Hasta La Creative!

North Kingdom collaborated with Google and Warner Brothers to create a digital interactive experience entitled “A Journey Through Middle-Earth,” promoting The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the final film in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.

The project is the conclusion of a two year partnership between the parties and the result of eight months of work. Built around an interactive map of Middle-Earth, fans can then explore 21 new locations from the world of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and the updated map contains “3D animations, highlighting the paths of eight key characters in the films, including Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and Aragorn.” North Kingdom also created “‘Hero’s Journeys’, an area of the platform that will allow people to relive all of their epic Middle-earth adventures, from Frodo’s journey to Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings to Bilbo’s final battle in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.” There’s also a new, peer-to-peer social battle experience allowing visitors to challenge their friends.

“This was an overwhelmingly exciting project for us here at North Kingdom,” said David Eriksson, chief creative officer. “Our challenge was to really push the boundaries of what is possible in a digital experience, drawing inspiration from the world of Tolkien and the drama world that has been built up throughout 14 years of epic films.”

You can watch a trailer for “A Journey Through Middle-Earth” above and head to the site for the full experience. (more…)

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“If you could give one piece of advice to your childhood self, what would it be?” That’s one of the prevalent question being asked by artist/filmmaker Ivan Cash and his crew at Cash Studios, who were commissioned by cosmetics giant L’Oreal of all brands to make “a film about inspiration.” Rather than create an actual original film, though, Cash, the man who once told us that “reality is malleable,” to “stop making ads” and who was also a collaborator on the Couchella project from last year , turned his lens on the citizens of San Francisco to see what inspires them. As you’d expect, the four-minute film above features random strangers ranging from street musicians to former basketball coaches in SF sharing their thoughts on the aforementioned question or others like “What’s your greatest struggle?” and “what does inspiration mean to you?”

The New Age-y music combined with the people of San Francisco and the city scenery make for a very “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey”-esque effort, but what the hell, we could all perhaps use a little life-affirming insight from time to time. Of course, this type of project where Cash turns his camera on the people is nothing new for the man, as this SF project follows up his film from last year in NYC, where he asked people what the “Last Photo” on their phone was. While different in concept and tone  of course, Cash’s two efforts on two coasts follow the same basic template and leave us wondering if his next short film will do the same and take somewhere in between. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. Credits after the jump.

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We here at the Spy couldn’t help but be reminded of Mike Judge‘s highly underrated 2006 film, Idiocracy, when checking out these shorts from Toronto-based agency, Capital C. The shop paints a bleak portrait of a social media-addled future hinged on 6-second sound bites versus long-form content and one which lacks any thought-provoking communique. Yes folks, behold the “Stupidification of Society,” which Capital C created pro-bono for the  TEDxColumbiaSIPA conference that took place in New York on May 8. According to the agency’s chief creative officer, Gary Watson, the films “The Vine Effect” (above) and “The Glass Era” (below) “…very much play into cultural and digital trends. Shortened attention spans. Technology overload. Things that get in the way of spending time with inspirational content that ultimately makes a difference in our lives.”

Short films lamenting the loss of longer-form content? Oh, the irony, but perhaps that’s the point of all this to begin with. Full credits after the jump.

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This weekend, Wing (once again: not that Wing) created a new campaign for the Havana Film Festival, taking place April 3-11 in New York.

Wing’s goal for the campaign was to “show that the films developed at the Havana Film Festival showcase authentic stories and characters — so much so that its storylines stick and resonate with audiences beyond the time spent in the theatre.” To accomplish, they created a pair of television spots in both 30 and 15 second formats, in addition to full-length versions on Havana Film Festival’s website. These spots attempt to show the staying power of the Havana Film Festival’s movies, showing a couple of individuals projecting stories from the films they saw onto people in their day to day life. For example, a hairdresser doles out sympathy (and extra highlights) for her customer, because, she says, “I know the nightmare you are living.”

The second spot, “Office,” gives a similar treatment to the work environment. The results are a bit over the top, as the premise spills perhaps a bit too far into the absurd. It appears the spots reference real films in the festival, though, leaving viewers to wonder how the story ends, which is a nice touch. Both versions of each TV spot will air in the tri-state area in both English and Spanish until the end of the festival on April 11th. You can watch the full-length version of “Beauty Parlor” above, and stick around for “Office,” along with credits, after the jump. continued…

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JWT Toronto worked with director Jonathan Bensimon to create the above zombie-themed spot promoting the Canadian Film Festival, which runs from March 20-22.

The 2:49 effort follows the story of Antoine Zombé, a zombie actor who is an actual zombie and also happens to be Canadian (so he’s a polite zombie). “Canadian Zombie” traces Antoine’s career arc from his early days struggling with auditions — “More zombie, less polite Canadian,” one director tells him — to his success as a movie star (complete with zombie takes on popular hits, like “Raging Zombie,” “Eating Private Bryan,” and “I, Zombie.” It’s a fun, tongue-in-cheek approach to promoting the Canadian Film Festival, where “The films are great” and, like Antoine, “they just happen to be Canadian.” Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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When they stumbled upon archival pictures of a man and his 1955 Beetle, Volkswagen Canada and Toronto-based agency Red Urban realized they had a story to tell. As it turns out, that story is pretty amazing. They tracked down the man in the photo, Paul Loofs, who has driven the car around the world three times. Amazingly enough, that car is still running.

So Volkswagen Canada and Red Urban teamed up with Academy-nominated director Hubert Davis to tell his story in an (approximately) 30-minute documentary film. That documentary, Once More, The Story of VIN 903847, premiered on Discovery Channel and Bravo in January and is featured above (not a bad way to spend a lunch break). It tells the story of Loof’s unlikely, low-budget solo treks around the globe, which included many obstacles and unexpected, fortuitous events. Loofs eventually sold the car back to Volkswagen for use in an advertising campaign. A man named Emmanuel Thuillier bought the car and tracked down Loofs on the Internet, then surprised him by reuniting him with the vehicle for the first time since 1967.

“We feel that it really speaks to our fans, not only reinforcing the emotional connection so many people have to the brand, but celebrating the truly remarkable stories that so many of our owners have. It is not so much about a single car, although this Beetle is remarkable, it is more about how one car connects so many different people and their experiences, proving itself as The People’s Car,” said Volkswagen Brand Marketing manager, Lynne Piette. The documentary will continue to air on Discovery Channel and Bravo until February, with the following showtimes:

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Following the massive success (over 69 million view in less than 3 months) of Volvo’s “The Epic Split” ad starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, it was inevitable that the action star would make a comedic comeback. That comeback also marks Stun Creative’s first foray into feature filmmaking, with the comedy Welcome to the Jungle.

Agency co-founders Brad Roth and Mark Feldstein serve as executive producers on Van Damme’s comedic debut, which was directed by Stun Creative’s Rob Meltzer and stars, in additon to Van Damme, Adam Brody, Megan Boone, Kristen Schaal, Rob Huebel and Dennis Haysbert. Given Stun Creative’s track record with TV promos, as well as their 2013 Webby Award winning online series Presidential Clippings, the leap to filmmaking isn’t such a huge surprise.

The above trailer is worth a few chuckles, unsurprisingly mostly coming from Van Damme playing on his own action star persona. Jean-Claude in a comedic role seems so obvious that it’s almost hard to believe no one has given it a pass before, and Welcome to the Jungle should gain a lot of momentum from “The Epic Split.” A quick search for the film brought up a Village Voice review entitled “Welcome to the Jungle is Satanically Bad,” so you may want to wait before shelling out to see this one in theaters — although “satanically bad” doesn’t necessarily equal “not funny” and I’m pretty sure the guys behind the movie weren’t exactly trying to make high art. Welcome to the Jungle is currently slated for a February 7th release, both in theaters and on-demand. If you just can’t get enough Van Damme, stick around for behind-the-scenes footage after the jump. continued…

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Yesterday, Air New Zealand announced its latest campaign entitled “Middle Earth is Closer Than You Think,”  a continuation of its association with The Hobbit Trilogy. The airline, dubbed “the official airline of Middle Earth” rolls out the campaign two weeks ahead of the launch of the second film in Peter Jackson‘s saga. The campaign was announced with a 2:30 video, “Just Another Day in Middle Earth,” featuring Dean O’Gorman, who plays dwarf Fili, and the voice of Sylvester McCoy, The Hobbit Trilogy’s Radagast the Brown.

Tolkien fanatics are well aware of New Zealand’s association with Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth films, but stoking their interest with a Hobbit-themed campaign makes a lot of sense for the airline. Tourism New Zealand survey figures from last year’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey marketing campaign “showed 82 percent of international survey respondents stated the campaign increased their interest in New Zealand” and “8.5 percent of international visitors to New Zealand during January-March this year said The Hobbit Trilogy was a factor in stimulating their interest in New Zealand.” So using Tolkien to sell New Zealand is a proven method, and Air New Zealand doesn’t disappoint with their latest installment.

The “Just Another Day in Middle Earth” video employs a cheeky sense of humor to merge Middle Earth references with Air New Zealand’s friendly approach. Tolkien fan boys will undoubtedly eat this one up, even if there aren’t quite as many cameos as in last year’s “An Unexpected Briefing.” My only complaint would be that in a 2:30 spot, I’d expect to see more shots of New Zealand’s stunning landscapes, but I imagine most people are here for The Hobbit factor and I’m in the minority. It’s a cute little video, and if you’re a Tolkien obsessive, it should make you want to visit New Zealand even more than you (presumably) already do.

Another important component of the campaign is a contest allowing participants to choose from entering for one of two prizes: tickets to the Hollywood premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, or a “once-in-a-life-time Middle-earth experience for two in New Zealand.” Personally, I don’t see why you’d take the Desolation of Smaug premiere over a chance to visit New Zealand, but I’m sure a certain breed of Tolkien/Jackson fanatic would rabidly disagree with me. Air New Zealand is also resurrecting the idea of decking out one of its planes, Hobbit style, from last year’s campaign. This year, they will be turning a Boeing 777-300 into a flying billboard for Jackson’s latest installment. The plane will be unveiled December 2nd, leaving that night in time to touch down for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug premiere in Hollywood. Most Tolkien nerds would kill a bag of puppies for a spot on that plane.

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From NYC-based All Out, this two-minute short film shows what it would look life if a gay Olympic medalist were able to celebrate with her partner in Sochi. Of course, it’s not that simple in Russia, where public displays of homosexuality are banned by the government, and systemic discrimination has prevented gay people from simply feeling like people in their own country. All Out is hoping to change that, at least legally, before the Sochi Games start in February 2014. The organization is asking that people share the video with #LoveAlwaysWins on social media. The goal, as the video shows, is to close the gap between what should be allowed and what is allowed. I wouldn’t bet on it, considering that the Olympics has always struggled to balance the messy mix of politics, human rights, and competition, but at least someone is trying. Credits after the jump.

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Pearl Media’s interactive billboard at Columbus Circle attempts to spook passing subway riders with a large screen ad that responds to their movements.

The gesture-activated, multimedia billboard has been promoting Witches of East End since September 13th. As Pearl Media CEO Josh Cohen puts it, “The video walls are designed to get busy Upper West Side commuters to put down their small screens and spend time with cool content on a really big screen so that they’ll tune in to their medium-sized TV screens when the series premieres on October 6.” Phew. I think Louis C.K. would probably have something to say about that one.

At any rate, the billboard features two nine square-foot walls, comprised of nine screens each. An extreme close up of a woman’s green iris appears to follow commuters as they walk by, masses of crows fly out of her pupil as the scene changes to trees slowly being consumed by fire. The more movement from those passing by, the more the scene changes. Music and sound are also integrated into the interactive billboard.

The billboard didn’t seem to actually scare anybody (nor, I think, will Witches of East End), but it did stop some people in their tracks and get them to interact with the billboard. Some of them seemed to be having fun. Whether that will get anyone to actually tune into Lifetime is another story.

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