Thierry Poiraud via Paranoid Paris (he is also repped by Independent Films, London), directed this spot for Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), the company responsible for managing the French national railway network. Charged with promoting RFF and its ongoing modernization of the rail network, the commercial will air on terrestrial and cable/satellite channels and is already proving to be a hit online.
Although the film was shot traditionally using ARRI Alexa cameras, Poiraud employed a variety of techniques including model making and 3D animation to create a world that marries real life and the magic of miniature railway. With an up tempo score by Metronomy, this 45-second spot takes the viewer on a whimsical and exciting journey across France that captures the full scale of RFF’s day to day operations.
We see the role the RFF plays in people’s everyday lives, transporting them as well as products along the railway network–with the occasional intervention of a giant human hand that modernizes the railway infrastructure as it continues going about its daily business.
A voiceover relates the slogan, “Building tomorrow’s network while running today’s.” An end tag carrying the RFF logo also contains the message, “Tomorrow on track today.”
Poiraud observed that working on the RFF film “reminded me of shooting my first animated films when I was a kid. We shot all over France for a month at locations I’d heard of but never visited using only a small crew. After the shoot, we recreated most of the locations as small-scale models, which my son is now playing with at home and I had the chance to put Sergio Leon’s comment that Cinemascope was invented to shoot trains into practice.”
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