This tongue-in-cheek viral (http://stopwritingonmywall.com/) takes us deep into the world of social media addicts. Frank Devos of Caviar directed the three-minute comic piece for Sony VAIO W Series out of Brussels agency NASCOM.
The viral documents a Social Media Addicts Association (S.M.A.A.) meeting in which “addicts” divulge their darkest Twitter, Facebook and MySpace-related secrets. “S.M.A.A. Meeting” opens on several members admitting in various ways how social media has caused them to “lose everything.” We then cut to a young man “sharing” with a group of fellow addicts, “I’m Mark. I have 700 friends on Facebook. I’ve got one special friend– we’ve been chatting for over a month-and-a-half now…the past few weeks she hasn’t been replying as often as she did– and I poked her earlier in the week and so far she hasn’t poked back.”
Mark shifts in his shoes awkwardly before the group leader steps up to thank him for sharing. The group leader turns back to the others and spots another man on top of a bench, literally writing on the wall.
The leader barks, “Matt! Matt! Stop writing on the wall please. Look, I know it’s hard.” Matt droops his head and mopes back to his seat.
The leader asks for another speaker–no takers–so he motions to a quiet girl who steps up and introduces herself as Newblood22. She states, “I haven’t accepted any new friend requests in three days and I didn’t publish any new pictures of my cat either.” The scene then cuts to her crying as she guiltily confesses, “But I did open two new Twitter accounts.”
The leader cuts her off sympathetically, “The important thing is that you’re trying, right?” All of the members are then invited to join in a group hug and shout their mantra, “Log out, shut down, get out!” repeatedly.
Mid-chant, the leader’s gaze shifts to a distracted young man in back playing on his computer. “Hold it, hold it. Frank? Frank what are you doing? Are you on your Twitter account?” asks the group leader.
Clearly Frank has strayed. The leader goes on, “I’m really disappointed in you Frank.” Frank looks down in shame and mumbles, “Sorry.” The viral ends with the group leader facing the camera threatening, “And don’t even think about putting that on the Internet!” The spot cuts to a Sony VAIO W laptop and super which reads, “VAIO W Series: Not Approved By SMAA.”
Stephane Leborgne was creative director/copywriter for NASCOM.
Director Devos also was a writer. Devos’ support team at Caviar included executive producer Dieter Lebbe and producer Geert De Wachter. Gerd Schelfhout was the DP.
Editor was Gert van Berckelaer of Belgium shop Dandv.
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