Sony: Soundville

In March 2009, Sony and Fallon used sound as the centerpiece to turn a small town in Iceland "into an extraordinary sound-system for a week." Juan Cabral, the man behind the Cadbury's Gorilla, created Soundville, a short film that documents three days in the life of the Icelandic town of Seydisfjordur, following the installation of several giant sound systems. Through the system the village was filled with an eclectic array of sounds by Richard Fearless (Death in Vegas), Mum, Bob Dylan, Toumani Diabaté, Roberto Goyeneche, Murcof, Federico Cabral, gUiLLeMoTS, and others.



Following the release of the documentary, Juan Cabral gave the following interview to Creativity Online:
So what was the assignment from Sony for this particular job?
The starting point was to show passion for sound above all—to create a pure sound experience. We also shot five product films to back that up, but it was mainly about Sony's love for sound.

How did you come up with this particular idea? What inspired it?
I was buying milk while listening to Stockhausen on my headphones. I felt everyone should be listening too.

How is this film being shown? Are there any special media strategies, as with "Balls"?
This was made for cinema and internet mainly. There are some television cut-downs and teasers too but the longer piece is the one that allows people to let themselves inside the journey and experience all the textures.

Obviously, turning a whole town into a sound system posed some huge production hurdles. Can you tell us about the process? How did you get permits to use a whole town?
The local production company in Iceland promised they could get a permit. And they did. They spoke with the mayor of Seydisfjordur and everyone in the village accepted. It's an 800-person town, but in the winter there's only around 400. We shot in the winter.

Were all the townspeople made aware of what was happening?
From the moment you place a camera people are aware. But I have to say, people got used to us very quickly, which was good because then it was about the sound. Also, because there were no actors we ended up with normal people being themselves when exposed to sounds. That's why most reactions are subtle and I think that's the most interesting part of the project, the little nuances, the melancholy, etc.

How did you set up and find the speaker systems? Did you recruit any special technicians to help you out? Was the town equipped to actually power everything?
The guys that make the Sigur Ros concerts in Iceland powered everything. We could play the music remotely and wirelessly. We built this 20 foott tower full of speakers and placed it in the middle of the town. Because it's a very quiet place—there's almost no traffic—you don't need a lot to make it sound good actually. And we certainly didn't want the sound to be bouncing everywhere.

How did you go about shooting? Can you tell us about your camera setups?
We only had two cameras actually. We didn't want a lot of crew running around or big cranes and all that. It was a gentle and quiet shoot. The idea was not to interfere with the daily routine. We were just observing in a way.

The sound is obviously a driving component of this piece. How did you go about selecting the music?
A lot of music was composed specifically for the project. Richard Fearless from Death in Vegas collaborated a lot. He recorded more than half an hour of original material: sounds, beats, atmospheric sequences, etc. Mum composed some beautiful tracks as well. I also asked my brother to record something and three days before the shoot he sent this wonderful little song, which we played to the sheep.

A company called A-bomb helped curate many hours of music too, so we had different playlists set to go from one mood to another.

For you, as a director what were you hoping to achieve with this spot?
Personally, I wanted to make something that I can be proud to show my little girl in ten years time. So I have to wait ten years to see what she makes of it.

What was the best part of this experience?
Every morning I had to choose a track to wake people up. . .not just people but a whole village.


Credits
Copywriter: Juan Cabral
Director: Juan Cabral
Production Company: MJZ
Producer: Nellie Jordan
Agency Producer: Gemma Knight
Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler
Editor: Neil Smith
Sound: Parv at Wave
Post: MPC

Guinness Tornado

Just a week after Arthur's Day, Guinness is still celebrating their 250th anniversary with the launch of the newest Guinness TV ad, ‘Tornado’. The new ad drives awareness of the relaunch of 'Guinness Draught In A Can', with its brand new packaging.

The ad, filmed entirely in Spain, uses classic Guinness 'big brand' creativity to capture the quality and distinctiveness of the redesigned can. The ad focuses on a tornado that is used as an analogy for the magic and mystery of Guinness. The ad brings viewers through the entire life of Guinness from the initial ingredients being blended through to that magic spark, showing that Guinness is alive inside.

Grainne Wafer, Head of Marketing, Guinness said, “This is one of the biggest campaigns to date for the Guinness can. It communicates in a really creative way that Guinness is made from natural ingredients and truly is ‘Alive Inside’. In addition to the television ad, this autumn campaign includes radio and outdoor as well as in-store activity”.



The ad launched across Ireland on Thursday 1st October, with the new look cans hitting shops on the same day. Saatchi & Saatchi developed the ad, and it was directed by Martin Krejci.

Beamvertising Guerrilla Projections

A big cheers to Irish Street Art for the heads up on this one. This is from the always awesome PopWhore website, and their post Beamvertising Guerrilla Projections. Check it out...

In The World Of Social Media

Social Media may be a phenomenon but it certainly isn't a fad. Year on year as Internet usage grows and more and more people become connected through high speed broadband, the amount of people using Social networking channels increases in huge leaps. While most of this growth is concentrated in the high profile, established social networks such as Facebook, there continues to be growth in new niche networks designed to cater to a singular commonality between users.

Two of the most interesting new social networks to spring in the last month are FSID's Bubbalicous and Jean-Luc Thiébaut's Connosr.


Bubbalicous

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), who are a cot death charity, have just launched the social networking site Bubbalicious for teenage parents. The network has been developed and designed by digital marketing agency Neoco, and is primarily aimed as a place to find advice and tips on safe sleep, for both mums and young dads. Users of the site can chat to each other, upload photos, win prizes, and take part in a 4-level baby-care challenge. Participants of the challenge, if successful, are the title of "Top Dad" or "Big Sister". This in turn allows them to give advice to other parents on the site.

The site launch comes off the back of recent survey results released in August by the Office of National Statistics, which show that mothers under the age of 20 are over 4 times more likely to have a baby die as a cot death than older mothers.

Joyce Epstein, FSID's director, said: "Sadly, the latest research shows that teenage mums have the highest rate of cot death, but we think that many are missing out on safe sleep advice. We developed bubbalicious after consulting with young parents across the country, and we really hope that the support available on the site will help improve the life chances of the UK's most vulnerable babies."


Connosr

Jean-Luc Thiébaut, a web developer and whiskey enthusiast, has launched the independent website Connosr as a social network for Whisky drinkers to call their own. With a simple aim of breaking down the snobbery and barriers in the whisky world, Connosr offers members a Google Map of where each whisky comes from, whisky-related event listings and discussion boards.

As a site add-on, members with iPhones can access a mobile version of the site, allowing them to pick whiskies and post reviews while at the bar. Ultimately users can then create a wish list of whiskys they would like to own. This of course can then be shared with other users. The site has been built with the open-source CMS system Symphony.

Thiébaut said: "Connosr is a buzzing social space for a new generation of web-savvy whisky enthusiasts - an antidote to the stuffy image of whisky being an old man's drink."

Swedish Fish: A Friend You Can Eat

Advertising may be strange, even a little odd, but every now and again you come across something that is just so far out there, you wonder who and how on earth anyone ever sold the concept in.

In 2008 when Swedish Fish went looking for an advertising campaign to market its line of chewy winegums, JWT New York developed a campaign so wacky it was brilliant. The integrated campaign was intended to revamp the sweet's image and connect with the 18 to 24 year old market.

The campaign was simple overall, and asked just a single question with two possible answers, “Nej” and “Ja”. Their tag line: “A Friend You Can Eat”.

The campaign utilised print, outdoor, TV, radio and online, to show customers which of their friends they could eat, and which they could not. The above print ad and below TV commercial show the campaign's Kitten Burger execution (my favourite). Overall the look and feel of both are designed to be reminiscent of 1970s Swedish art direction, as a homage to the cultural history of the brand.

In JWT's Titanium entry at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, it was pointed out that not only was the campaign a success, driving huge awareness and sales within the 18 to 24 year old market, but the campaign ultimately went viral on a number of levels. People began trading plates and T-shirts on craigslist and other sites, and the words ‘Nej” and ‘Ja’ entered into the online chatter vernacular as part of a subversive pop culture movement. The TV commercials were so well received that people began imitating on YouTube with their own versions.