Composer Casey Gibson, Claritin, Energy BBDO score for “The Outsideologist Project”
By A SHOOT Staff Report
Claritin rolled out this animated music video for its The Outsideologist Project, an online program designed to get kids to spend one more hour per week outside. Produced by ATKPLN in Dallas for Energy BBDO, Chicago, the video sprung from an original composition, “Unboring Starts with U,” written and performed by Mophonics composer and creative director Casey Gibson. The tune teaches kids weird facts about neighborhood creatures, fun ideas for outdoor activities, and how “unboring” kids’ own backyards or local parks can be.
The music video–which earned #1 slot distinction in SHOOT’s quarterly Top Ten Tracks Chart–takes the form of a 2-D animation/miniatures live-action mash-up created by ATKPLN. Daniel DelPurgatorio served as director/executive creative director for ATKPLN, with Sofie Edvardsson as animation director and Jakob Nystrom as animation supervisor.
Among the “unboring” aspects of the two-minute music video are a tree and flowers that sing, promoting the fun of the great outdoors ranging from looking at clouds, jumping in puddles, watching nature, flora, fauna and insects, just getting out and playing sports, games or whatever. A tree imparts via lyrics several odd “unboring” facts like a bee has five eyes, butterflies taste with their feet, and rabbits eat their own poop. There are lessons to be learned and oddities to look out for if you’re a nature lover.
Connecting with Energy BBDO
Mophonics’ Gibson said that Energy BBDO reached out with an inspiring and well-thought-out brief.
“We love writing songs–it’s why many of us got into the commercial music business in the first place–and when we were told our tune would eventually be animated into a full-length music video, we knew we had an opportunity to create something very special,” noted Gibson. “[Senior copywriter] Tanvi [Tandon]’s enthusiasm on that first call was infectious, and the creative leeway we were given allowed us to get really weird with the lyrics–and we love weird.”
Gibson added that the “biggest challenge” for “Unboring Starts with U” was “deciding which lyrics made the final cut. We had dozens of ‘alt’ jokes and couplets for every little part of the story that were left on the cutting room floor–and it was definitely hard to say goodbye to some of them. Luckily, from day one, we felt like we had a wonderful and effortless mind meld with the creative team from Energy BBDO. So, while we had to collectively make some hard decisions, we pretty much always reached a consensus when it came to those tough calls!”
The music video was designed to advance Claritin’s initiative to get more kids outside, physically active and engaged in endeavors that contribute to fun and mental and emotional well-being.
The Bayer-owned Claritin brand has embraced the Outsideologist Project as a multiyear initiative. It will advertise the Outsideologist concept and video tutorials on social media. The brand has arranged for an advisory board of experts to come up with fun outdoor activities parents can suggest to their kids.
In addition to Gibson, the team at Mophonics included creative director Stephan Altman and executive producer Colette Huemer. Frank Pittenger of ATKPLN served as sound designer and audio post mixer.
Besides copywriter Tandon, the Energy BBDO creative team included chief creative officers Josh Gross and Pedro Perez, executive creative director Susan Treacy, creative directors Gloria Dussenberry and Manuel Torres, sr. art director Jason Murray, head of integrated production John Pratt, executive producer Vanessa Luhr, producer Chris Totzke, executive director of music Daniel Kuypers and music producer Nick Maker.
Click here for the quarterly Top Ten Tracks Chart.
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More