Gold recognition was sparse at the 27th annual Australasian Writers and Art Directors Association (AWARD) competition held earlier this month in Sydney. There were only three gold winners–one going to an outdoor campaign, and the other two for a single Australian TV spot aptly titled “Big Ad” for Foster’s Carlton Draught via George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne.
“Big Ad” is no stranger to the awards limelight. The spot has garnered much attention, including two Gold Sharks at the Shark Awards competition held this past September in Ennis, Ireland. The latest accolades at the AWARD competition were topped by gold honors for best spot over 30 seconds, and best copywriting.
Directed by Paul Middleditch of Plaza Films, Sydney, the commercial is epic in its look and scope. It contains what looks like a cast of thousands of men in robes. They’re divided into two groups–each wearing different colored robes. The groups of men, with dead serious looks in their eyes, march toward one another across a sweeping New Zealand lanscape. The images and music create the feel of the Lord of the Rings Battle at Helm’s Deep. The cast begins to sing lyrics that include, “It’s a big ad we’re in…It’s a big ad for Carlton Beer….Expensive ad. This ad better sell some bloody beer.”‘
The mob creates the formation of a man drinking a beer, revealed at the conclusion by an aerial shot. The tagline “Made from Beer” follows and it appears as though thousands of men are hoisting beers in salute.
Key to bringing the spot to fruition was Massive, an animated crowd simulation tool. The Massive software was used to give each digital actor individual behavior through the use of artificial intelligence. Massive was developed in New Zealand with the specific purpose of creating the epic battle sequences in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The “Big Ad” effects house was Animal Logic, Sydney, with a team that included visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson, lead compositor Angus Wilson and effects producer Caroline Renshaw. For the CG cast–which was meshed in with live-action actors–Animal Logic created 3-D CG human extras, clothed them in flowing robes and then brought them into Massive. They were replicated thousands of times over, with each character being assigned its own random movement and direction.
The AWARD dominance of “Big Ad” went beyond its two gold kudos. The spot also took silver pencils for direction, best computer-generated imagery or design, best special effects, and best use of existing music. An additional bronze pencil was bestowed upon “Big Ad” for cinematography. The DP was Andrew Lesnie.
Foster’s Australia was presented the AWARDs’ client of the year honor based on “Big Ad.” However, two other marquee awards ventured outside the “Big Ad” circle as Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney earned agency of the year distinction, and Satchi & Saatchi was named best agency network of the year.
