AMV BBDO, London, Returns Male Ale Lovers To Their Roots in Guinness' "Evolution"
By Robert Goldrich
We open on three male pub-goers who down glasses of Guinness with delight. But this seemingly slice of mundane life takes a sudden turn backwards as the guys start walking rapidly in reverse out of the watering hole–eventually winding, literally, in a watering hole hundreds of thousands of years ago.
On the way to this primitive destination are assorted stops along the evolutionary path. Their walk becomes a slouch as the men transform into Neanderthals, get frozen in the Ice Age, then turn into apes, primitive mammals, amphibians–with a glimpse of some dinosaurs along the way–and then finally we see three newt-like creatures drinking from a puddle. These newts, though, are clearly disgusted with their libation. It’s certainly a far cry from the Guinness to which they were accustomed as men, and the puddle doesn’t compare to a lively pub. The end tag message puts this journey into perspective: “Good Things Come To Those Who Wait,” which is Guinness’ time-honored slogan.
This sojourn back through time is a visual tour de force, with not only the three guys but their surroundings changing at warp speed. Modern buildings recede into different historical periods, concrete morphs into green landscape in an overhead like satellite perspective shot. A mix of live action, CGI, stop motion, stock footage and other visual tricks is sprinkled throughout the :60. Akin to the expression of one’s life flashing before his or her eyes, we are treated to seeing the evolution of earth and man–and man on earth–zip by in a minute. Talk about compression.
“Evolution” was directed by Daniel Kleinman of Kleinman Productions, London, for AMV BBDO, London.
Johnny Frankel produced for Kleinman Productions. The DP was Jess Hall.
The AMV BBDO team consisted of creatives Matt Dornan and Ian Heathfield, a.k.a. Matt & Ian, with Yvonne Chalkley serving as agency producer.
Visual effects were done by Framestore CFC, London, with William Bartlett the visual effects supervisor and Scott Griffin the effects producer. Lead animator was Quentin Miles, with Alex Thomas serving as Inferno artist, and Andy Boyd as CGI supervisor. Telecine was also done at Framestore.
Editor was Steve Gandolfi of Cut+Run, London (which also has bases of operation in New York and Santa Monica). Audio mixer was Johnnie Burn of Wave Recording Studios, London. Burn is Wave’s co-owner and creative director. He has mixed every Guinness commercial since 1998. This one, though, accompanied by a song sung by Sammy Davis, Jr., posed some daunting creative challenges.
“The picture runs backwards so we experimented with playing the audio backwards,” relates Burn. “But it sounded horrible. We eventually decided to use most of the audio playing forward but highlighted a few key moments by using reversed sound. Probably the bigger challenge however, was finding sound effects that instantly described momentous events in one second: the Ice Age happened over something like one-hundred-thousand years, but we only had one second to communicate it.”
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer โ but not the trigger โ and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More