Category: Film

Advertising

OPI: Made You Watch!

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Oh, how marketing has changed since YouTube came into being in 2005. On the whole, online commercials are more entertaining and longer in length than the 30 and 60 second spots shown on television. This video for OPI fingernail polish titled “Instinct of Color” is like viewing a mini stage performance. Sensuous and mesmerizing, this video features a dance challenge between a beautiful thoroughbred named “Lady in Black” and four talented dancers – all to promote fingernail polish. Created by DAN Paris using music “Down the Road” by French DJ’s C2C, the 2 ½ minute video ad doesn’t display the actual OPI nail polish bottles until the end and mostly shows the best-selling colors in the OPI line on the hooves of the horse and the dancers’ apparel. The commercial is without voiceover or marketing spiel. You watch it for pure enjoyment. This is the push-pull difference between TV and Internet. TV ads push their message in front of viewers by ”barging” into hit TV shows. Online advertising videos have to pull viewers to their site by offering the promise of fun and amusement. They need to give viewers a reason to seek them out and tell their friends so their message will go viral.

Advertising

Evil Zombie Snowmen No Match for Nissan Rogue

By Delphine Hirasuna |

The weather was reportedly mild when TBWA Canada filmed this 2014 Nissan Rogue commercial in Toronto last fall, so it seems prescient that they so accurately recreated the monster blizzard that would assault the Northeast this winter. Who knows, maybe in the brutal whiteout conditions of the recent Polar Vortex, real zombie snowmen were angrily roaming about wreaking havoc. This 60-second spot, which plays like a trailer for a sci-fi thriller, was directed by Mark Zibert, with production by Sons and Daughters, post-production by The Mill, and TBWA executive creative direction by Allen Oke.

Illustration

The All-Important Sketching Stage

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Without a strong concept, illustration is just glorified doodling. The same can be said of design as well. Those entering these professions need to exhibit more than technical skill; they need to engage their minds and imaginations to get at the crux of the story they want to tell.

I was reminded of this while watching Craig Frazier’s video. A prolifically talented illustrator who still sketches thumbnails with pen and ink and cuts his final image out of rubylith film, Craig explains. “If there is anything magical about making illustration, it happens at the sketch stage. That’s when the idea comes out of the pen. The DNA of the illustration exists right in the sketch. If it is not there, it is not going to show up later on.”

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Advertising

Pedigree Slow-Mo Focus

By Delphine Hirasuna |

This commercial for Pedigree dog food is beautiful for its pure simplicity. Shot at 1000 frames per second using a Phantom camera, the slow-motion video captures every movement and feature of each dog, from the twitch of the ears, the attentive eyes, the loose tongue, the tensed muscles and flying fur as the dog leaps for the Pedigree treat. The plain studio backdrop and lighting eliminate superfluous environmental distractions, making the dogs the sole point of focus. Viewers can’t help but marvel at what expressive and unique creatures dogs are. TBWA/Toronto made this commercial for Pedigree Petfood Canada, with film direction by Bob Purman of Imported Artists Film Company and sound by Joey Serlin at Vapor Music.