BBC 1 Extra 'Street Muisic'

http://www.fallon.co.uk/#/work/1xtra-streetmusic.html
I recently discovered this advert which was out a while back that is advertising the radio station ‘1 extra’ which is a BBC radio station. I think the advert is really effective. The radio station its self is based around urban music, rap, r’n’b etc. The advert reflects that genre of music and relates perfectly with the target audience that would listen to the station.

The whole advert is shot in urban surrounding with people and houses, representing again the target audience and the environment they live in. Every edit and action within each shot is linked and matched perfectly with sound clips from classic urban music tracks. So an example of this technique can be seen in the advert upon starting. The camera pans across a guy cleaning his car and as he opens his mouth a voice clip from a music track is dubbed over the top, giving the effect that he is saying it or singing it. Overall it is simple, effective and as it relates perfectly with the target audience it works well extremely well.

David Wilson 'Moray McLaren, We Got Time'

I recently came across this wonderful music video by David Wilson for the music artist Moray McLaren’s single ‘We Got Time’. I found this music video fascinating and unique. It uses a animation style based concept through out the music video. The music video is very psychedelic and when watching it is hard to tell if what you are watching is really or not. After watching the music video I found a video on youtube which is the make of the music video. When discovering this ‘making of video I was even more fascinated my it as I found out that the whole music video was a live shoot, there was no cgi elements of compositing in any of the shots. (Fascinating and incredible).

This element reminded me of the live competition brief for the 'ministry of sound' which i created earlier this year. Similar to David Wilsons piece, I too sided with the live action shot instead of cgi. I felt for that brief in particular there are certain elements within a piece of design that when they are done in a live action shoot they have a more visually interesting style and uniqueness. Also if the viewer can question if the work is really or not it can create a talking point in regards to the work (which if it is an advertisement or in this case a pop promo it is a positive thing as more people will pass it on to their friends to have a look)

As I have been developing my final major project i have also questioned whether or not i should use cgi and live shots. i discovered through my major project some shots were better suited for cgi, so i could have full control and other shot would not work as well if they wasnt live shots. below are some still shots in which i used live action footage instead of CGI computer generated images. Again i think the use of live action gives a sense of originality within a final piece whereas cgi inparticular 3D design can look unoriginal in some cases.




















The director ‘David Wilson talks through the whole animation from concept to storyboards to Animatics through to the final shoot and piece. He explains that all the whole music video revolves around little animations all displayed and worked from a device called a Praxinoscope which was a successor to the more familiar zoetrope. The device is placed on a rotating record player which allows the animation to play. He further explains the frame rate for each machine saying that each Praxinoscope is made up of 16 mirrors equal to 16 frames of animation on each record. He goes on to say that he had to hand draw every frame on each device and the most challenging thing was to develop an animation that would loop in 16 frames to allow continues loops on each device.





He carries on to explain the the production of the animation and concludes saying that “one of the really interesting and nice things about this shoot was how often it felt quite surreal to be working and interacting with animation which is often a very slow process in a such a fast and live action way”

Overall I really interesting piece by David Wilson and for me it works so well because it is from a live shoot and has no CGI in it.

BC Dairy Foundation 'Mousetrap' advert

BC Dairy Foundation 'Mousetrap' advert
This is an advert for the BC Dairy Foundation I found today. The piece a stop motion animation which rather then tell everybody bluntly about the benefits of milk, the advert show the consequences of not having enough milk in your diet. When first watching the advert I was unsure where it was going. It starts and has a very uneasy feel to it like something bad is going to happen, and obviously when first watching it you don’t no what will happen. The piece take the scenario of a mouse trap and a mouse, giving the mouse trap a humorous personality that seems to be out to kill the mouse. The mouse is then caught by the trap and but the mouse then escapes freely because the mouse trap isn't strong enough to hold. The point being that if the trap had drank more milk it would of been stronger and able to fulfill its dream of killing the mouse. Overall the advert is very effective and uses a funny idea and story to get across the point.

Bank of Ireland

Bank of Ireland

I recently discovered a range of commercials for the Bank of Ireland. They take the concept of an old mythical story and by using irish mythical creatures such as dragons, goblins and fairies they apply the concept to their bank. The creatures that are in the adverts have their own personality and address their audience informing and relating to their target audience. I think the adverts are really effective and by using a mythical story/narrative and applying it in relation to a bank is humorous and interesting but works very well.

Watch here
Advert 1
Advert 2
Advert 3

Peter Saville Q & A

http://www.vimeo.com/3622243

I recently discovered a Question and Answer interview on Vimeo. The q & a session with Peter Saville is in front of the media, designers and others who ask Peter Saville a range of questions about him self as a designer and about the design industry. The question and answer session is split into several different sections as follows.

What is that?
In which Saville discusses his art work over the past 10 years. How he has developed and struggled to change from design to art.

What inspires you?
Talks about his previous inspirations and how they have changed through his career.

What’s wrong with design education?
Discusses his view on design education.

Has the computer democratized design?
How things have developed in design from the absence of computer technology to the development of the internet and a the ability to create and dispatch work. This is a discussion of positives and negatives.

What is your favorite part of the brief?
Discusses briefs and the interesting parts.

What do you think of Banksy?
Quick Q & A about Saville’s view on Banksy’ work.


Out these sections I related to his answer to “What is wrong with design education?”

I felt what his views that he discussed were reflective of some of the questions I have been asking myself as a design student about to graduate.

Saville explained his history as a young designer saying that he “felt intimidated by the potential and possibility of London, and as such had to try harder because we were coming to london from the north. We feared we wouldn't be good” After having a trip to London I felt that I too shared this intimidation and slight fear of London due to the reputation of it as a city. But after the visit I felt that this intimidation and fear was no longer there. Therefore the environment of the design industry might of changed since Savilles experiences. He moves on to explain that the “Danger for student in hub cities like London and new york is one of complacency. There are pro’s and cons for where you come from.” In this I think he means that students from big cities in which there are well proven colleges some times can have the feeling that they are superior to others, when in fact they are not. In a way I could relate to what Peter Saville was suggesting and this helped me evaluate my experience in London.

He moves on to explain that “Design education is complicated and I don’t really no the point of 50,000 design graduates is every year. I was external assessor for 7 years, the most challenging thing for design educators is how to stay in touch with the reality of the industry that you are preparing the students for. Its really hard when your in side an academic institution to know what the people you are preparing are going to need when they go out. The most demanding thing is equipping students with what they need when they graduate.”

I also felt that his view on the relationship of students and the industry (although referring to the Teaching side) I could also relate to. I feel that over the last two years, through the 2nd year and the 3rd year, I have steadily gained knowledge of the industry. This initial knowledge is a result from contacting and visiting companies and practitioners, reviewing issues within the design industry and lastly analyzing and taking inspiration from industry standard work. I found that my second year Logbook in which I started contacting companies and designers gave me confidence and inspiration. This confidence continued through into this Blog and I have found that from visits, contacts and portfolio critiques I have gained a further knowledge of the industry. The blog as a whole has helped me understand and narrow down disciplines and working environments within design that I would gratefully work in. How ever I still have slight fears in regards to the working in the industry. My portfolio critiques and studio visits have given me confidence to progress, but I know I don’t have experience within the industry yet and I think the intimidation of the industry (not just London) will be a little fearful until I gain experience.

Thornberg & Forester

http://www.thornbergandforester.com/

Thornberg & Forester is a New York based creative design studio who work and cover a range of design including Broadcast, digital or environment, Design elements, storytelling, letterforms or logos. I really enjoyed the opening title sequences they created for the “AICP 2008”

Thornberg & Forester explain this project and piece saying:

“T&F was honored to design the opening titles, interstitials, and end credits for the AICP 2008 awards show held at the Museum of Modern Art. The innovative 3D type-based title sequence captures the aura of the world’s most famous modern museum through a mesmerizing and gracefully choreographed 3D symphony of letters. As a bonus, T&F’s work for the 2008 show is now preserved in the permanent archives of MoMA’s Department of Film and Media.”

I really enjoyed this piece because of its cinematic sound and the clean polished aesthetic and typography. As I will be creating a showreel shortly I have been inspired by this piece from its use of typography and I feel that would work well in a showreel, as I will need to display my name and other information. Overall a simple effective inspiring animation/title sequence for me.

BRND - 'Sense'

http://brnd.org/
I recently came across a piece by BRND entitled ‘Sense’. The BRND website doesn't provide information about its self or about this piece.

The piece revolves around an electronic sound track that has a quite aggressive rhythm. The visuals throughout the piece match the sound and beat perfectly. I really found the lighting, colour and sense of audio and visual rhythm interesting and inspiring. The piece made me think of my early work in which I have to work with audio and visual moving image which for me is an area or technique of design in which I hold great interest.

The piece is really simple, and the lighting is effective and enhances the atmosphere of the piece. The structure seems to of been developed in 3D which gives an abstract unique aesthetic. Overall a really enjoyable and inspiring short animation.