Clearly Smirnoff

I saw the new TV advertisement to promote Smirnoff Vodka, and I think the way have approached the idea is brilliant. The main concept is a bit out there but works well, and the point of sale is to emphasise the purity of the drink, having less impurities because of how many times it is distilled and filtered.

The film begins with a man working on a ship at sea who throws an empty can in the water, and the can is then thrown back at him out of the water. The film then shows various scenes where old objects are coming back out of the water, statues, aircraft's and coins and going back on land. The film then ends with the camera running under the clear, bright white water to then display a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka. This is trying to represent the purity of the drink, which I think comes across very well, and coincide with the slogan, clearly Smirnoff.

The idea is so simple to represent the idea of purity, and the drink having no impurities, and the way it is captures looks very good. The advert would look good on the big screen at a cinema, with destructive scenes looking like that out of Independence Day or The Day After Tomorrow that must have been very expensive. The agency who produced the ad was JTW in London and the director was Daniel Kleinman, so their budget must have been massive. The soundtrack uses a classical orchestra sound, and I am unsure who it is by but again adds to this image of purity, keeping in sync with the scenes used on the screen.

The video must have taken some time to make, even though it only lasts about fifty three seconds, and along with the classical music, it gets the message across extremely well.

SMIRNOFF VODKA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1OwQHIbskQ

FoneJacker

This is a comedy series that has recently began on E4, and the way the show is delivered is quite clever. The show is simply about one man who can perform a variety of different voices, and then makes prank calls to confuse anyone who answers the phone.

Fonejacker has been described as having "the rare alchemy of a brilliantly versatile character comedian at heart, a staggering amount of superb concepts and stylish execution to make it a brash and daring brand new comedy."

The comedy is not just about one man making prank calls. The show revolves around a variety of regular characters terrorising an unsuspecting public including people like Terry Tibbs, The Mouse, Mr Doovde and a bank scammer, George Agdgdgwngo. The way these characters are displayed is with cut out faces and bodies, and simply rearranging them to move the mouths and to create different scenes that suit that particular prank call. I know it sounds quite tacky and cheap, but if you watch the actual programme, you will see that these images and characters fit in well with pranks and to create an overall tone of voice.















The concepts used are interesting showing what the people do, and how they get a buzz, and will show the public to be careful with fraud being a major crime going on at the moment. The show is completely innovative, which has been done in such a way that it has got a face, even though the actual FoneJacker is hidden behind a balaclava. The show has created characters using collages of images, which looks cheap but works well. When you compare this show to some others that are aired on TV, it is performing well, even with no fancy CGI and expensive effects that cost lots of money.

The FoneJacker is shown on E4 so check it out if you can.

Steelworker

I went to Sheffield yesterday, and saw this interesting brick wall at the corner of Castle Street. This four-storey portrait was commissioned by the City Council in 1986 and is one of the first public art works in the city. It is based on an image done by an artist called Paul Waplington and uses 30,000 bricks of 18 different colours/types, and is an iconic image in Sheffield that is dominated by the mans eyes and his helmet.

The mural pays respect to the achievements of Sheffield's steel industries because the history of the steel industry is important to Sheffield and its area. Recently the steel industry has been in decline and this image is there to represent, and is a constant reminder of the past industrial boom and the people who took part in it. This portrait of the steelworker is based on an individual and then adjusted to fit the wall. The original artist Paul Waplington said "The eyes had to be enlarged, for example, or the pupils and the whites would have been smaller than a brick."

The strong landmark has appeared in many publications to promote the use of brick as an art form because the piece after all uses 30,000 bricks of 18 different colours/types. 'Steelworker' is considered by some people to be one of the first modern, public art works in the city which has now in effect caused expansion, capturing the arts in its changing cultural context.

The image itself caught my eye straight away, and looks more detailed and intricate when seen in Sheffield. It is quite a clever idea to construct a mural on an exterior wall, because the bricks are not coloured, they are different types so as they wear and tear, the colours will still remain the same and can be seen by the public.

BMW CS

This is a BMW concept car that may go into production, and is aiming to return the old, classic and aggressive look of the BMW.


This car is officially made a as design study, to concentrate on an expression of design, use the highest quality materials and finish. However, a toned-down car will give BMW a model to rival the Porsche saloon, which is due to hit showrooms in 2009. Adrian Hooy­donk, the product design manager of the car said that, although this was a difficult look to achieve while still meeting European crash test regulations, engineers had worked hard to return to some BMW design roots.

This is a futuristic shape and the fact this CS is a show car, the grille, slanted headlamps and short overhangs could all appear on the next 7 and 5-Series. With its sleek, curving roof line, the car holds a conventional sal­oon body and keeps the distinctive kink at the rear of the car. Other clever touches are the intricately patterned and massive 21 inch alloys, large bonnet vents, and the nose even has clever LED headlamps that are there to reduce glare for oncoming drivers.

"Through its supreme presence, stylish elegance, and challenging dynamism, the BMW Concept CS, in a nutshell, offers truly unique design language with highly individual aesthetic features never seen before. Precisely this explains why all the elementary values of the BMW brand are concentrated in the BMW Concept CS, superior dynamics and sophisticated elegance all being borne out together through the authentic style and design of the car."
20/04/2007 Team Infomotori.co.uk

Bottom Line on Global Warming

I was reading the newspaper yesterday and saw this article and image in it, photographed by an artist from New York called Spencer Tunick.

Spencer Tunick is a photographer that captures photographs of nudes, and in numbers and he has taken this one in Switzerland for his latest project to highlight the effects of global warming. Tunick had the backing of many environment campaigners, including Greenpeace who said "Melting glaciers are an indisputable sign of climate change."

This is not the full photograph that was in the newspaper, I could not find it, but the full one has a man in the foreground wearing clothes and a green high visibility jacket with the message, "Save the climate. Act Now!" This person stands out the most, and gives the message that the whole image is trying to capture.

I honestly think this is a very clever way of dealing with a current world issue, and showing that the worlds glaciers are shrinking by showing that people can pose nude in those sort of conditions. I have not heard of this photographer before, but this particular campaign has caught my eye, and hopefully nobody will take offence, and will make a change to peoples habits. The size of this project is massive, taking hundreds of models to Switzerland and capturing them in such a way to show the people, and show the effects of global warming.

Fiat Bravo TV Advertisement

I saw a short TV advert to promote this new car, and seems to me like it bears some similarity to the BMW, Lexus, Audi and Mercedes adverts I have seen. However it uses more shapes and varied backgrounds to promote the car, and also includes a message written on the car number plate, " Haven't we all seen enough of ordinary?" The film seems more like it has a concept, which is to show the car as being very different to other cars.

FIAT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlkF5Tl0Vf0&mode=related&search=

Old Boy [2003]

A few of my friends have told me how brilliant this film was, and I got the chance to watch it and my opinion is that it is amazing, and like something I have never seen before.

The film is about a man, Oh Dae Su, who is kidnapped then imprisoned, and released after 15 years and seeks revenge for this. To his surprise he finds out that he must find his captor within 5 days, and the number of events that occur leading to the finish are unbelievable.

The film is directed by Chan Wook Park, and is highly innovative in the film industry, however has got mixed reviews from its viewers. The movie is very dark and bleak, focusing on revenge and time, being imprisoned for a long time, and only having a short time to get his revenge. This is seen in the opening credit sequence where clocks are shown in the background, and time passing. It captures the emotion and aggression of what a real person would feel for being locked away for so long, and how curiosity would come into the mind.

The plot and style of the film seems to mix American and Asian cinema, with a storyline more from something like an American film, and the execution in an Asian style.The cinematography is good and the action sequences are pulled off with lots of energy and realism compared to other Asian movies. A classic scene is where where Oh Dae Su fights his way through a group of enemies down a corridor and is one of the best fight scenes I've seen, with its awkward and realistic choreography, and the fact that it is done in one camera shot.

Everything about this film seems perfect, the acting is extraordinary, the direction is spot on and in the process is brutally and beautifully delivered. But it's the story that makes this film stand out, it delivers an unthinkable example of what a revenge film should be.

Hariri & Hariri

The second is this design company entitled Hariri & Hariri, with the designers being two Iranian born sisters called Gisue Hariri and Mojgan Hariri. Their exploration of our currently dynamic and speed oriented culture has generated projects and prototypes for futuristic and visionary architecture.

The design that caught my eye was for the High Line Community. This is a proposal to reinvent and modernise the entire line that was originally created in the 1930's, and has been unused since then, and to create a community.

Hariri & Hariri are proposing to build mixed use structures along this line, and the concept is to allow pedestrians to walk through, and feel what the movement of trains through buildings. The idea seems quite cool and again would make a landmark for New York, however if the project is given the go ahead, the community will have to be perfect so the history of this line is not lost.

Swarovski Crystal Palace

Whilst I was on the Selfridges website I came across this collection showing in the London store on Oxford Street, which is displaying chandeliers that leading name designers have been commissioned by Swarovski to create.


You may or may not have heard of this company, who also design watches and jewellery, use crystals as a main raw material in their designs. The company was named after Daniel Swarovski who made a machine in the late 19th century that could automatically cut crystals.

The Crystal Palace is a new concept that is meant to reinvent and change the image of the chandelier, one of the most underrated and emotive art forms of cut crystal. Reviews have said that Swarovski Crystal Palace has broken barriers, changed the rules and pushed the boundaries to open a new chapter in the design of lighting.

Swarovski Crystal Palace commissioned 18 designers and artists from around the world to create their own contemporary interpretation of the chandelier, to show a new expression and personal meaning to its story and message. The inspirations for their ideas came from many different things, some of them being the natural world, the visual arts and new technology. The results seem to be something very special.

All the pieces will be displayed in a dark, jet black setting so the chandeliers crystal detail and own lighting will look brilliant. If you live in London or planning to visit, I would check this exhibition out because it seems as if viewing it would be worthwhile.