely composed sound design to accompany the graceful moves of Imbrogno’s masterful craft.

Produced by Withstand and Dario Imbrogno
Directed and Animated by Dario Imbrogno
Cinematography by Giancarlo Morieri
Sound and Music Enrico Ascoli
Colour Grading and Post Production Emilio Sapia
Set Design Carlo Cossignani
Produced by Withstand
Supported by Panalight

Dario’s previous collaboration, OTTO, was a metaphysical stop motion film that won Best Experimental Video at ANIMATOU 2015 and the Prix Labo at the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève:

Directors: Salvatore Murgia – Dario Imbrogno
Director of Photography: Giancarlo Morieri
Animator: Dario Imbrogno
Post Producer: Salvatore Murgia
Sound Designer: Nicola Ariutti
Distribution: Withstand

This short film “Spatial Bodies” depicts the urban architectural landscape as an autonomous organism. Via AUJIK:

Spatial Bodies depicts the urban landscape and architectural bodies as an autonomous living and self replicating organism. Domesticated and cultivated only by its own nature. A vast concrete vegetation, oscillating between order and chaos.

Music specially composed by Daisuke Tanabe.
Filmed in Osaka, Japan.

Influenced by gunkan and metabolism architecture and the video game Katamari Damacy.

About AUJIK

AUJIK describes itself as a sect that believes in animism and worships nature. They’ve been featured at Prix Ars Electronica 2011, Ars Electronica animation festival 2011, OnedotZero 2010&2011, Japan Media Arts Festival 2010, STRP festival, CMoDA Creative future exhibition Beijing 2012, Computer Space, SIGGRAPH Asia Singapore. Biwako Biennale. Japan 2012, Nordic Outbreak by the Streaming Museum, New York City 2013 and the upcoming FILE 2013 FIESP Cultural Centre, Sao Paulo, Brazil + Nordic Outbreak Nordic Tour Fall 2013. Had exhibitions at art gallerys in Tokyo, Osaka. Kyoto, Yokohama, Berlin & Poland. They originated in the 80s and are currently in their third generation, though physically it consists of filmmaker and creator Stefan, born in Sweden and now based outside Kyoto:

Conceptually, AUJIK is an esoteric group of several members who work in independent clusters but can assemble into a larger unit. […] It is rumoured that most of the members are descendants of Yamabushis (ascetic hermit monks in ancient Japan). They strive to reach a higher consciousness by transcending with technology and nature using themselves as a catalyst between these elements.

Melbourne-based The Woolshed Company is a film studio with a confession to make – they’ve just run a two year long social experiment called “The Viral Experiment”, where they faked viral videos on the Internet. Via Design Taxi:

The series, directed by Richard Hughes and Caspar Mazzotti, comprises eight ‘viral’ clips that some of you might find familiar.

This includes the GoPro footage of a man’s fight with a great white shark off Sydney Harbour, a GoPro falling off a drone and onto the ‘Burning Man’ dance floor, a guy who ran into an outback tornado to take a selfie, the USA vs Japan selfie stick fight, the stormtrooper who fell down the stairs on the way to the Star Wars premiere, guy’s reaction to his girlfriend nearly getting struck by lightning in Sydney, a snowboarder getting run down by a bear and a lion who took revenge on a trophy hunter.

The videos had not only spread across the internet but also sparked debate surrounding their authenticity. The news coverage gained the clips even higher view counts.

In an infographic that was published with the announcement, The Woolshed Company states total online views for the videos at 205 million from more than 180 countries, approximately 1.5 million likes, half a million comments and worldwide news coverage.

Channel 4’s ad for Rio Paralympics 2016 is great, joyous fun, starring more than 140 disabled people, not just athletes. Via Adweek:

Channel 4 CMO Dan Brooke describes the tone as “an unbridled celebration of ability, by both elite Paralympians and everyday people. In 2012, we saw athletes like never before, but now we see that Down syndrome graduates and wheelchair users in the workplace are just as superhuman as blind sprinters and amputee weightlifters.”

Casting was “essential to this piece of work,” adds Alice Tonge, creative director at 4Creative. “We did a massive search to find people all over the world who have turned ‘No, I can’t’ into ‘Yes, I can.’ ”

The message is considerably broader in scope and more sweeping than the 2012 spot, and the nonstop positive vibes—driven by imaginative set pieces and inspired editing—are incredibly infectious.

“This campaign is the most important we have ever undertaken, and isn’t just about Rio. It’s about revolutionizing public attitudes to disability forever,” Brooke says.

Indeed, the spot transcends its specific marketing mission and envisions a world in which all people can find fulfillment and achieve to the absolute best of their ability. It may well be one of the most inclusive ads ever made, presenting the integration of disabled people into virtually every aspect of daily existence with Glee-style musical abandon. Particularly striking are its playful, surreal touches. These include a tap-dance routine with performers ringed by high-steppin’, disembodied carbon-fiber legs, and big-band singer Tony Dee trading his fedora for a crash helmet and driving his wheelchair through a window.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R3dQAq6SfY&feature=youtu.be

Meals on Wheels has a great new ad campaign titled “America, Let’s Do Lunch”, created by Anomaly agency. Via Adweek:

For its first national integrated campaign, created by Anomaly and supported by the Ad Council, Meals on Wheels is seeking volunteers to serve the elderly population in the U.S. The commitment isn’t big, and they’re not asking for money. What they want is your lunch hour.

“America, Let’s Do Lunch” puts a warm and upbeat spotlight on the people who benefit from Meals on Wheels. You’ll meet a retired school psychologist with a contagious laugh, a woman who surrounds herself with flowers, a couple who’ve knitted their wedding photo onto a pillowcase, and more.

The anchoring ad, which kicks off the campaign and introduces the characters, concludes, “One in six seniors face the threat of hunger, and millions more live in isolation. So drop off a hot meal and say a quick hello.”

The U.S. senior population is expected to double by 2050. And while they’re staying healthier longer, and living longer too, these ads deftly demonstrate that life’s packed with curveballs you don’t expect—like strokes or broken hips. (We often forget that, at some point, we all become less able to varying degrees.)

Thrillist’s hilarious, viral cider prank Uncle-Drew-styled ad has been watched over 50 million times on Facebook and counting. Via Barbend:

Kenneth “Kenny” Leverich is a multi-time CrossFit Games competitor and all-around freak athlete who has a crazy combination of strength, speed, and gymnastics skill. Basically, he’s one of the best functional fitness athletes we can think of to put on a clinic of showoff moves

So when Thrillist recruited him for a recent viral prank (sponsored by Smith & Forge Hard Cider), well, it drew a crowd. The whole thing is under four minutes, and it’s worth watching in its entirety as Leverich gets disguised as an 84 year old man when he visits the famed Muscle Beach. Costumed snatches, clean & jerks, back flips, pistols, and other antics ensue.

We’ve seen this sort of prank pulled off before with big brands and mainstream sports superstars (think Kyrie Irving schooling streetballers as the faux-aged “Uncle Drew”), but it seems like Leverich actually had the Muscle Beach regulars convinced from start to finish. We especially love the reactions of the shirtless lifter Leverich challenges to a snatch-off. “Shocked” doesn’t come close to describing it.

There’s no guarantee, but we don’t think most of the observers were corporate plants. And we really, really want to think the shock is genuine.

Virgin Media’s Usain Bolt ad is about the power and emotion of speed – a campaign by BBH Media before next week’s Olympics. Via Adweek:

Virgin Media proves that 9.58 seconds can stretch on indefinitely in a campaign from BBH London that focuses on iconic sprinter Usain Bolt ahead of next month’s Olympic Games in Rio.

At the 2009 Berlin World Championships in Athletics, Bolt famously shattered his own 100-meter world record, establishing a new mark of 9.58, a number that’s become synonymous with the Jamaican track star, even becoming the title of his 2010 autobiography.

Now, to celebrate Bolt’s achievement and dramatize the importance of speed (including that of its own broadband service), Virgin presents a short film comprising 10 separate 9.58-second vignettes. Narrated by sprinter Michael Johnson, each segment focuses on a different aspect of Bolt’s life and experience.

“This campaign is about the power and emotion of speed, creating an emotive story around Bolt and our brand,” says client CMO Kerris Bright.

Academy Films director Seb Edwards constructs a compelling montage using stock footage and new material that goes a long way toward illustrating Johnson’s line, “Do you know what 9.58 seconds feels like? Like your whole life passing under your feet.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G_bL7LN_8o

Stella Artois has a quirky Wimbledon ad that takes you back in time, following a ticket seller trying to sell Wimbledon tickets to people who hadn’t (yet) heard of the tournament. Via AdAge:

Stella Artois’ Wimbledon spot this year takes us back in time to the Victorian era, before the first tournament.

Lavishly directed by Biscuit’s Andreas Nilsson, the colorful spot, by Mother London, sees a Wimbledon ticket seller try in vain to flog seats at the tennis matches to an array of quirky Victorian characters — including a magician, a circus strongman, a bunch of chimney sweeps and even Sherlock Holmes. Sadly for him, they all reply “Never heard of it.”‘

Eventually, he gives up and heads to a bar, where the barman offers him a taste of an unknown beer from Belgium, called Artois. The ad ends with the line: “We’ve all got to start somewhere. So what do you want to be remembered for?”

The ad is part of an integrated campaign that also features outdoor and digital, as well as a fully immersive theater experience called “The Time Portal” that will take place over five days in London. Created in collaboration with theater troupe Les Enfants Terribles and Framestore, the experience will transport audiences back to Victorian London in search of the first Wimbledon.

Global Goals has breathed new life into the Spice Girls’ iconic song “Wannabe”, creating a campaign that’s a call to action before the U.N. Sustainable Development Summit in September this year. People are asked to tag themselves with the #WhatIReallyReallyWant hashtag via social media and share images of their messages. Via the Global Goals website:

In 2015 world leaders promised to put girls and women first when they signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty, fix climate change and tackle inequalities.

Girls and women are disproportionately affected by these challenges and are key to building resilient communities to withstand them.

That’s why we need to ensure World Leaders and the Secretary General of the United Nations listen to the voices of girls and women and put them first in policies and plans.

2016 is our chance to use our collective power and tell world leaders what we really really want for girls and women.

If you make the noise, we’ll get your message to world leaders at the UN in September. The Global Goals will only ever be achieved if governments, businesses, communities and YOU invest in girls and women.

So far celebrities have jumped in on the action, including the Spice Girls themselves, and people like Jamie Oliver.