Who needs yoga, meditation or aromatherapy when you can smash things to release anger and stress? That’s the philosophy behind Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam’s latest interactive campaign for Electronic Arts’ Burnout Dominator game, which is known as the king of speed and destruction. The game challenges players to face off against a series of hot-blooded rivals in tests of reckless driving.
The campaign is based on Kah Ra Shin, which originated in 19th-century Tibet. (Any similarity Kah Ra Shin many have to the word ‘crashing’ is purely incidental.) The interactive website www.kahrashin.com teaches visitors how to use the Kah Ra Shin philosophy of releasing inner peace through outer violence through several videos. One demonstrates simple object destruction, starting off with a humble pencil, while another features “freestyle” object destruction. One video shows how for extreme cases of deep rooted and pathological anger, masters prescribe a new method of release–the adrenalin-fueled Burnout Dominator.
“What everyone loves about EA’s Burnout Dominator is its pure and unabashed celebration of destruction. The truth is, it feels good to smash into things at high speed. And after a stressful day at the office, there is something even pleasantly cathartic about it. The worldwide global phenomenon, Kah Ra Shin, and its mantra ‘inner peace through outer violence’ was born from this insight,” said Mike Farr, W+K Amsterdam copywriter.
In addition to The Teachings, there is also a section on the site called the Way of the Scream, which stresses the importance of screaming to achieve inner peace. Visitors can upload their own scream, listen to other people’s and send theirs to a friend. You can also learn the history of the movement–for example how the first temple was built but then destroyed two weeks later by an overzealous disciple–and read testimonials. Each section is light on text but heavy on visuals.
“We wanted it to be full of interactive animations. It was important that it would be both rich in details and full of surprises. We also wanted to acheive this with as little text as possible so that it is very visual, easy to understand and accessible to a wide audience. I hope that the overall result makes you smile and makes the viewer want to share it with their friends,” said Joakim Borgstrom, W+K Amsterdam’s interactive creative director.
He said overall it was an easy site to create. All the animations and content within the website were built in Flash. The hardest part of the whole process was to create the backend structure that converts and feeds all the screaming videos. USSR and CCCP, both located in Amsterdam, were involved in the production of the site.
Borgstrom is pleased that instead of creating a typical gaming site, the creative team took the concept of the game to another level and created a whole movement. “The feeling of playing the game and releasing your inner demons relates directly to the teachings of this new philosophy, ‘inner peace through outer violence’. It’s a great idea with a strong concept that is stunningly executed,” he said. Along with Borgstrom and Farr, W+K Amsterdam’s creative directors Eric Quennoy and Paul Stechschulte and art director Joseph Ernst headed up the campaign.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More