Central Services / The Office
Posted: November 21, 2016 Filed under: Level 6 Subject Leave a commentI have decided that I want to use Michael Kramen’s ‘The Office’ as the main music for the video. The song comes from terry Gilliam’s sci-fi noir, brazil in which the song is used to choreography a repetitive systematic way of life and work in a busy office building called ‘Central Services’.
The music is upbeat in tempo and connotes feelings of mischief, humor, happiness and fun. The musical style, rhythm, instruments etc makes for an innocent mood where fortune or misfortune are reinforced due to the playful sounds of the music. Also, the song is under 2 minutes long making this a great template for editing and cutting the video down. I can edit the film so that certain bars of music synch up with transitions and compositions.
Visual inspirations
Posted: November 20, 2016 Filed under: Level 6 Subject Leave a commentIn terms of cinematograohy, my main inspirations came from Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ and ‘Nosedive’ – a segment from Charlie Brooker’s ‘Black Mirror’. Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ also adopts a similar pallet using faded out pinks, reds and beiges to sculpt a truly unique environment. Jonze also adopts a very close and personal effect through his direction which I don’t think will be appropriate for Greenall’s. ‘Nosedive’, a segment from an anthology series called ‘Black Mirror’ is a key example of beautiful colour use. The bubblegum pallet through the episode creates an uneasy feeling of perection and forced happiness. Not dissimilar to the underones of the episode.
‘That British Moment’ – Story Board
Posted: November 18, 2016 Filed under: Level 6 Subject Leave a commentThe Gin Identity idea was good for re-considering the demographic of Gin buyers but it doesn’t communicate quintessential Britain as well as a narrative piece would. I decided to instead consider lm – this is because I am working with a real product and therefore it should be treated as such. I’ve always been fascinated by creative advertising especially ones with a real lm production value or personal connections. These are always the adve s that stick in my head the most the ones which speak to you on a fundamental understanding level. John Lewis is good for this as they tap in on key emotional triggers to get their messages across.
The storyboard pictured shows the narrative for a sho ‘adve ’ called ‘That British Moment’. The narrative centers around 4 individual who come into contact with British ‘First World Problems’. These include, rain, wet grass, awkward bus encounters, bed hairdressers, bumping your head on a bus and pretending like you knew what you were doing, forge ing about tea and drinking it cold, the milk going in first and accidentally waving at someone you think you know.
The main problem with this narrative was that I was trying to force way too many ‘British Problems’ into the narrative than was necessary. That along with the fact that adverts should sho and quick, meaning I had to reconsider the number of problems to focus on. This would make sure the video is quick, to-the-point and not relying to heavily on tying t be humorous by including so many of the problems. The ending was never drawn in the storyboard as it was the only pa of the lm which I wasn’t sure on how to end. The end point f the lm is that while we are a nation de ned by these many rst world problems, we are also a nation de ned by its Gin (Greenall’s gin to be exact!) and that makes all these problems, worth the hassle. I considered that the 4 individuals could actually be friends and that the end of the video is the 4 of them coming together to bond over a drink of gin.
British First World Problems
Posted: November 15, 2016 Filed under: Level 6 Subject, Uncategorized Leave a commentThinking more about traditional or conventional Britain what things about us define us as a nation? The Roast Dinner for example is a truly quintessential British moment for many of the population. The Roast Dinner while not just being delicious is also a symbol of togetherness, of nourishment and comfo . Queuing is another quintessential British moment yet it doesn’t say much that actually interesting or pa icular about our culture. Rather than simple moments like a Roast Dinner or a queue, what other aspects of our culture de ne us? What are less cliche examples to do with society, products? What about British moments within British moments?
First world problems are a really interesting subject as they deal with some of the most petty and ridiculous ‘problems’ you’ll ever come across. What was great about BRITISH First World problems is how completely bizarre and almost ‘other-worldly’ they can be. The things they bring up are so unique to Britain that only British person would really appreciate the humor of them. This is when it clicked. I should use British First World Problems as the basis of my project development. What are the little awkward things about our culture that de ne us so well? Key examples include ‘getting caught in the rain (especially when it looks sunny), losing all Tupperware lids, beans being too close the egg, terrible tea, terrible toast and queuing.
British Characters
Posted: November 7, 2016 Filed under: Level 6 Subject Leave a commentAnother approach to a ‘British’ moment is to look at moments where characters in British film and literature became icons in British culture. What characters do we think of? When I took this question to social media I was given massive amounts of responses – the key characters that seem to pop up are ones that have appeared in television shows and film – with the exception of Sherlock Holmes who originated from literature.
Other popular choices included Jeeves and Wooster and Mr Blobby – there appears to be a favour for characters who implement a sense of nostalgia in people.
Apart from characters that we hold close to our hearts, it would be interesting to
consider British characters who didn’t originate from authentic Britain Mary Poppins for example, is a beloved character that many consider to be quintessentially British through her costume, tone of voice and overall demeanor. However, the character that
we all know so well is from Walt Disney’s Hollywood adaptation of P.L. Travers series of books. Is this an authentic perception of the British? ‘The Doctor’ as a character was also brought up a lot which is interesting considering that The Doctor is an alien from another planet – yet he still captures a true sense of British culture. Moreover, The Doctor’s multiple versions of himself each have individual outfits which a each in their own ways utilise aspects of British culture. For example, Tom Baker’s extremely long scarf or Peter Davidson as The 5th Doctor who wears a full Edwardian cricketer’s kit?
Can these be considered part of quintessential Britain?
After exploring quintessential British characters I thought about ho characters can be
drawn from the gin itself. Who would Original London Dry look like? What about Sloe? Wild Berry? Canned Cocktails? I was interested in seeing if I could create characters based on the products themselves. As Greenall’s established, they want the target audience to be young outgoing people therefore the character designs would have to adhere to this. For Sloe Gin for example I reconsidered the typical customer of Sloe Gin which is commonly popular with the elderly and applied it to a younger entity. Jamima is
a quiet yet outgoing Goth with red rimmed glasses and a Napalm Death T-Shirt. When not listening to heavy metal she’s wrapped in a black blanket sipping a hottoddy with sloe-gin. The new ‘customer’ re-establishes people’s ideas about who buys the certain product and makes it more youth-friendly. The identity also encourages that Gin can be used for cozy times as well as upbeat. The idea would be to packaging Greenall’s products using these new identity designs similar to the limited-edition jockey packaging.
Greenall’s Products
Posted: November 6, 2016 Filed under: Level 6 Subject, Uncategorized Leave a commentAs an initial starting point with my research I decided to brainstorm each individual product to try to understand as much about each individual one as possible. Each drink i considered as having a certain kind of customer, a certain identity/personality, a season or time of day to drink it, cocktails which use it etc.
YCN Briefs 2017 – Greenall’s Gin
Posted: November 4, 2016 Filed under: Level 6 Subject Leave a commentGreenall’s Gin
Design a piece of creative that brings to life a classic British moment in a contemporary way
The Brief
We would like you to choose quintessential British moments that have lasted through time and are still relevant today, and bring this to life in a contemporary way through a piece of creative that has Greenall’s at its heart.
Background
Gin is the fastest growing spirit category in the world and Gin & Tonic is the drink of the moment. A trend that started in Spain and then spread to the UK, the US, Australia and into the rest of Europe – and Greenall’s was really the gin that started it all.
Greenall’s is The Original London Dry Gin, handcrafted by Britain’s oldest gin distillers since 1761. We are one of the world’s most awarded gins, particularly noted for our superior quality and smooth taste. We were established by the innovative Thomas Dakin who set up our gin distillery in the heart of Warrington – a major stopover destination for all thoroughfare heading from London to the north of the country, with the ambition of producing the smoothest gin and pioneering a new production process with the first ever use of the Coffey still to distil a more refined and accessible spirit.
At Greenall’s, we are proud of our British roots, and the authenticity, heritage, and stories that have led us to become one of the UK’s favourite gin brands. We embody the classic British sense of humour: the perfect balance of being down to earth with a touch of irony. We’re inviting and open-minded — we want to welcome people into our fun and spirited world of gin.
Our Greenall’s family is headed up by Greenall’s The Original, but we also have Greenall’s Wild Berry, Greenall’s Sloe and our innovative premixed cans in 5 different flavours.
With over 250 years of authentic stories we still remain at the heart of everyday sociable drinking occasions. Greenall’s is the #2 standard gin in the UK and we’re enjoyed in over 200 countries. We’re a contemporary British classic – just as relevant today as we were back in 1761.
The Creative Challenge
We would like you to choose quintessential British moments that have lasted through time and are still relevant today and produce a piece of creative that brings this to life in a contemporary way and has Greenall’s at its heart.
You can choose any of our Greenall’s products to be at the centre of your designs, but obviously certain products will suit certain occasions better. For example the quintessential British afternoon tea, which is still in vogue years after its conception, could be a perfect pairing for a cocktail made with our Greenall’s Wild Berry. Another example could be our premixed cans that might be the perfect addition to the infamous Great British Picnic.
Your creative could be applied across any channel. It might feature on a piece of limited edition marketing collateral, such as a coaster, a postcard, a gift with purchase or a neck tag. Or it might be shared as part of our Facebook strategy to recruit new consumers into Greenall’s or engage with our existing fans. Or it might constitute a poster campaign. We are also open to any medium — from print to photography, video, graphic design, animation, illustration etc.
Creative Considerations
• Greenall’s green interpretation of the Union Jack flag is the creative epitome of our Britishness, and has featured on our packs in a number of iterations. It brings vibrancy and fun to the party. It amplifies the good times. It brings to life our inviting tone of voice. And, most of all, it is a real stamp of our pride to be British. We know that consumers recognise the green flag as being part of our core identity. It is ownable and distinctive, helping us to stand out on shelf and in bar. We’re keen for this to be integrated in an engaging, creative and disruptive way within your response.
• Our Greenall’s crest is the embodiment of our heritage, authenticity and over 250 years of stories as Britain’s oldest gin distillery. It is a badge of reassurance and a nod to our smooth taste credentials and superior quality.
• Greenall’s The Original is 100% ownable as we were the first British gin distillery and we want to communicate this more to consumers – to show that the fantastic classic recipe we developed over 250 years ago is still as relevant and popular today
• Our Greenall’s dark green is our key brand colour and our lighter green Pantone brings to life the vibrancy of the social occasions that Greenall’s is at the heart of. White and silver are also secondary colours that we use throughout communication.
Target Audience
We would like you to target millennials who are looking for authentic, British brands with real heritage and stories to be part of their everyday life. Having a good time socialising with their friends is important to our target audience and gin is firmly on their radar and at the heart of their drinking occasions, although they don’t have any particular loyalty to any specific brand. We want to make them passionate advocates of Greenall’s through reinforcing our authenticity and credentials as well as amplifying our inviting British personality.
Mandatories
The Greenall’s The Original logo, must feature on all designs.
Please ensure that your creative adheres to the responsible drinking guidelines.
Check out the Portman Group Code of Practice for more specific information (in particular section 3).
The brief is very open meaning that the potential is massive. In terms of quintessential British moments I have begun thinking quite superficially e.g. fish and chips, tea, The Queen etc. I need to think more about what is really quintessential about Britain which makes it different/superior to other places. But without using clichés!
Seb Summers 