Euro RSCG London has created a short film on behalf of Credit Suisse, to promote the National Gallery’s new blockbuster Titian exhibition, which the bank is sponsoring. Titled Metamorphosis, the film is inspired by Titian’s famous painting Diana and Actaeon, and stars Anna Friel as the goddess.
The film ties in with the unusual approach that the National Gallery has taken to the Titian show, which features work by contemporary artists Chris Ofili, Conrad Shawcross and Mark Wallinger, who have all created artworks responding to paintings by the Italian master, which are also displayed. The show opens tomorrow (July 11) and runs until September 23: more info is here.
Credits: Agency: Euro RSCG London Creative director/writer: Gerry Moira Art directors: Dave Burn Directors: Tell No One Production company: Skin Flicks
RKCR/Y&R, Red Bee Media and Passion Pictures’ director Pete Candeland turn the UK into a giant sporting venue for the BBC’s Olympics marketing trail and title sequences
Super-stylised athletes are seen competing in Scottish lochs, terraced streets and around London in the film which will be used across all the BBC’s TV and digital Olympics content. The film also features Five Steps, the Olympics ‘theme tune’ written by Elbow.
RKCR/Y&R developed the concept, the animation was by Passion and the sequence was produced by Red Bee Media. It will be used for the BBC’s 2012 title sequences and on desktop, mobile tablets and ‘connected’ TV content. A full two-minute, 40 second version will be premiered on BBC ONe on July 3. 60, 40, 30 and five second versions will be used throughout the Games.
Credits Agency: RKCR/Y&R ECD: Damon Collins Creatives: Jules Chalkley, Nick Simons, Ted Heath, Paul Angus Production company: Passion Pictures/Red Bee Media Animation production company: Passion Pictures Director: Pete Candeland
CR for the iPad Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here
CR in Print The July issue of Creative Review features a piece exploring the past and future of the dingbat. Plus a look at the potential of paper electronics and printed apps, how a new generation of documentary filmmakers is making use of the web, current logo trends, a review of MoMA New York’s group show on art and type, thoughts on how design may help save Greece and much more. Also, in Monograph this month we showcase a host of rejected design work put together by two Kingston students.
Please note, CR is no longer stocked in WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your independent newsagent can order it for you or you can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, email Laura McQueen (laura.mcqueen@centaur.co.uk) or call her on 020 7970 4878 to buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.
Our guest reporter Steve Smith went along to this year’s Rave2012 – the graduation show for Ravensbourne – to watch the BA Animation reel. The animation course breeds a blend of very able CGI technicians (some having already worked at post houses like Framestore) and more traditional filmmakers and 2D artists. The films themselves are kept short, and are often collaborative efforts. Here are some of the best pieces of work.
Creation by Owen Jackson is a simple but quite compelling clip constructed from surreal typography. More like an ident than a film, it has a quiet sophistication that works as neat counterpoint to the other, more attention-grabbing films on show. goldleaf.tv
Talking of which, Going Down seemed to be the most talked about, and well realised film here. A short zombie flick with great characterisation, modelling, lighting and texturing; its only failure was in the slightly slapdash editing. With a film-only website already in place, the team of graduates (David Fish, Greg Martin, Joseph Henson, Nicholas Georgeou, Oliver Kane, and Stephanie Joy) clearly know what they’re doing. goingdownfilm.co.uk
Devil in the Works by Gerome Oldfield & Deon Litchmore was perhaps the most visually impressive film, fashioned like a music video. The clip succeeds in making the Houses of Parliament run like clockwork, which would be a dream for most people but it’s seen as more of a dystopian nightmare, reminiscent of Gilliam’s Brazil. The compositing and 3D visualisation is well done, but I could complain it’s just a rather glorified fly-through.
Bugged Off by directors Maik Pham Quang and Natalia Altavilla is another well-realised film, showing good technical skills in 3D animation. Like Groundhog Day with flies, the story is succinct, but the timing is sometimes a little off.
Guard Dog (Director: Malachi Richking) is a crude, comic farce with nice touches, but could be summed up as a title sequence for an adult sit-com.
Conversely, I Wanna be a Dinosaur by Gary Ralphs could be a teaser for a kids series. The animation is well made, with a painterly 2D style that isn’t always consistent, but the humour and ideas in the dialogue are nicely delivered.
Scissors by Rob Bowles reminded me of Struwwelpeter’s The Story of the Thumb-Sucker. Sadly the design, animation and compositing didn’t live up to the illustrious concept.
Other films worth a mention, but sadly with no online links, are Dominique Urquhart’s The Trouble with Drink, which is a dark voyage into an alcoholic’s world, and Synaesthesia by Chrysovalantis Lazaridis – a gentle documentary about one girl’s experience of the neurological condition.
CR for the iPad Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here
CR in Print The July issue of Creative Review features a piece exploring the past and future of the dingbat. Plus a look at the potential of paper electronics and printed apps, how a new generation of documentary filmmakers is making use of the web, current logo trends, a review of MoMA New York’s group show on art and type, thoughts on how design may help save Greece and much more. Also, in Monograph this month we showcase a host of rejected design work put together by two Kingston students.
Please note, CR is no longer stocked in WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your independent newsagent can order it for you or you can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, email Laura McQueen (laura.mcqueen@centaur.co.uk) or call her on 020 7970 4878 to buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.
The Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase is one of the Cannes Lions Festival’s most popular events for delegates: both for its line-up of films by some of the best new talent around, as well as for the guaranteed theatrics of its opening. Here’s how this year’s showcase played out…
The S&S NDS has a deserved reputation for featuring the directing talents of tomorrow (previous showcases have included the likes of Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Danny Kleinman and Jonathan Glazer), but also for its audacious and spectacular introductions. This year lived up to reputation once again, as visitors were invited to ‘Meet Your Creator’, which turned out to be a lightshow performed by a set of flying robots. Here are some images to give you sense of how it looked:
The intro was a collaboration between a number of artists, led by Jonathan Santana and Xander Smith at Saatchi & Saatchi London, with production by Juliette Larthe, and creative direction from Marshmallow Laser Feast. The full credits are shown at the bottom of this post.
The New Directors’ Showcase Reel 2012 featured work by 18 directors, and was a mixture of short films, music videos, movie titles, and ads. Below is the list of selected films in full: some will no doubt be familiar, but hopefully there are some surprises in there for everyone too.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trailer by Tim Miller (blur.com)
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore by William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg (moonbotstudios.com)
Saatchi & Saatchi NDS Introduction credits: Event concept: Jonathan Santana & Xander Smith, Saatchi & Saatchi Producer: Juliette Larthe Production supervisor: Holly Restieaux Show directors: Marshmallow Laser Feast (Memo Akten, Robin McNicholas, Barney Steel) Quadrotor design and development: KMel Robotics Sound design: Oneohtrix Point Never Typography and design: Farrow Design Set Design: Sam Arthur
Pentagram Design celebrated its 40th birthday at the weekend (May 19). To mark the occasion, London partner Naresh Ramchandani created a charming film telling the story of the firm’s first four decades
Credits Written by Naresh Ramchandani and Tom Edmonds Directed by Christian Carlsson Additional animation by Simone Nunziato Sound design by Iain Grant and Wam London Music by Graeme Miller Titles by John Rushworth Design by Pentagram
CR for the iPad Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here
CR in Print The May issue of Creative Review is the biggest in our 32-year history, with over 200 pages of great content. This speial double issue contains all the selected work for this year’s Annual, our juried showcase of the finest work of the past 12 months. In addition, the May issue contains features on the enduring appeal of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, a fantastic interview with the irrepressible George Lois, Rick Poynor on the V&A’s British Design show, a preview of the controversial new Stedelijk Museum identity and a report from Flatstock, the US gig poster festival. Plus, in Monograph this month, TwoPoints.net show our subcribers around the pick of Barcelona’s creative scene.
If you would like to buy this issue and are based in the UK, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.
Alex Turvey’s immersive eight-minute film showing at KK Outlet in east London takes you beyond the city and into a headspinning landscape of colour and sound…
Created to accompany the live shows of Blanck Mass (aka Benjamin John Power, one half of fuzzy noiseniks Fuck Buttons), Turvey’s new films centre around a series of spinning reflective forms. What looks like a leaping deer at one point, a weirdly drippy arm the next hold centre and project out of landscapes of various blobby masses.
Here’s his trailer for the show:
Despite a penchant for the psychedelic, Turvey’s style is hard to pin down as he has, among other things, directed surrealist music videos for Zulu Winter (see below) and We Have Band; designed the set, masks and a mirrored dress for a Shakira SEAT spot; put together installations for Levi’s and Nike stores; while bashing out a rather fine badge logo for Cooper Bikes. And he’s made a proper kite.
But Hollow Earth focuses on the visuals he created for Blanck Mass’s recent live foray and a right psychedelic trip they are too. Prints of some of the imagery created in the making of the films are also on display (and for sale) at the gallery.
When I went along the BM soundtrack wasn’t loud enough to get anywhere near the live experience – but then there is just a single small door separating this netherworld from the calm of the KK gallery and shop. So get along before May 27. (And ask them to turn it up, just for you.)
Hollow Earth is at KK Outlet, 42 Hoxton Square, London N1 6PB, details at kkoutlet.com. More of Turvey’s work is at alexturvey.com.
CR for the iPad Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here
CR in Print The May issue of Creative Review is the biggest in our 32-year history, with over 200 pages of great content. This speial double issue contains all the selected work for this year’s Annual, our juried showcase of the finest work of the past 12 months. In addition, the May issue contains features on the enduring appeal of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, a fantastic interview with the irrepressible George Lois, Rick Poynor on the V&A’s British Design show, a preview of the controversial new Stedelijk Museum identity and a report from Flatstock, the US gig poster festival. Plus, in Monograph this month, TwoPoints.net show our subcribers around the pick of Barcelona’s creative scene.
If you would like to buy this issue and are based in the UK, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.
Studio AKA director Steve Small has designed and directed a refreshingly charming hand-drawn ident to precede ITV1’s upcoming Royal Season of TV programmes which trail the Diamond Jubilee
Double click the image below to play the ident
Before the more cynical of our readers start reaching for the ‘meh’ button, just imagine how awful this could have been – it’s for the Diamond Jubilee! Just think about how much awful junk is already going round to tie in with that happy event. And it’s for ITV1 – not exactly universally renowned as the home of great creative work.
Instead, Small’s hand-drawn, colour washed design has something of 60s Ealing era film titles about it, perhaps even of the late great Ronald Searle in its many curlicues. Whatever, it’s unexpectedly fun, if very short.
CR for the iPad Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here
CR in Print The May issue of Creative Review is the biggest in our 32-year history, with over 200 pages of great content. This speial double issue contains all the selected work for this year’s Annual, our juried showcase of the finest work of the past 12 months. In addition, the May issue contains features on the enduring appeal of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, a fantastic interview with the irrepressible George Lois, Rick Poynor on the V&A’s British Design show, a preview of the controversial new Stedelijk Museum identity and a report from Flatstock, the US gig poster festival. Plus, in Monograph this month, TwoPoints.net show our subcribers around the pick of Barcelona’s creative scene.
If you would like to buy this issue and are based in the UK, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.
Created by one of the founders of Soundcloud, Ecclesia is an interactive album for the iPad that allows listeners to take control of the artwork and sound for each track, making every experience of the album a unique one. Drawing its inspiration from church recordings, the app makes for an interesting contrast between the traditional and the contemporary.
Ecclesia’s tracks are complemented by a series of sculptural visuals, which the listener can travel through and around, with each manipulation of the artwork having subtle effects on the sound of the track.
The music itself is derived from a series of church recordings, and uses fragments of strings, choirs, organs and ambient noises from church concerts. The beats and percussion are drawn from the sounds of various metal, wooden and stone objects.
Forss, the mind behind the music, originally had the idea of creating something more interactive when he released his debut album, Soulhack. Nine years later he had the opportunity to collaborate with Leo Lass, from audio-visual team Depart, and CGI artist Marcel Schobel, who runs Untouch.fm. Forss attributes the inspiration for the visuals to religious imagery, commenting:
“Art, music, literature and even science were, until last century, very much focused on religion, which created a very complex reference system. The interesting part is that, as we are getting more and more detached from the original sources, the images remain but can’t be fully decoded anymore. This leaves us with a certain enigmatic, sometimes nostalgic feeling which adds depth and atmosphere. We even talked to theologians to dig up stories which would emphasise the elements of each track in the project.”
The iPad certainly seems to be enjoying a wave of attention from the music world, with Bjork’s Biophilia app, and the recently launched Simian Mobile Disco app, which plays their new album, Unpatterns, alongside a series of shifting and evolving pattersn, designed by Kate Moross.
So, is the iPad the digital saviour of music? Forss concludes:
“We believe that apps will add to the palette of visual expressions for musicians and artists. Apps allow us to create intimate audiovisual experiences that you can immerse yourself into. The iPad is a magical device. It’s intuitive and elegant. As a medium it turns into this window to a world that allows for lightweight interaction without distracting the listener.”
CR for the iPad Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here
CR in Print The May issue of Creative Review is the biggest in our 32-year history, with over 200 pages of great content. This speial double issue contains all the selected work for this year’s Annual, our juried showcase of the finest work of the past 12 months. In addition, the May issue contains features on the enduring appeal of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, a fantastic interview with the irrepressible George Lois, Rick Poynor on the V&A’s British Design show, a preview of the controversial new Stedelijk Museum identity and a report from Flatstock, the US gig poster festival. Plus, in Monograph this month, TwoPoints.net show our subcribers around the pick of Barcelona’s creative scene.
If you would like to buy this issue and are based in the UK, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.
We’ve all done it – snapped a shot out of the window of a plane while flying. Well Wieden + Kennedy Tokyo creative Shingo Ohno has gone a few steps further than that, creating a music video for his one-man band Merce Death using footage shot on his iPhone 4S while in flight…
Ohno shot the video on over 50 flights between Tokyo and Fukuoka during an eight month period. He came up with the idea when he became a commuter after he and his family moved to Hakata following the earthquake last year. As well as using his iPhone to shoot and edit the film, he also used it to compose the music. “I kept working Tokyo after I moved, which led me to fly between Fukuoka and Tokyo almost every weekend,” he says.
“The views and sceneries from the airplane window were always beautiful and extraordinary. I enjoyed taking pictures on Instagram on the plane. Soon after, I started to seek ways to use this unusual opportunity to be flying through the sky all the time to create something.” Ohno created a customised case for his iPhone in order to stick it the window of the plane:
“The flight between Tokyo to Fukuoka takes about two hours, and you are allowed to use your electronics for about an hour within that time,” he continues. “I came to a conclusion that if I can compose a music while I am in the air, I might be able to make a piece that is fit for the sky with a feeling of being in the air. While I was composing a piece on the plane, I thought of using this beautiful scenery from the airplane window to create a music video for the music. So I began shooting and editing the video simultaneously.
“I used iPhone 4S for every process of creating this piece from composing music to shooting and editing the video, and even colour correction. It seemed so futuristic for me to create something while I am flying in the air, using only my iPhone for the whole process.”
Appropriately enough, the music Ohno created is available to download from SoundCloud. See more on the project here.
For his Now Here’s My Plan EP, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy has revisited his own back catalogue in a series of self-covers. The bleak I See A Darkness has been pepped up to the point of creepiness, an effect only increased by a rather strange video…
Directed by Ben Berman, Billy’s new promo follows the singer-songwriter and friends as they stroll along various streets in Glasgow. Sending up his own brand of miserablism, Billy prances past pubs, bars and restaurants on Ashton Street, and has the occasional drink with his buddy. But then things start to get weird in a kind of low rent Aphex Twin kind of way.
It’s a new take on a classic piece of BPB downbeat, given extra vim by a strange, unsettling video.
The original version of I See A Darkness is here. More at on the new EP at dominorecordco.com.
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