We see the reflection of a man eyeing himself in a small mirror which is perched atop an office bookcase alongside piles of folders and paper. A dying small potted plant on a nearby windowsill fits in well with this disheveled workplace.
The spot then gives us a better look at the man who’s shirtless. He’s shaving himself with an electric razor but it’s not his face that’s getting groomed. Instead he’s shaved out his chest hair to create a pattern resembling a shirt collar and neck tie. Guess he’s getting ready for a formal business meeting. The camera then reveals that he’s otherwise only wearing briefs and a pair of shoes.
Filling the screen is a message which reads, “Bad things happen when you’re bored.”
The solution: entertainment.ie, a site that offers TV, cinema and loads more.
“Shave” was one of two spots in the campaign, which was directed by Lena Beug via Red Rage Films in Dublin, Ire., for agency Cawley Nea TBWA, Dublin. (Beug is repped stateside by RSA and in Canada by Untitled).
The agency team consisted of creative director Alan Kelly, art director Mark Black and copywriter Graham Stewart.
Paul Holmes was the line producer for Red Rage. The DP was Kip Bogdahn.
Editor and colorist were Philip Cullen and Dave Hughes, respectively, of Windmill Lane, Dublin. Audio post mixer was Paddy Gibbons of No. 4 Studios@Windmill Lane.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More