Dance

Advertising

Mercedes-Benz’s Poultry in Motion

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz demonstrated how its amazing Magic Body Control suspension system offers passengers a smooth ride through the use of placid chickens funky dancing to Diana Ross’s “Upside Down” disco tune. For those of you who have never met a chicken that wasn’t already baked, grilled or fried, you should know that live chickens have the natural ability to keep their heads perfectly still even when their bodies are moving. For German ad agency Jung von Matt/Neckar Stuttgart, this chicken analogy seemed like a much more memorable and fun way to explain how Mercedes’s suspension system offers awesome motion stability. Daniel Warwick directed the dance number. No CGI was used in the making of this video; the chickens did it all with a few helpful hands.

Advertising

Freddy’s Kaleidoscope of Motion Design

By Delphine Hirasuna |

The symmetrical patterns and multiple reflections created by a kaleidoscope served as the perfect metaphor for the art of dance and gymnastics – and a means to demonstrate the ease of movement offered by the dance and fitness apparel manufactured by Freddy Wr.UP of Italy. For the making of the video, DLV BBDO Milan collaborated with Abstr^ct:groove production company to build a simulated kaleidoscopic view of performers in motion. Considerable storyboarding preceded actual production. Abstr^ct:groove producer Mauro Mastronicola says, “To understand how to achieve the graphic patterns we wanted, we started by studying small scale models and then we went into CGI simulations. All the effects were obtained in camera without the use of added post-production.”

Not everything happened in camera, however. Abstr^ct:groove designed and built four thaumascopes of different sizes and shapes, the biggest being about 30 feet long with an triangular opening of about 8 feet and the smallest being about 5 feet in length with a square opening of about 2 feet. The Italian National Team of Rhythmic Gymnastic ‘le Farfalle’ was asked to perform the gymnastic movements which were choreographed by their trainer Emanuela Maccarani. Luigi Pane directed the film and Franky B (aka Cryptic Monkey) produced the music.

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Advertising

Throwback to the Future

By Delphine Hirasuna |

How do you grab the attention of jaded creative directors? By arousing their curiosity. In a campaign for Kontor, a dance music label in Germany, Ogilvy Deutschland developed a “Back to Vinyl” direct mail piece that used high-tech gimmickry to promote the new Boris Dlugosch release. Ad agency recipients got a large flat package that contained a vinyl record inside, instead of the usual CD or USB. The vinyl came with instructions to place the record on the printed turntable on the back of the envelope, then activate the QR code with a smart phone. Recipients could listen to the latest Dlugosch track and “move” the needle to play other tracks as well or to contact Kontor via the connect icon. Needless to say, the vinyl promo often became the talk of the office and didn’t get thrown away.

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Motion Graphics

Gangnam Style Flipbook Animation

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Not much is known about the artist who created this Gangnam Style video, except that he goes by the moniker “etoilec1” on YouTube. The hand-drawn images are synced precisely to the music, making this animation fun to watch. Some report that the audio had to be removed for copyright issues, but it is up now…for how long, we don’t know.

Film

Of Saul Bass and the History of Film Titles

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Years ago designer Saul Bass explained how he approached film title sequences to me when I interviewed him for an article. “Find an image that will be provocative, seductive yet true to the film,” he said. “It has to have some ambiguity, some contradiction, not only visually but conceptually. Not just isolating the prettiest frame, but finding a metaphor for the film.“

Beginning with his 1955 work on Otto Preminger’s “The Man with the Golden Arm,” Bass transformed the way film title sequences were perceived forever. He approached the task with a graphic designer’s eye, so that stills from his title sequences easily translated into a powerful iconic poster for the movie.

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