Audi Doberhuahua Call to Stay Uncompromised

Audi of America is running “Doberhuahua”, a comical Super Bowl advertising campaign promoting the Audi A3 sedan. “Doberhuahua” follows a young couple in their hunt for the perfect dog. When they can’t decide on which breed to choose – a cute and cuddly Chihuahua or a big and bold Doberman Pinscher – the pet store owner suggests they comprise and blend the two breeds. The result: A Doberhuahua that quickly takes over the city, wreaking havoc and leaving chaos in its wake. “Compromise scares us too,” says Audi at the end, introducing the hashtag #StayUncompromised. The campaign includes appearances by singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, who provides a spoof on her 2006 BC SPCA public service ad, “Angel”, this time singing for the troubled Doberhuahua.

The Doberhuahua campaign was developed at Venables Bell & Partners by executive creative directors Paul Venables and Will McGinness, creative directors Tyler Hampton and Erich Pfeifer, art director Byron Del Rosario, copywriter Meredith Karr, director of integrated production Craig Allen, agency producer Joyce Chen, business leader Colleen McGee, account supervisor Nicole Spinelli, working with Loren Angelo, Director of Marketing for Audi of America.

Filming was shot by director Noam Murro via Biscuit Filmworks with director of photography Toby Irwin, executive producers Shawn Lacy and Colleen O’Donnell, line producer Jay Veal.

Editor was Rick Russell at Final Cut with producer Suzy Ramirez and assistant editor Chris Amos.

Post production was done at The Mill by VFX executive producer Sue Troyan, VFX producer Dan Roberts, VFX coordinator Antonio Hardy, 2D lead James Allen, 3D lead Gawain Liddiard, 3D lead artists Jacob Bergman (animation), Tom Raynor (lighting & rendering), Martin Rivera (tracking), 2D artists Nick Tayler, Becky Porter, Jason Bergman, Ben Smith, Chris Howard, Brad Scott, 3D artists Steve Beck, Carl Harders, George Lui, Ashraf Ghoniem, Blake Guest, Blake Sullivan, Bradley McLaughlin, Bridget Warrington, Cassi Clayton, Chris Goodrich, Danny Yoon, Hartwell Durfor, James Ma, Jason Janksy, Jesse Flores, Juan Zavala, Katie Yancey, Martin Rivera, Matt Bohnert, Matt Neapolitan, Miguel Guerrero, Mike Di Nocco, Nick Lines, Robert Chapman, Tom Graham, Sergio Xisto, Margaux Huneau, matte painters Thom Price, Itai Mueller, after effects artist Greg Park, after department team Jeff Langlios and Ashley Forbito. Telecine was by colourist Adam Scott with producer Natalie Westerfield and executive producer LaRue Andersen.

Sound was designed by Brian Emrich at Trinitite Studios. Sound was mixed at Lime Studios. Music was produced at Elias Arts by executive creative director Brent Nichols, creative director Dave Gold, executive producer Ann Haugen, producer Katie Overcash.

Beans and astronauts

Cinesite, post production company based in Montreal and London, is showcasing the creation of animation skills of their employees in the “beans”, a short film created exclusively for the home. Mock commercial featuring four astronauts doing the moonwalk, when they are discovered by the scary Monster. Since its release on December 11, a YouTube video had nearly 6 million views.

London maker Alvise Avati approached Cinesite idea on film. He says, “working in Visual effects, usually other people’s visions, and creatures that you create. It was the ability to take creative control and make a movie about. “

The appearance of the Lunar environment is based on the film and the actual NASA photos of the moon. Eamonn says: “at the beginning of the movie is quite a serious tone and then develops, more and more dramatic as it develops before ending on the surprise. In support of this, she had to be photo realistic environment. We wanted to also push the animation and effects to the extent that you can make a movie as spectacular as possible before payout.

Eamonn Butler, the head of animation Cinesite Division says: “when it comes to the creation of the project, we worked in a very collaborative. Alvise brought some great works of art and ideas, we have developed through the modeling, rigging and animation. We brought more talented artists as we went to assist in the development of the appearance of the movie by textures, lighting and compositing.

Because the creation would be seen as short, it was important for him to stand out and be scary. Alvise says: “I wanted the essence of eyes to shine. Also we have added the bioluminescence effects to parts of his head, to highlight it. “

The grain of the film was written and directed by animator Alvise Avati by Cinesite with producer Eamonn Butler, Executive producers Antony Hunt, Courtney Vanderslice-right and Peter Nagle, FX Richard Clarke, artistic director Jean-David Solon, a concept artist Andrea de Martis, modeling team Grahame Curtis and Royston someone rigging artist Richard Boyle, animators Peter Clayton, Tom O’Flaherty and Adam Bailey, texture artists Nicolette Newman and Gary NewmanFX animation team Andreas Vrhovsek and Luke Wilde, lighting and composition band Zave Jackson, Nikos Gatos, Jonathan Vuillemin, Dan Harrod, Joel Bodin and Jason Summersgill, editor of post production and sound design by William Marshall-Wilkinson and Christopher Learmonth, the pipeline team Ronald Siy and Alexander Savenko.

Additional post production and sound design was done at Molinare Post, London.

Bud Light Up For Whatever Happens

Bud Light advertising around the 2014 Super Bowl final includes “For Whatever”, a campaign featuring an epic night out for New Yorker Ian Rappaport. Ian, who had signed up for a focus group, was offered a bottle of Bid Light if he was prepared to be “up for whatever happens next. What follows in “Epic Night” is a ride in a stretch limousine with comedian/DJ Reggie Watts and beautiful women on their way to a bachelor party. Actress Minka Kelly dresses Ian in a suit. In the elevator he meets actor Don Cheadle and a llama, before taking on Arnold Schwarzenegger in a game of table tennis. The room opens up to reveal a party featuring band OneRepublic.

The Whatever Happens campaign was developed at BBDO New York by chief creative officer (worldwide) David Lubars, chief creative officer Greg Hahn, executive creative directors Mike Smith and Ralph Watson, associate creative director/copywriter Rick Williams, associate creative director/art director Marcel Yunes, director of integrated production Dave Rolfe, executive producers Dan Blaney and Diane McCann, producer Mona Lisa Farrokhnia, senior integrated business manager Debbie Amsden, managing director Jeff Adkins, group account director Kevin Bogusz, account director Sean Brewster, account executive Emily Eisenberg, assistant account executive Zane Chao, chief strategy officer Larry Gies, group planning director Sean Girardin, planning director Shannon Smiley.

Filming was shot by Jackass film director Jeff Tremaine via HeLo with managing director Brendan Kiernan, executive producer Justin Moore-Lewy and Robert Lewis, supervising producer Chris Rouchard, line producer Paula Cohen, director of photography Bojan Bazelli.

Editor was Ian Mackenzie at Mackenzie Cutler with producer Evan Meeker, assistant editors Nick Divers, Mike Rizzo, Patrick Blumer, executive producer Sasha Hirschfeld, finish/conform team Jimmy Hayhol and Joseph Miller.

Telecine was produced at Company 3 by colourist Tom Poole. Graphics and titles were by Image Factory DC.

Sound was mixed at Heard City by Dan Flosdorf. Music was produced at Beacon Street Studios. Sound was designed by Brian Emrich at Trinitite Studios.

Apple iPad Air – Your Verse Anthem

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Apple has released its latest poetic spot for the iPad Air, featuring verses from Dead Poets Society spoken by Robin Williams (Professor John Keating). Viewers are taken on a journey away from ordinary uses of tablet technology, subtly relieving us of the all too familiar cringe felt when someone takes a photo with a big clunky iPad. The spot romantically highlights the beauty in real world applications thanks to the ease in mobility of the iPad Air. The ad concludes by asking, “What will your verse be?”, encouraging us to consider our own moments of creativity. Viewers can explore the verses and stories further on an equally thoughtful site, apple.com/your-verse.

We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute.
We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.
And the human race is filled with passion.
And medicine, law, business, engineering — these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life.
But poetry, beauty, romance, love — these are what we stay alive for.
To quote from Whitman: “O me, O life of the questions of these recurring.
Of the endless trains of the faithless. Of cities filled with the foolish.
What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer: That you are here.
That life exists and identity.
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”
“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”
What will your verse be?

The Your Verse campaign was developed at TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

Bell’s for The Reader

South African company Brandhouse is promoting Bell’s Old Scotch Whisky with “The Reader”, a heart-warming 2 minute commercial in which a father learns to read late in life. The father, motivated by his son’s success as an author, learns to master the written word in a variety of innovative and fun ways, with fridge magnets, a board game, cards and alphabet pasta all cleverly contributing to his objective. The “Give that man a Bell’s” line is associated with stories of men with character, people whose journeys of courage are often overlooked.

For a similarly inspiring commercial with an adult literacy focus see Hallmark’s 2006 ad “Required Reading“.

The Reader ad was developed at King James by group chief creative Alistair King, executive creative directors Devin Kennedy and Matt Ross, creative director Mike Wilson, art director Cameron Watson, agency producer Caz Friedman and client service director Sheri Cook working with Bell’s Whisky brand manager Thandeka Mgqumeya and marketing manager Thami Silwana.

Filming was shot by director Greg Gray via Velocity Films with producer Helena Woodfine.

Jack White I’m Shakin

Jack White’s 2012 music video for “I’m Shakin” is one of the nominations for Best Music Video at the Grammy’s being held on January 26. The music video, launched in October 2012, features a Jack White in black vs. a Jack White in blue, accompanied by members of his touring bands The Buzzards and The Peacocks. Guitarist Olivia Jean and vocalist Ruby Amanfu appear in both bands. Other music videos nominated for the Grammys are Capital Cities – Safe And Sound, Jay Z – Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Ray Dalton – Can’t Hold Us, Justin Timberlake Featuring Jay Z – Suit and Tie.

Filming was shot by director Dori Oskowitz via Prettybird with director of photography Matthias Koenigswieser, production designer Delfin Emiliano, producer Raquel Castello, executive producer Candice Ouaknine and video commissioner Saul Levitz. Editor was editor Arianna Tomasettig at Final Cut.

“I’m Shakin’” was written by Rudy Toombs and recorded by Little Willie John (Isaac Toombs) in 1959.

Sound of Honda Ayrton Senna 1989

Honda’s “Ayrton Senna 1989? project, “Sound of Honda”, is the winner of the Online Video section of the Automobile Advertising of the Year awards, adding to the Grand Prix at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2013. Honda’s car navigation system “Internavi” designs drivers’ journeys using vehicle log data. Sound of Honda / Ayrton Senna 1989 used Formula One data from 24 years ago to bring an Ayrton SENNA race back to life in sound and light. The data from the then world’s fastest lap, achieved by SENNA in the qualifiers for the F1 Japanese Grand Prix in 1989, was digitally reconstructed and analyzed. By matching this up with recordings of MP4/5 cars, reproductions were created of the engine sounds at the time.

Installing speakers and LED lights along the 5,807-meter long Suzuka Circuit, the reproduced engine sounds were paired with motion data from the race. On a website, the 1:38:041 lap time was recreated in 3D computer graphics using WebGL (an API for displaying 3D graphics in a browser), enabling viewers to experience SENNA’s performance online. A smartphone app also allowed drivers to enjoy the sounds of SENNA’s lap in their cars.

Here’s the original Sound of Honda videos hosted on the Honda Japan YouTube channel, with titles and documentary footage in Japanese.

The Sound of Honda project was developed at Dentsu, Tokyo, by creative director/creative technologist Kaoru Sugano, creative planners/copywriters Sotaro Yasumochi and Nadya Kirillova, creative planner/art director Yu Orai, creative planner/creative technologist Kyoko Yonezawa, PR planner Misa Ueda, account directors Takao Kaburaki, Takuma Sato, Sungwon Kim, Takashi Hirano, working with Honda marketing team Ken Imamura, Akihiro Mikawa and Hiroaki Sawato.

Filming was shot by director Kosai Sekine via Dentsu Creative X with producers Masafumi Fujioka and Ryoko Toyama, production managers Kenya Miyashiya and Hinako Hirata, director of photography Senzo Ueno, and producer Haruhiko Ishikawa at Shipoo.

Sound was produced at Qosmo by director Taeji Sawai, sound designers Tomoyuki Kawamura and Mitsuru Tajika. The sound system was developed at Try Audio by Masaaki Azuma.

LED systems were produced at Rhizomatiks by artist/programmer and system engineer Daito Manabe, producer Hidenori Chiba, programmer Satoru Higa, support team Tomoaki Yanagisawa, Muryo Honma and Hiroyuki Hori, with system support from Kunio Tamada at TamaTechLab and laser support from Tatsya Tamamoto at Heartfast.

Web production was done at Metaphor.

Greetings, written in the stars

Christmas and new year’s Eve mass texts got update this year, like a 3D trip hop duo massive attack works with digital agency AKQA to create written in the stars, site message, which allows you to share holiday greetings in the sky. Visit stars.akqa.com for iOS devices and post a message with the stars. When the recipient opens it will be able to explore the sky to reveal a message – literally saved in the stars in the sky, together with the song by Massive Attack. Mobile experience requires no download.

Written in the stars is the result of a combination of several HTML5 APIs, Web Audio, canvas and orientation of the device, where the orientation of the user equipment directly affects the audio and Visual elements of the experience. Users explore a three-dimensional map, in order to find the North Star to reveal a message a friend or loved one sent them. Users are guided through this environment with audio and visual signals, which are directly related to the orientation of the user mobile devices through a gyroscope and accelerometer.

Based on the orientation of the device, canvas and Web Audio APIs are used to reveal the different areas of the map and provide audio and visual signals to the user that their proximity to the North Star. Once it is found, is manifested by their unique messages, and track by 3D Massive Attack begins at full strength. Pieces of news are first seen as the star of the constellation, which run in the sequence to the music, and then connect to individual letters that make up the messages that were sent.

It does actually being able to see the real star. 3-map will view on your mobile phone, based on location, regardless if you are in New York City or in the countryside.

It is absolutely a mobile experience, optimized for iOS devices. Type and Send a personal message with the site by pressing the button “Create”. On the desktop and then you can watch the demo video iOS devices. After you create a message, you can share via Facebook, Twitter, email, or by sending a unique URL via SMS.

Kia Matrix of Luxury with Morpheus

Kia’s 2014 Super Bowl campaign brings back the character of Morpheus from the 1999 film series The Matrix. Laurence Fishburne appears in a 60 second commercial, “The Truth”, introducing the all new K900 luxury sedan. The integrated Matrix campaign includes television, cinema, digital, print, experiential, social media and CRM components, all drawing heavily on imagery and ideas from the films, including levitating cars, authentic costumes and props, and a recreation of the stark white environment of “The Construct.”

In “The Truth” an unsuspecting couple meets Morpheus at a valet stand. He presents them with two choices: a red key or a blue key. “Take the blue key, you go back to the luxury you know. Take the red key, and you’ll never look at luxury the same again.” After reaching for the red key, the plot thickens as Morpheus accompanies the couple on an unforgettable ride filled with imagery from, and nods to, The Matrix films. Morpheus explains that the K900 embodies what luxury looks like and feels like, with its V8 power, advanced technology and superb craftsmanship and materials. Then, he serenades the couple with “what luxury sounds like” — a soaring rendition of “Nessun dorma,” an aria from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot. As the K900 drives by, two strikingly similar-looking agents gaze in disbelief as streetlights explode and high-rise buildings ripple like water.

“It was important to our creative team to pay close attention to the details and nuances of The Matrix — from composition and framing to wardrobe and hidden messaging,” said Colin Jeffery, executive creative director/managing partner at David&Goliath. “We wanted to create an epic commercial that clearly positioned the K900, while resonating with The Matrix fans and a broader Super Bowl audience alike. Achieving this was a collaborative effort, bringing together the talents of MJZ’s Carl Erik Rinsch, Digital Domain, HUM, Union Editorial and, of course, Laurence Fishburne. Working with Laurence was an absolute pleasure. Watching him channel Morpheus and break into a classical opera piece is something I’ll never forget. But to be honest, once he’s in that gator skin trench coat and glasses, he’s quite intimidating.”

The Matrix campaign was developed at David&Goliath by chief creative officer David Angelo, executive creative director Colin Jeffery, creative director Scott Glenn, associate creative director/art director Kristian Grove Moller, art director Mike Wilson, copywriter Courtney Pulver, head of production Carol Lombard, executive producer Paul Albanese, senior producer Jennifer Giannettoni, managing partner/client services director Brian Dunbar, group account director Brook Dore, account director Emma Brier, director of business affairs Rodney Pizarro, head of strategic planning Seema Miller, associate strategic planning director Steven Garcia.

Filming was shot by directors Carl Erik Rinsch and Colin Jeffery via MJZ with director of photography Chris Soos, producer Line Postmyr, president David Zander, executive producer Kate Leahy, head of production Janet Nowosad, production designer Jan Roelfs and wardrobe stylist Kym Barrett.

Editor was Jono Griffith at Union Editorial with executive producer Michael Raimondi, producer Joe Ross, assistant editor Jedidiah Stuber.

Visual Effects were produced at Digital Domain by VFX supervisor Eric Barba, president, commercials Rich Flier, executive producer/head of production Scott Gemmell, senior commercials producer Riffani Manabat, VFX producer Rachel Mariscal.

Music and sound design were produced at HUM by executive producer Debbi Landon, creative director Scott Glenn and sound designer Dan Hart. Audio was mixed by Nathan Dubin at Margarita Mix.

Budweiser Puppy Love

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Budweiser’s 2014 Super Bowl commercial “Puppy Love”, the most viewed online this year with over 41 million views on Youtube, tells the story of a puppy’s dogged determination to hang out with his favorite Budweiser Clydesdale horse — and the horse’s reaction. Filmed on a ranch in Southern California, the film involved 17 Clydesdale horses and 18 10-week-old Golden Labrador puppies. “Puppy Love” is the second Super Bowl ad to feature horse trainer Don Jeanes, following on from the 2013 commercial Brotherhood.

The Puppy Love campaign was developed at Anomaly by chief creative officer Mike Byrne, creative directors Mark Sarosi and Johnny Dantonio, agency producer Andrew Loevenguth, account director Alex Ames.

Filming was shot by director Jake Scott via RSA Films with executive producer Tracie Norfleet, producer David Mitchell, director of photography Paul Cameron, president Jules Daly, production supervisor Andrea Fein-Patrick.

Editor was Andrea McArthur at Peep Show/No6 with assistant editor Adam Longo.

Visual effects were produced at The Mill by executive producer Sean Costelloe, VFX producer Alex Fitzgerald, shoot supervisor Eliza Pelham Randall, 2D lead artists Ilia Mokhtareizadeh, 2D artist Liz Berndt, colourist Fergus McCall and production assistant Colin Moneymaker.

Music is “Let Her Go” by Passenger.

Actors were Don Jeanes and Melissa Keller.