GIGAPIXEL – the world’s largest photographs

Nowadays, everything can take pictures: Cellphones, mp3-players, watches, even sunglasses come with built-in cameras. 2 Megapixel dwarfs that transform our world into chunky pixel mosaics. Modern day diaries in 72 ppi. And life looks pretty shallow in lo-res-land. Where’s the detail? 

Here: xRez Studio is a Santa Monica company that creates extremely high resolution gigapixel photographs. The high-res images are complex compositions of hundreds of single shots created with extensive motion control gear. The images enable the creation of immersive digital environments and are being used for visual effects sequences, fulldome theater-presentations or large-scale exhibition prints. 

°°°VISIT SITE°°°

 

 

CITROËN commercial “Newspaper”

CITROËN’s promotion campaign hits the next round. A small story about a large interior.

 

 

Agency: Euro RSCG Duesseldorf

Creative Directors: Torsten Pollmann, Florian Meimberg

Art Director: Jean-Pierre Gregor, Sebastian Kaiser

Copywriter: Till Koester

Producer: Meike van Meegen

Production: Markenfilm Berlin

Director: Henry Littlechild

 

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

With $100,000, you could build a very nice house and live in it forever. Or, with that same amount of money, you could shoot a TV spot that’s 30 seconds long and will run for a few months and then go away forever.

(Crispin Porter + Bogusky Employee Handbook)

 

NET NUGGETS 05/20/08

Become a movie producer. In the world’s shortest film.

“Cabin crew, prepare for landing.” A day in the life of air traffic over the continental U.S.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

99Rooms. An “industrial art” project by Kim Köster.

PAPERVISION 3D. Demo for the open source realtime 3D engine for flash.

 

I WANT THAT!

ABDUCTIONLAMP.COM

 

THE F-WORD, REVISED.

A couple of months ago I told you about a senior citizen bus travel provider who didn’t seem too aware of the impression it might leave to typographically abstract the two diacritic dots in his family name to create a company logo.

I just spotted one of his buses again. I think he noticed.

(For non-germans: The umlauted vowel Ü can also be spelled UE.)

 

 

STRANGE ATTRACTORS – fashion meets digital art

With his rock star dalliances and a desire to marry high-art style and low-brow subjects, Cubitt sits at the photographic edge. 

(Eyemazing Journal)

 

“Shock photographer” Clayton Cubitt, a.k.a. Siege, is known for his radical visual concepts that travel between fashion and porn. 

Together with generative artist Tom Carden, he created an eye-popping black and white series using an interesting technical approach: they wrote a sofware that generates particle simulations with gravitational restraints and merged the results into the fashion shots. Interesting: They first created the “particle paintings”, then the portraits. 

The powerful visuals were published in MetroPop Magazine.

 

 

COMPUTERIZED TORTURE GARDEN

Where do ideas come from?  

Sometimes they come from the sky. Sometimes they come from our dreams. And sometimes they come from a strange little machine called IDEA GENERATOR.

The practical widget was developed by TDB Special Projects. Random three-word-combinations stimulate the brain and may be the seed for the next big idea. (VIA)

 

 

NET NUGGETS 05/07/08

HELLO WORLD. A website for the Japanese telecom company SoftBank. Strange and beautiful. Made by THA. (Thanx, Till!)

NEW: OLD! A collection of vintage logos. (VIA)

Six feet under: A TV commercial for the Metro Madrid. Directed by Gabe Ibanez. Production Company: PELICULAS PONDER/MIAMI

They are here…! A robot jellyfish. Fascinating.

 

CITROËN commercial “Zipper”

Another CITROËN promotion commercial, shot in Barcelona. Here’s the director’s cut:

 

 

Agency: Euro RSCG Duesseldorf

Creative Directors: Florian Meimberg, Torsten Pollmann

Art Director: Jean-Pierre Gregor

Copywriter: Till Koester

Producer: Meike van Meegen

Production: Markenfilm Berlin

Director: Henry Littlechild

>> MAKING OF <<

 

 

NUMBER OF THE DAY

Number of minutes before the projector broke down at the “Music Videos International” screening in the course of the OBERHAUSEN SHORTFILM FESTIVAL. 

The first 87 minutes however contained inspiring videos like this, this or this.

 

NET NUGGETS 05/01/08

Brooklyn-based artist and computer scientist Jonathan Harris explores the world’s diversity with experimental projects. Fascinating. Inspiring. Beautiful. number 27 - The work of Jonathan Harris

All the Simpsons opening sequence couch-gags. Time-lapsed to 5 minutes. 

The guys who produced the Sony rabbits. One of the coolest production companies around. An unbelievable assembly of talent: PASSION PICTURES

TRON. Animated with cardboard. Strange.

 

HOMER SIMPSON UNTOONED

It first emerged in 2007. It turned out to be highly contagious. And it was bright yellow – SMPSONIZE ME! The online application launched by Burger King transformed portrait photographs into cartoon characters. And instantly went viral. The annoying aftermath can still be seen in countless online profile pictures.

Now here’s a refreshing response: An anonymous digital artist turns cartoon characters into … well … humans. The slightly disturbing detail is that he sticks to the original cartoon proportions.

Strange!
Here is a Photoshop time-laps of how he did it.

 

6 BILLION OTHERS - the voice of the planet

A couple of years ago, french photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand amazed us with a breathtaking perspective on ourselves: THE EARTH FROM ABOVE is a series of aerial photographs that reveal the stunning beauty of our planet.

Now Yann is back. And he has landed his helicopter. To meet the people that inhabit the landscapes he’s been portraying all those years. 

In his long-term project 6 BILLION OTHERS, 6 directors set off across the world to interview 6.000 people from 65 countries. They filmed 4.500 hours of interviews. And compressed them into 450 hours of translated and subtitled video portraits. 

Well-lit and tightly framed, the short interviews are intimate, emotional close-ups of the people that populate our planet. 

The interactive website was created by the french design company THE BLAST MACHINE. 

>> MEET THE OTHERS <<

 

 

AUTO COUTURE

The all new Citroën C5 just hit Germany’s streets. Along with the launch commercial

“THE TASTING”.

 

Translation: More style to the street. The new Citroën C5.

MAKING OF – Impressions from the shoot in L. A. 

CREDITS

Agency: Euro RSCG Duesseldorf 

Creative Directors: Torsten Pollmann, Florian Meimberg, Felix Glauner

Art Directors: Martin Staubach, Jean-Pierre Gregor

Copywriters: Christoph Mueller, Till Koester

Account Executive: Daniel Grube

Agency Producer: Meike van Meegen

Film Production: Radical Media

Director: TARSEM

 

The power of the pen

In a forgotten club on the outskirts of the universe, the PALM BEACH, an old cleaning lady found a box with curious content. Inside, there were hundreds of shiny metallic books, full of black and white illustrations. And on the cover – in quirky letters – it read:

H-E-R-R-E-N-S-A-H-N-E

The old cleaning lady had heard this word before. In conjunction with excessive art- and comic exhibitions that used to take place in Duesseldorf a long time ago. And this had to be it: The legendary lost issue. HERRENSAHNE # 11!

Also in the box: An old flyer. The paper was cracked, the colors faded …

 

 

Storyboard artist and illustrator Marc Ewert is a member of the independent comic collective HERRENSAHNE from Duesseldorf. The release party for the latest issue of their cult comic will take place on April 26 in the PALM BEACH in Duesseldorf.

By the way: Marc also writes a wonderful film blog with excellent movie reviews: MONDO BIZARR

 

 

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

 Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it. 

 

(Hannah Arendt)

 

BEFORE / AFTER

The before / after comparison – Probably the oldest method of illustrating the effectiveness of a product. And the most boring one. Except when it happens in an unexpected place …

An “ambient media cinema commercial”:

 

Agency: Euro RSCG Duesseldorf

Creative Directors: Torsten Pollmann, Florian Meimberg, Harald Linsenmeier

Art Director: Jörg Sachtleben

Producer: Christian Käutner

 

 

GOOGLE DISCREET VIEW

A little off-topic, but this is just too funny!

A couple of months ago, Google’s web mapping service GOOGLE MAPS launched a new feature: GOOGLE STREET VIEW. A panoramic street level environment lets you descend from the sky and virtually travel through the streets. 

Impressive. And contentious! The feature has raised privacy concerns. This scene from a Chicago street shows why:

 

(THANX TO SOJAHUND FOR THE LINK)

UPDATE: The original picture has been deleted. Always good to make screenshots!

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

More than 24 hours per day not possible.

 

(Error-message, displayed by the agency’s digital time recording system.) 

 

What you see isn’t exactly what you get …

Yes, advertising people are liars. I know. But Robert over at BASIC THINKING discloses one of the counless reasons why a slight exentuation can sometimes be quite advisable. At least when it comes to instant microwave dinners …

 

 

 

 

 

The PUNDO 3000 project compares advertising food photography to the unsavory reality.

 

ENJOY YOUR MEAL! 

 

PLAY!

(Seen from the rooftop bar at MPC Moving Picture Company in London)

 

THE GOLDEN ARROW – how advertising will destroy the planet

It always kind of sucks when someone tells you that what you do is bad. 

 

Environmental activist Annie Leonard however does it in such a charming way that you can’t help but almost like her for it.

 

Her animated 20 minute-short film “The Story of Stuff” is a “fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns”. And a painful reminder of what what they do to our planet.

 

 

 

 

 

True insights, illustrated with simple images and compressed into a strong message – everything a good commercial needs!

 

 

/// THE STORY OF STUFF ///       (VIA WERBEBLOGGER)

 

 

 

Erwin Olaf and the beauty of sorrow

Amsterdam-based commercial photographer Erwin Olaf is mainly known for his surreal sceneries sparkling with opulent abundance. 

 

His visioanary photographic concepts for clients like Levi’s, Diesel or Nokia have won countless awards all across the planet.

 

His series “Grief” reveals a different side of his character:

The powerful portraits bear an arcane silence and the beautifully art-directed settings reanimate a past era.

 

 

 

 

 

Erwin Olaf’s portfolio is a must-see!

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Recommendation: The tv commercial idea should not be executed.

 

(Last page of the focus group test results)

 

 

SIMPLIFY.

One of the most important factors for a brand to be successful: its name. 

One of the most promising approaches: keep it simple!

 

 

(Seen in London) 

 

NUMBER OF THE DAY

Total number of spaces where you can stand around clinging to your 20-pounds-cocktail in the bar of the SANDERSON Hotel in London on a Friday night without a sinister-looking, ear-plugged giant showing up to tell you that you can’t stand here because this is the VIP area or this part of the terrace was just closed or this corner is only for members.

 

Also the total number of times I will book that hotel again.

 

CITROËN commercial “Bird”

You’ve met the friendly flower. Now say hello to the second hero in CITROËN’s Eco-Promotion: the helpful sparrow.

Translation:
“Nature says ‘Thank You’. For the low consumption model range by CITROËN.”

Agency: Euro RSCG Duesseldorf

Creative Directors: Florian Meimberg, Torsten Pollmann
Copywriter: Torsten Pollmann
Art Director: Jean-Pierre Gregor
Account Executive: Daniel Grube
Agency Producer: Meike Van Meegen
Production Company: Markenfilm Berlin
Director: Henry Littlechild
Post Production: FRAMESTORE, London

 

Alfred Hitchcock – a commercial director?

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (1899 - 1980) was beyond doubt one of the most visionary personalities the entertainment industry has ever bred. His movies are narrative masterpieces and “tutorials” for powerful filmmaking. 

 

Dave Pattern, Library Systems Manager at the University of Huddersfield/UK, pays a very special tribue to old Hitch: He compressed every hitchcock movie to a duration of 1000 frames – The length of a commercial!

 

Rear Window (1954)

 

 

Psycho (1960)

 

 

The Birds (1963)

 

 

The experiment has a fascinating effect: the sequences break down to a striking condensation of Hitchcock’s picture language and the “visual rythm” of his movies. 

 

And yes: I really think Hitch would make a  good commercial director. Just imagine his 30-second ad for bird seed …

 

>> ALL THE MINI-MOVIES <<

 

(FOUND ON EHRENSENF)

 

 

“Is the answer to this question no?”

Semantic paradoxons are statements that lead to an infinite contradiction. A phenomenon that already taxed ancient philosophers’ brains. Fortunately there’s relief today …

This campaign we created for THOMAPYRIN headache pills was published in magazines and as a poster campaign in colleges and pharmacies.

THOMAPYRIN “PARADOX”

Agency: Euro RSCG Duesseldorf
Creative Director: Florian Meimberg, Torsten Pollmann
Art Director: Joerg Sachtleben, Desiree Rose, Jean-Pierre Gregor
Copywriter: Torsten Pollmann