Boards Magazine - April 1, 2001
Word
Board Flow
Board Flow is a regular feature that will act as a gauge to monitor the activity of upcoming commercial production. The following chart is intended as a snapshot view of the level of "board flow" (i.e., potential scripts from ad agencies) that commercial production houses in various markets across North America experienced during the preceding month. The synopsis of each market is based on conversations with anywhere from six to a dozen production house executives in each market who were asked to comment on the number and type of "boards" they had received from ad agencies over the most recent month. The chart reflects "board flow" from mid-February to mid-March.
Spotopsy
Explosive Trainers Lots of ads toy with defying convention as a sales tool, but the latest spot for Reebok actually walks the walk. Not only are up-tempo, non-sales visuals and beats slammed together in a frenetic frenzy of nail-biting chaos, the new Reebok kicks shown at the spot's close actually detonate and explode!
Ideas
Palmer Jarvis DDB Doesn't Suck "Our credo is: Advertising That Doesn't Suck," reveals Dan Pawych, creative director at Palmer Jarvis DDB Downtown, a division launched by Palmer Jarvis DDB (PJ DDB) just over one year ago to handle the newly acquired Budweiser and Bud Light accounts for Labatt Breweries of Canada.
Director's Chair
The Epic of Szechtman The fact that Marcelo Szechtman's love for cinematic realism began as a love-hate relationship with advertising is not lost on the Argentine director.
Special Report: First Boards Awards
Jens Jonsson, Stink, London Winner, Directors
Joe Nussbaum, Moxie Pictures Finalist: Directors
Peter Thwaites, Gorgeous Enterprises, London Finalist: Directors
Rupert Sanders, Omaha Pictures, Los Angeles Finalist: Directors
Craig Champion, Headquarters Finalist: Directors
Adam Jenkins, Final Cut, London Winner: Editors
Gregory J. Nussbaum, Pictures in a Row/Prow Editorial, Hollywood Finalist: Editors
Jeff Landsman, Red Car, Chicago Finalist: Editors
Bil White, class-key chew-po, Los Angeles Winner: Animation Directors/Supervisors
Arman Matin, Rhinoceros Visual Effects and Design, New York Finalist: Animation Directors/Supervisors
Andrew Daffy, FrameStore, London Finalist: Animation Directors/Supervisors
André Bustanoby, Digital Domain, Venice, CA Finalist: Animation Directors/Supervisors
Randy Lee, limeBeat Music, New York Winner: Composer
Special Report: Production Technology + Post
The Rush is On London-based Rushes, Liberty Media's special effects and post-production house, has just completed 2D and 3D effects on "Die Hard," a spot for client Ford through Y&R, Frankfurt for a yet-to-be-determined European release.
Riot's "Little Red People" Santa Monica post facility Riot has produced a 30-second spot for Budweiser out of DDB, Chicago. "Little Red People" marked the directorial debut of matte painter turned visual effects designer/director Deak Ferrand, who shot the project with DP David Franco through La Fabrique d'Images in Montreal, Canada.
Lava Flows into Miami Robert Kirkpatrick has opened Lava Pictures in Miami, a visual effects boutique specializing in design, animation and effects for broadcasting and advertising.
Special Report: Pre-NAB
Music & Sound
Rap Attack! Commercially viable hip-hop is no new phenomenon, just ask Jay-Z. But increasingly hip-hop artists are contributing hits and original tracks to spots, lending instant street cred to brands aiming at the ever-jaded urban consumer. Boards takes a gander at a number of recent such campaigns.
Jive Juicers Grayson Matthews Audio Design crammed more musical styles into a new campaign for Five-Alive than Madonna has packed into her entire career.
Regional Focus: Canada
Producer POV You've just come off the busiest year of producing commercials you've ever had. What are you going to do now? While the slow pace of production early this year accommodated trips to Disneyland (or India or Italy or the South Pacific), it's not all suntans and postcards for Canadian producers. Coming home, producers are hustling to address a number of challenges that are sure to make for an interesting year.
It's About the Rocks The effects of watching an inordinate amount of TV commercials manifest themselves differently in different people. For some it can mean softening of the cerebral cortex.
Jesus is My Drug (and he drinks Five-Alive) It looks like the Five-Alive shipped to the creative department at Leo Burnett, Toronto was laced with something funky. The latest campaign for the drink, "Feel Alive" is two 30-second spots, each subdivided into five, five-second vignettes with a crisp five-second closer.
Toronto gets Dewey Dewey Nicks of bicoastal Epoch Films recently wrapped a campaign for Rogers AT&T, which he shot through his Canadian production company, Blink, Toronto.
GM Parts Noted animator Bruce Alcock returned to Canada last year to found his new venture, Global Mechanics, with the goal of offering a multi-technique approach and a one-stop facility for those interested in mixing live action and an array of different animation looks.
Music & Sound
Avant-Garde For Hire By assembling musicians from across the bleeding edge of contemporary American music, the Downtown Composers Collective (DCC) offers creatives access to talent beyond the simplistic scope of most mainstream music.
Bulletin Board
Inventory
Inventory A look at who's making the moves
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Magazine
May 2010
Our May 2010 issue features a roundtable of directors, agency execs and production company EPs discussing the dire lack of women behind the camera on commercial shoots, our annual list of the year's top spot helmers, the story behind Philips' "Parallel Lines" shorts and more.