Filmmaker Doug Pray, who is responsible for one of my alltime favorite documentaries Surfwise, has done it again. Only this time it’s advertising. Don’t forget to buy popcorn and a Coke. Because it’s delicious.
How can Bored To Death not be the best TV-show this year (except that new seasons of Fringe, Dexter, The Office and 30Rock are coming up at the same time)? Still, can’t wait to see Jason Schwartzman and Ted Danson go at it September 2009 on HBO.
“I was looking at a piece of art the other day and I thought that would make a great staircase. I don’t think other people think like that, somehow.”
-Tony Davidson, CCEO W+K London-
But a love for violence and competition in its purest form isn’t just a part of American culture; it’s a part of human culture. We are inherently prone to violent struggle. This is a large part of what’s wrong with us, but when channeled into a sport — where qualities like mutual respect, sportsmanship, and fair play are prized — it can become emblematic of what’s best about us.
-Ben Fowlkes-
“This is pop/Yeah Yeah”
-XTC, “This is Pop”-
Everybody is fighting for something. At least I hope so. You might fight for a new client in a pitch situation, you fight for your ideas, some people may fight for bread, in the current crisis a lot of people fight for their jobs. You may fight for a better payroll or the love of someone you’ve let down. And some people fight for money or pride or for the sake of competition.
Amongst these kind of fighters I used to love Renzo Gracie always as the one I would not only like to train but also have a beer or two with.
And just chat and laugh and have him telling stories about his incredible life.
Then punch the waitor in the kidney for funsies.
Maybe I like fighting as a sport so much because it is the opposite of what we are doing the whole time. Not only in our jobs but in our culture as a whole.
There is not too much talking in the ring, on the mat or in the Octagon.
But every word actually means something (”Fight”, “Break”, “Stop”, “Your Mom is so fat she was overthrown by a small militia, she’s now know as The Republic of Your Mom”). A solid punch to the face means something as well. And there is no misunderstanding about anything. No false interpretation. Nothing fake. Nothing not real.
Fighting brings out the person you truly are. There is no place to hide what you are in a fight (or in training for that matter). If you are afraid to learn or adapt to new situations, it will show. If you are ready to work through adversity, it will show.
“Fighting is about the truth.” says writer Sam Sheridan in his foreword of the book “Fighter”. “At its heart, stripped down to the essentials, it’s a collision of realities. You have yours - who you are, what you will do - and he has his. Only one reality survives this meeting. We call it a sport, but it’s more than that. (…) It is a stage for artists, rendered with extreme emotion and desperate struggle.”
Call me naive, but when I started with advertising I was thinking the same thing about this industry.
If you are a total idiot, it will show. If you are a brown-nosing back-stabber, it will show. If you are a hard worker, it will show as well. If you are talented and creative, it will show and lead you to success. Because there is no place to hide when you have a white sheet of paper in front of you. But we all know that his is not the truth.
Still both jobs have more in common than not. It’s about solving problems. And key qualities like discipline, creativity, planning, preparation and stamina are required if you take it seriously. And in both jobs we are dealing with the truth. A truth about a product a campaign is based on. A truth about a person his performance is based on. “In a fight in a cage, the truth will out.” says Sheridan. I would say it’s the same things with great campaigns.
And that’s the beauty of it.
A great campaign reveals a truth by giving you an insight of the brand or the product that actually means something. Stripped down to its essentials it gives you something to rely on in a world full of images and words.
A person reveals a truth about himself in the gym.
Because there is no bullshit. No lies. Never. There is no backdoor or double bottom. And usually no bad blood after rolling with each other. It’s just the pure encounter of two people learning from each other as they go. And whoever wins usually had the better idea. A better idea how to win.
Here is the trailer of Renzo Gracie - Legacy, a documentary about the guy who kind of drew me into MMA as a sport a few years back.
If you have never heard of Renzo Gracie, it just means you are in stable mental conditions.
He is the descendent of a family of fighters from Brazil. This family practically invented the whole Vale-Tudo-no-holds-barred-fighting-contest-idea which latter resulted in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). He is not actively competing anymore but he remains a full time joker, family man and fighting coach with a very successful brand at his hands: the Gracie name.
Of course this footage is partly ten years old or older and looks kind of gnarly, but Renzo is one of the guys who helped elevating this whole thing from a brawling spectacle to a highly technical sport - as you see in the clip underneath.
Now if you ask me what that has to do with anything, especially on a site like beersandideas, it’s two things. First, in my opinion MMA is not only one of the most demanding sports in the history of sports, but also one of the most creative. You are constantly under pressure and the possibilities to solve the problems that are posed upon you are endless. If you are just smart enough and willing to go the distance. Second, the way people like Renzo, Randy Couture or modern day warriors like Georges St. Pierre are living their lives is truly inspirational. Because it’s based on respect, honesty, trust and commitment. Values not to be found very often in these times. Isn’t that an interesting paradigm to base a company on? That’s exactly what the UFC did. And now they are coming to Germany. The insight, as Renzo Gracie put it, is the most authentic in times that are just missing that:
“I think there is something about fighting that brings out a person’s true self. It doesn’t matter what you say or how you act. In the ring all the layers are peeled away and what’s left is who you really are.”
Cheers to a legend.
The new movie by outstanding director Darren Aronofski, the creator of one of my favorite indy-films of all times, “Pi”, featuring “the resurrection of Mickey Rourke”.
The Wrestler.
And if the trailer is moving you to tears already you better take a whole box of Kleenex to the cinema. It might be Rourke’s performance, it might be the topic of a washed up fighter who gets a last chance of redemption, or it might be the ever valuable story of an idiotic selfish dude who pushes everybody away (quiet literally) and becomes one of the good guys eventually. That somehow always gets me.
We watch a horror movie about a bunch of people being atacked by zombies, werewolves, zombies, killers, psychopaths, zombies, mostly zombies, and these nutjobs continuosly are doing the exact wrong things to survive. Everytime we are yelling, no, please, do not be a total idiot and open that door, do not help that guy, he is already infected and will eat you later on and no, do not shoot him in the leg, that is pointless, what is so hard about shooting him in the head. Well, now you can make those decisions and proof that you are not an idiot. The Outbreak is a short film where you can make choices whether the main character lives or gets eaten alive by freaking zombies. It is as completely awesome as it sounds and you can check it out HERE.
And, err, by the way, I got killed a total 7 times before I survived. Zombies are tricky.
Seems like I should be watching more horror films these days.
While it was a bit quiet about the whole viral-topic lately here is a great example on how to do it right.
Extremely funny and outragously witty (”I don’t know how long those trees have been growing for but look what I’m doing to ‘em. I win. I beat nature today.” You can’t top copy like that while some random SFX-guy blows up the jungle.), here comes a lovely viral mockumentary about the filming of the blockbuster movie “Tropical Thunder”, featuring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and the always brilliant Robert Downey Jr. Watch German Director Jan Jürgen documenting the painful work of director Damien Cockburn, played by Steve Coogan, in an actual film directed by Ben Stiller. Which makes it the first Film-in-film-in-film-film I know about.
Deservedly “Winner Best Documentary - Bangkok Adolescent Film Festival”,
“Honorable Mention - Everyone’s A Winner Film Festival” and “Winner - Tijuana’s Shrieking Donkey Award” (come on, you got to love that) this little gem just made me laugh for half an hour. (”After only 5 days of shooting the film was already 2 months behind schedule and 100 million dollars over budget.” Freaking brilliant.)
And really, Damien Cockburn’s entrance spech at the beginning, hommage-ing Apocalypse Now, is just absolutely priceless. So is his name.
Watch the trailer here and visit the blog at www.RainOfMadness.com. I’m only hoping there is more to come.
Just so your day starts as good as mine, here is a little gem for you from writer/director Hamony Korine (”Kids”, “Gummo”, some other weird stuff that gave me the creeps I don’t remember right now). I don’t want to spoil anything so just watch the freaking trailer.
It’s such a brilliant idea to talk about everything that’s important in life in an entertaining way, I’m stunned. In fact it gives me goosebumps all over. Wow, Mr. Korine, after all that fancy artsy crap you wrote, you finally managed to come up with a story that doesn’t wallow in teenage-sex, drug abuse and fucked up dialogues. I salute you. And to everyone else: Go and throw popcorn at every Cinemaxx movie theater not broadcasting this film.
And don’t forgett: “There are miracles. There are miracles to happen to everybody.”
Thanks to Vanessa who can impersonate the most beautiful girl.
See more at www.misterlonely.co.uk
If you believe the Schlämmer-Blog was top tier advertising, you’re wrong. So wrong. So right at the time, but wrong now. Because The Ramp will award good ol’ Schlämmer right in the face.
This is the epic story of the hopes and dreams of the flawless folks of Oberpfaffelbachen, a small village with a big idea in Bavaria, Germany.
While the rest of the world doesn’t seem to care about what’s going on at the Bavarian countryside they came up with a plan to bring their smalltown on the map: build a ramp. A ramp so monstrously huge they can send the new BMW 1 over it and basically fly all the way to America.
And there you have it. It is most certainly communication for BMW i.e. the launch of the 1 series in the US but man is it nicely done. Somebody’s really put thought, heart and skill into this one. The outcome is a 35 minute long mockumentary about the striving for greatness from a few with a dream - and very bad teeth (which is, by the way, the point where they lost it a bit). The film should win any directors award as well because, err, they directed it well. Watch the whole film HERE.
Check out Oberpfaffelbachen’s homepage HERE, which is lovely, and the documentary’s directors blog HERE.
Kudos, BMW, for nicely thinking it through and daring to be, well, daring.
ps: I still don’t like your cars.
Via I am Seb (woweewow).
NOTE: Agency is GSD & M Idea City (”Thanks for the creative solutions you bring to life, not just for your clients, but for our country and the world.” That’s what good ol’ President Bill Clinton once said to them. Who puts stuff like this on his own website?). Thanks to Vanessa, who could find Elvis if he was still alive.
Now believe you me when I say this is gonna be THE film of the year.
Or one of the best this year I’m convinced.
Or at least one of the really good ones.
Or maybe one that at least I am going to watch.
In a theater.
Or on my computer. When I downloaded it. Like for free.
Because it’s a Jean-Claude van Damme movie, you know?
The trailer of J.C.V.D. looks pretty decent HERE and the six minute teaser about van Damme busting the casting of the van Damme film is pure comedy. With van Damme.
And if this is not a solid work of translation, my friends, I don’t know what is:
“I don’t get this. You said: If there was no more oxygen, planes and birds would crash.”
“You want a smack?”
Brilliant stuff.
See Hollywood? You once again got owned by France.
I found this site where you can buy old film posters from the 70’s. I always want to find old posters but i never know where to look. There are some really crap examples but some look awesome. The site is based in Britain and the prices range from 10 - 90? pounds.
