Motorola "experience"
Cutwater, San Francisco director of production Jennifer Golub told Boards that Gondry's latest spot for Motorola was the most technically complex, creatively satisfying shoot she'd ever worked on. It's easy to see why. Gondry excels at bringing warmth to dazzling technical feats, and "Experience", a girl's journey into the inner workings of the new RAZR, is no exception. Hugely inventive, technically mind-bending, the spot manages to expound the phone's qualities, seen in countless hackneyed iterations before it, with a freshness and exuberance that bursts with handmade, human charm. Now go watch it again.

Agency: Cutwater, San Francisco
ECD: Chuck McBride
CDs: Matt Rivitz, Tyler Magnusson
Copywriter: Matt Rivitz, John Patroulis
Agency Producer: Jennifer Golub
Production Company: Partizan, LA
Director: Michel Gondry
Producer: Valerie Romer
Executive Producer: Sheila Stepanek
DP: Ellen Kuras
Editor: Matt Goldman @ Akjak, LA
Post-Production: PLANK Editorial
Music: Squeak E. Clean
VFX: Fly Studios, Montreal

bury's "Gorilla"
Who'd have thought Phil Collins could cause such a stir? "Gorilla" opens on a close-up of an eerily realistic gorilla's face, nostrils flaring, eyes closed, seemingly entranced by Collins' '80s soft-rock ballad "In The Air Tonight". As the notorious drum fill comes in, our simian friend swings into action, drumming wildly. "A Glass and a Half of Joy", says the tagline. We say genius; a brilliant idea shot with perfect directorial timing. Critics quibble that Juan Cabral's directorial debut is tangential to selling chocolate but as a piece of pure, unadulterated advertainment it's brand equity gold. Trailblazing stuff.

Agency: Fallon, London
Creative: Juan Cabral
Agency Producer: Nicky Barnes
Production Company: Blink Productions, London
Director: Juan Cabral
DP: Dan Bronks
VFX: Stan Winston
Post-Production: MPC, London
Editor: Jo Guest
Sound: Wave, London

BC Lions "Straight Arm"
"My turn," says a woman at a baby shower, who's delicately passed the infant to her delight. As others gather around, she swings sharply left, shoving, elbowing and shouldering her way through would-be women tacklers. "Nice," she says exultantly, surveying the carnage behind her with a smile. The tagline for BC Lions: "Watch and learn." Rethink, Vancouver injects maternal avarice into women's sweet overtures to other people's babies to comic effect, while Ben Weinstein's casting and direction captures the pseudo-psycho behaviour spot on.

Agency: Rethink Advertising, Vancouver
Creative Directors: Ian Grais, Chris Staples
Art Director: Rob Sweetman
Copywriter: Jono Holmes
Agency Producer: Ann Rubenstein
Production Company: Steam Films, Toronto
Director: Benjamin Weinstein
Executive Producer: Krista Marshall
Producer: Andrew Graham
Editor: Bill Hardman @ Tonic
Audio: Colin Weinmaster @ Wave, London

Brylcreem "Effortless"
Fredrik Bond's latest is a deceptively simple-looking, one-take tour of a guy's apartment as he puts on a shirt, grabs toast, flips a dish into the washer, and pours orange juice and ice into a glass, all with awesome economy of movement, uncanny timing and mechanical aid. The premise - Brylcreem makes a guy's morning routine a breeze - is manifested with Bond's light, naturalistic touch. Oddball flourishes including a tortoise, stuffed crows, a rake thin musician and blue-tinged hues add understated quirkiness to Bond's typically stylish addition to the current fad for all things in-camera. Can anyone say, "Take 254"?

Agency: WCRS, London
CDs: Yan Elliott, Luke Williamson
Art Director: Oli Beale
Copywriter: Tori Flower
Agency Producer: Lesley Williams
Production Company: Sonny, London
Director: Fredrik Bond
Producer: Ran Holst
DP: Ben Seresin
Post-Production: The Mill, London
Editor: Patric Ryan, Marshall Street Editors, London
Music: Old Man Marley, B Raymond and the Voicettes

Halo 3 "Believe" Shaping up to be the video game release of the year, the McCann-Erickson team behind the genre-defying Gears of War spot, "Mad World", are trumpeting the imminent arrival of Halo's third iteration with another unusual, affecting and sobering spot. Rupert Sanders slowly pans across a painstakingly crafted diorama depicting an epic battle with Halo hero Master Chief John 17 at its heart. "Believe" eschews the usual gung ho audio-visual cacophony of game advertising in favor of a moving, Chopin-scored ode (provided by Stimmung) to fallen heroes. A mature, moving spot.

Agency: McCann, San Francisco; TAG
ECDs: Rob Bagot, John McNeil
GCDs: Scott Duchon, Geoff Edwards
Creative Director: John Patroulis
Art Directors: Nate Able, Tim Stier
Copywriter: Mat Bunnell
Agency Producer: Hannah Murray
Production Company: MJZ, Los Angeles
Director: Rupert Sanders
EPs: David Zander, Lisa Rich, Marcia Deliberto
Producer: Laurie Boccaccio
DP: Chris Soos
Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors/Peepshow, LA
Visual Effects: Method Studios, LA