This spec spot takes us into the Foley room where the sound effects are being created for a kung fu movie. As we see the martial arts combatants square off, an ingenious Foley artist is spicing up their battle with appropriate, well-timed audio effects. He bangs together two bowling pins to score a rapid-fire succession of blows in a kung fu sequence. Subsequent hits are accentuated by the popping of balloons.
Wooden boards are the next audio source. The Foley artist cracks one board over his knee, then puts his fist through another, all timed perfectly to the fight action visuals.
Then he needs a big furious impact to accompany a hellacious flying drop kick being delivered by one combatant to the other–possibly the decisive blow of the battle. First the Foley artist tries banging a huge gong. Looking for even greater impact, he puts a sledgehammer to a watermelon.
Finally, he comes up with the perfect effect, popping open a can of Mountain Dew. Yet while that proves to be apt audio accompaniment for the kung fu duel to the death unfolding on film, everything is aurally downhill from there. As the combatants continue their battle, we now hear a swallowing sound as the Foley artist is guzzling the Mountain Dew. Then we see one of the martial artists ready to attack only to hear a loud belch emanate from him–indeed the Foley artist may have chugalugged his Dew a bit too fast.
An end tag carries the Mountain Dew logo.
This comedic commercial, titled “Foley,” was directed by the team of Zack Resnicoff and J.C. Khoury–a.k.a. Zack & J.C.–via the Group 101Spots initiative, a nearly three-and-a-half-year-old program whereby aspiring directors turn out spec spots to gain experience, exposure and professional industry feedback. Since its inception on the West Coast, Group101 has helped a variety of up-and-coming directors get discovered by the commercialmaking community at large. Last September, Group101 went bicoastal and formally launched in New York. Zack & J.C. are among the first crop of directors to come out of the Big Apple leg of the Group101 program.
Zack & J.C. also wrote, produced, edited and handled sound design for “Foley.” The DP was Martin Ahlgren.
Colorist was Alex Berman at Post Logic, New York. Visual effects were done at R!OT Manhattan, with Randie Swanberg serving as visual effects artist. Audio post mixer was Mike Levesque via earth2mars, New York. Principal actor was Rob Huebe.
Based largely on “Foley” and another spec piece they directed via Group101, Zack & J.C. landed a real-world job, helming a client-direct Hispanic market spot for vitamin company GenSpec. To facilitate this and other planned work for GenSpec, Zack & J.C. just launched their own New York-based production house, Shoot First Entertainment. While they look to build that venture, the directorial team is also entertaining overtures from established commercial production companies for representation.
Zack & J.C.–who met and began working together in the graduate film program at NYU–have also made their mark in the Web space as their short, Eat Less Bacon, recently debuted as part of the Aquafina series of shorts out of Tribal DDB Dallas, appearing on ResolutionsOnFilm.com.
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