Brand Experience Agency - Groove 11 - GrooveLab

Suspense, Intrigue and The Art of The Steal

There are usually a couple of good staples I like talking about at parties: politics, art, art history, and movies – with a sweet tooth for film noir types of movies dealing with great robberies and the like. Well, much to my delight, it looks like The Art of The Steal has them all wrapped up in one passionate film by director Don Argott.

The film deals with the highly controversial subject of the moving of the Barnes Foundation, a jewel-box of a place located in an area of Lower Merion in Pennsylvania, to a public museum in downtown Philadelphia. For those of you not familiar with the Barnes Foundation, it is, to put it in in simple terms, one of the largest single collections of post-impressionistic paintings - in the world! And, it's not in a museum. Plus, it's here - in the U.S. The Barnes (as it is called locally) houses 69 Cézannes, 181 Renoirs, 60 Matisses, 44 Picassos and seven Van Goghs (not to mention vast quantities of African and Native American art, plus boxes of Rembrandt etchings) just to name a few.

Color Photography from Russia in the Early 1900’s

Russian chemist and photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii is known to me only because my father, a professional photographer, mentioned on more than one occasion how Sergei’s work with color photography really changed not only photography, but also motion pictures. While not exactly “color photography” as we know it today (a single emulsion of film to display color in one single exposure), or in pre-digital days, I should say his work, technique, and results are still valid.

History Lesson

Thank goodness the fall has finally arrived and the season of the summer blockbuster has come to an end. If I see one more movie with men wearing tights or old anthropologists discovering hidden treasure I might just go mad. Luckily, this long holiday weekend I saw a fun little film called "Bottle Shock". Not only does Groove's Brian Leonard save the day in the airport scene but the wines of our own Napa Valley kick the butt of the French at the Judgment of Paris in 1976. And the rest, as they say, is history – for wine lovers everywhere and especially for we Groovers – but for a 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay we might be working strictly for the French. The film, although not completely, accurate is a great introduction to the history of wine-making in the valley. Also, everyone looks so cute in their 70s Brady Bunch-style clothing, I left wanting to buy a '67 Bug, move to Napa, and farm grapes. Two thumbs up.

FUNdango!

As a creative, I am constantly being challenged with problems to solve for clients. Over the years I have tackled requests big and small that needed the touch of the trained design professional. Up until now the most unusual request was for a chocolate candy mold design. Oh, and there was the environmental design for a store at the "Mall of America." However, last week's assignment trumps them all.

Melanie, a Groove producer called and asked if I could create a couple of Fandango-style paper bag hand puppets fashioned after some Cisco executives to be used in a video Groove was producing. My first thought was, "thank god I own a hot glue gun!" So, I accepted the challenge and got to work immediately.

First there was the research. I had no idea the number of Fandango puppets there were out in the world! They exist in all sizes, shapes, genders and ethnicities! Who knew? There is also endless footage and trailers of the puppets on YouTube. They even have a site you can go to and build your own online version and enter it in a competition.

When I mentioned what I was working on to my sister, she thought I was doing a sort of "Photoshop-hack job" of the subject. "Oh no," I told her, "this is the REAL deal!"

The first and most important thing when creating a Fandango puppet is the materials. They have to be an assortment of everyday items that uniquely take on the shape and look of the person's facial features or overall characteristics. That led me on a scavenger hunt to every drug store, supermarket and hardware store in the vicinity.

My favorite stop was at Walgreen's in the Fillmore district of town. I was hoping to find some hair extensions that I could cut up and use for hair and a mustache on one of my puppets. While there, I decided to pick up some fake eyelashes (again, for the puppet, not me) and a tube of Crazy Glue. As I approached the counter, I was greeted warmly by Chantal Jones, who's name tag also mentioned she had been serving me since 2005. Wow, how time flies!

Now, for those of you who have never met me in person, I am a tall, white guy with a clean-shaven head. This apparently threw Chantal for a loop when I placed 2 packages of hair extensions, 2 sets of fake eyelashes and a tube of Crazy Glue on the checkout counter. She looked down at my merchandise looked up at me 3 times and then in a pleasant (yet informative) tone she said, "You know, they make special glue for this. Crazy Glue might burn." I thanked her for the information. It was heartfelt and I got the impression she was speaking from past experience!

Do you see why I love my job? Never a dull moment. Next week it's back to web banners and business card layouts but for now, it's me and my hot glue gun.

When life hands you lemons

Here are some stills from another great banner I found on BannerBlog.com. It's interactive, with high-quality video and sound design. Using a simple idea around trying to make money in a way everyone can relate to, the advertiser communicates quickly and engagingly with the audience. Click here to see the whole thing.

Art vs. Commerce

I’ve just finished watching the 80th Academy Awards – has it been 79 years since Mary Pickford won for Coquette? Seems like only yesterday – and I’ve had pause to consider the nexus between art and commerce at the Cineplex. The past year’s batch of movies has been, on the whole, bleak, serious-minded and intelligent. Read: box office poison. It’s not as if No Country For Old Men was unsuccessful, I think the Coen Brothers will live to direct another day thank you very much, it’s just that none of the Academy’s choices were exactly aligned with the tastes of the movie going public. Consider that the five Best Picture nominees, as a group, were seen by fewer people than watch "American Idol" in any given week.

Are people averse to quality? Not necessarily but art is, by definition tantamount to taking risks. Thought provoking, oblique, long-winded, isn’t that what ‘art’ is supposed to be? Let the punters watch Wild Hogs while serious film fans debate what the ending of There Will Be Blood means. Let’s face it, Transformers asks little of its audience besides a willing disbelief that a high school student’s car starts Intergalactic World War. If one of those cars could turn into a plot, well then I think you’d have something. Keep in mind that the movie was based on a toy, and There Will Be Blood is adapted from an Upton Sinclair book. It’s not hard to figure which is going to be the date night hit, “Hey honey, wanna see that movie based on an early 20th century Socialist author, or… Norbit?”

It’s not impossible to bring art to the masses it’s simply a matter of couching the high brow in an entertaining package. Amadeus is a visually stunning, complex character study that was a commercial hit. La vie en Rose would have done boffo box office if they had only added one scene. A young Edith Piaf finishes a heartbreaking ballad on stage at a smoky Parisian cabaret. We cut to Simon, Paula and Randy sitting in the audience and they tell her, “Little Sparrow, you’re going on to French Idol…”

Could have been huge.

The Ultimate Experience

These are screen grabs from an amazing viral video called "People in Order" which you can find on YouTube. In it, one hundred people, aged 1 to 100 pronounce their age and hit the symbolic drum. Watching this short-but-brilliant film, hatched from a simple idea, is quite an experience. In a matter of minutes, a parade of humanity marches past you, and you can't help but feel like a tiny spec, and feel connected to everyone else making this same journey. It's the ultimate experience -- the human experience. And it's way cool. Watch it.

Best special effects reel ever

While surfing the Web this morning, just following some links I had jotted down on various small pieces of paper, I came across one for Ordinary Kids, a print and interactive design studio. I clicked on "Special effects reel" and really loved what I saw. Here are a few screen shots, but you really should experience the brilliance for yourself by clicking here.

Cool in any Language

Today I was surfing the Web for new music, mostly to motivate me to hit the treadmill, when I came across this arresting new video from a Latin pop star named Juanes. The song is called Me Enamora and you don't have to know any Spanish to understand what's going on or to enjoy the fun special effects. This one was a ton of post-production work and obviously executed well. My only sticking point is why they chose to set the story on a foggy night. A clear night would have made these visuals pop more and look more impressive. It serves the story, but not the execution. A minor quibble for a major accomplishment. Check out these stills. Better yet, splurge for $1.99 on iTunes and download the video yourself. It's full of more surprises.

A Brasilian Groove

Here's a great example of communicating a message to an audience in a provocative, relevant, memorable way. Emirates, an international airline, recently launched a nonstop service from Dubai to Brasil. To promote it, they filmed a Brasilian man talking about Brasil for 14 hours and 40 minutes, the same duration of the flight itself. Even the video interface is constructed with a single, nonstop line. Go to www.nonstopfernando.com and watch it load. Then play around with the video. You can jump from place to place in Fernando's day as he talks nonstop about all things Brasilian. What a great way to execute creative that not only supports the "nonstop" concept, but also addresses the business objective: to raise awareness of the new service.These folks are definitely in the groove.