1) It’d be hard not to acknowledge we’re in an election year, which naturally invites a more specific political dialogue into our industry that isn’t necessarily present in other years. Drawing a comparison to the 2008 election year isn’t a huge stretch - where in this case (2016) a female candidate is the step change from where the country has been historically. When I think back to 2008, one of the more interesting contributions our industry made was less a campaign statement and more a conversation starter: a poster that reversed President Obama and Senator McCain’s skin color. Politics will always be polarizing...it doesn’t matter the year so much, but this election does feel more controversial on the spectrum. It will be interesting to see what contributions, if any, the ad community may make ahead of this election...if any of the contributions are able to elevate themselves into being a non partisan statement and serve more as a bigger conversation piece.
2) For me, Netflix’s Stranger Things was one of the more delightful pieces of work I’ve enjoyed this year. Less explicitly, from a viewpoint of direction or photography or casting, most of these considerations were excellent. But what I found particularly impressive about the series was the grace and sensitivity with which Stranger Things handled its rather overt homages to the works before it: the works of Stephen King, Steven Spielberg...you can even say Twin Peaks, X Files...and the list goes on. The important takeaway for me was that the references were clearly present, yet Stranger Things failed to ever feel as though it were mimicking a formula or being specifically derivative from a singular work. Instead - the show always felt as though it was being itself—faithful to the characters it had written and the world it was operating in. Now, was the series as a whole perfect? No, not exactly.
But balancing reference with identity certainly isn’t easy. In fact, it’s pretty rare to find work that achieves this successfully. Our responsibility when approaching new projects...we are constantly drawing on reference material - from the moving medium and beyond. Stranger Things delivers a beautiful example of how to handle this without sacrificing identity. And that the series left me rather pleased after watching the six some hours of content…as opposed to say, wishing I never pressed play to begin with - well let’s call that an unfamiliar bonus.
3) Even though the picture has yet to come out, I found the trailer for Suicide Squad—featuring Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody—nearly flawless. Consider the track is maybe one of the most recognizable in all of rock’s library, yet, it felt brand new. Consider Warner Brothers’ sincere interest to change the narrative around their superhero-verse (what, with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice fighting fans, critics - even itself). And so you’ve got this bigger responsibility of Suicide Squad to address some BvS aftermath - and this has to start early, it has to start with the promotional material. This particular trailer continued the conceptual use of pop music established in the first trailer (where Bee Gee’s I started a Joke received a sulky cover) and more importantly, renewed faith and interest in what these pictures were capable of doing for Warners. Every now and then there’s a trailer that reaches beyond the film enthusiast, beyond the trailer dissector - and is shared around for its own merit as a piece of work. This was that piece in 2016.
5) Despite the risk of sounding tone deaf to work outside of our walls here at Droga5—the Under Armour Phelps work felt like a benchmark piece for several reasons. It not only received Cannes Gold Lions and D&AD Yellow Pencils in Film, not to mention the Cannes Grand Prix in Film Craft—but it was incredibly honest and sincere in its messaging around Phelps as an athlete and Under Armour’s role in his story. Infrequent is when craft and concept are at similar levels - and even less frequent than when a brand’s role in the messaging is direct and relevant. You don’t feel Under Armour is taking credit for something they shouldn’t be. You don’t feel as though Phelp’s story is being construed irresponsibly. What’s shocking is how pure and honest the picture feels - yet it still delivers brilliantly on the brand’s identity of the intersection of athleticism, dedication and intelligence.