This spot places us in chained captivity, subject to the whims of a female dominatrix who’s donned in black leather lingerie. Whether or not we are a willing subject is for the moment subject to interpretation.
Our POV is looking through the eye openings of a mask. Through one eyehole, we see handcuffs. Through the other slit we see the dominatrix who’s verbally abusing us as she seemingly prepares to physically do the same, picking up various implements, including a riding crop. It appears that we’re in a garage that’s been converted into an S&M chamber of horrors.
“You worthless scum. You’re nothing but a useless maggot,” she declares. “You disgust me.”
At that point, she strips off our mask, which reveals not a person but a living human brain.
The dominatrix’s verbal barrage continues. “You maggot. You useless piece of garbage. You disgust me.”
A supered piece of advice puts this offbeat, on-the-edge scenario into context. It reads, “Discipline the creative side,” followed by an end tag, “Art Center at Night.”
The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., is one of the industry’s leading educational institutions, turning out graduates who have gone on to become influential advertising creatives and filmmakers. Part of the school’s success lies in its ability to help develop students’ creative sensibilities, housed in the right side of the brain. This dominatrix-spiced commercial, titled “Chamber,” is one of three in a humorous campaign from WongDoody, Los Angeles, and production house harvest, Santa Monica, to help promote Art Center as a place that positively nurtures the creative mind.
WongDoody producer Dax Estorninos approached harvest partner/executive producer Bonnie Goldfarb with a series of commercial scripts for this latest Art Center campaign. Goldfarb then presented the scripts to harvest directors, asking them to pick the piece that most appealed to them.
Harvest partner, director Baker Smith, chose “Chamber.” His colleagues, director Michael Downing and the helming duo Big TV!, selected “Office” and “Graveyard,” respectively. “Office” shows a woman fleeing from authorities with a bundle, which we at first presume is a baby. She eludes her pursuers, and it’s revealed that the bundle contains a large pulsating human brain. A super reads, “Rescue the creative side.” In “Graveyard,” an obsessed man digs up the cemetery ground. But instead of a corpse, he unearths a human brain, as an accompanying super implores us to “Resurrect the creative side.”
For “Chamber” director Smith was backed by a harvest support team that included exec producer Goldfarb and producer Mala Vasan. The DP was Eric Treml.
WongDoody’s creative ensemble consisted of creative director/executive producer Tracy Wong, art director Eric Goldstein, copywriter Tom Hamling, and producers Estorninos and Melia Leidenthal.
Editor was Lucas Spaulding of Bug Editorial, Los Angeles. Arrow Kruse produced for Bug. Online editor was Josh Kirschenbaum of Cake, Santa Monica. Tatiana Derovanessian executive produced and JP Patterson produced for Cake. Audio post mixer was Stephen Dickson of POP Sound, Santa Monica.
Nico Mansy and Josh Marcy of Mo-phonics, Venice, Calif., served as music composer and sound designer, respectively. Michael Frick was exec producer for Mo-phonics.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More