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I hate to sound like a broken record, but the latest issue of Stash is packed full of super hot stuff. I think this might be my favorite issue to date.

Some of the highlights (for me):

• Gatorade “Shattered” – Wow. Gatorade has refreshed themselves once again. First the “Is It In You?” campaign, then the kick-ass Propel campaign, and now “Shattered.” Really effective stuff, thanks in large part to powerhouse VFX from Digital Domain.
• Gizmodo “Bumblebee” – This one’s already creating a lot of buzz (no pun intended) and boosting the international reputation of a previously unknown studio (in the States at least): Visual Art Production. Although they’re based in Sweden, VSA is looking for work in the UK and US. Something tells me they won’t have too much trouble finding it.
• Direct TV “No Ball” – Deceptively simple and oddly hilarious, these spots required VFX house Charlex to put tons of time and energy into making agency BBDO’s concept a reality. Excellent job all around.
• Scion “What Moves You TC” – Attik and The Embassy combined forces to pump out some really kick ass direction in this spot. The pacing is incredible and the visuals are dead sexy.

Damn, I have to stop myself here. At this rate, I’ll be telling you about every one of the 29 features on the DVD. I wish I could be more judicious and narrow my list down to a handful of “winners,” but I can’t. They’re all damn good.

The great thing about most of these pieces is that they aren’t just excellent examples of VFX, design and/or animation; they are exceptionally well-done spots from start to finish. Compelling concept, solid writing, strong direction, and flawless execution.

You young designers/filmmakers out there, the ones that I’m going to be writing about in a year or two, please note the importance of each link in this creative chain. Too often, I see eye candy with no concept or solid writing with piss-poor execution. While that kind of work can be interesting (as in, “Hmmm… very interesting”), it can also be incredibly unmemorable and utterly ineffective.

Remember these two questions and you can’t go wrong:

1. Who’s your audience?
2. What’s your purpose?

If you let the honest answers to those questions guide every step of the creative process, then you’ll eventually end up with work on Stash and the accompanying rock-star status you’ve always dreamed of.

(The rock-star status thing also requires that you have good hair and wear expensive designer jeans. Nice shoes aren’t a bad idea either.)

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 19th, 2005 at 8:26 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.