THE OTHER SIDE OF CANNES – PART 7
Paul Yole, Strategic Planning Director of The Brand Agency sends his final blog from the Lions.
There were many highlights and lowlights at the Cannes Lions 2008 but overall it has been yet another inspiring year. And a bloody exhausting one.
European delegates have this curious habit of whistling when they see work they don’t approve of, even if this means whistling at a stellar figure like David Droga. The Droga5 campaign for Tracphone won a gold Lion, so I don’t think Dave and Ted [Royer] will worry too much especially as their brilliant Million idea won them yet another Titanium. If you haven’t seen it, go to www.droga5.com and click on case studies.
To be honest I find the whistling funny. How often will 10,000 advertising people agree about anything? But it was good that the Aussie Thrifty and Schweppes work was very well applauded.
It was great to see the name of an old mate on a film Grand Prix. Perth boy and former Mazenod CC left arm quick bowler Simon McQuoid directed the ‘Enemy Weapon’ spot in the amazing XBox Halo 3 campaign.
The seminars were hit and miss this year.
Nick Moore of Wunderman was excellent, we were enthralled by the wisdom of Chuck Porter and Joe Pytka, R/GA was good and so too was the Leo Burnett/Contagious ‘Wildfire’ session. The Berlin School creative leadership workshop was brilliant, despite Kim Shaw’s cynicism that it is just a commercial venture (it’s called education Kim).
On the downside we had to endure a lot of mediocrity and some strutting pomposity. The biggest disappointment for me was the Wieden + Kennedy session with Coca Cola to talk about story telling and The Happiness Factory ads. For a session about story telling, their own story telling was crap. It was however brightened up at the very end by [BWM Sydney planner] Hristos Varouhas’ heckling from the back.
Having said that, there were many sessions far worse than Wieden’s. The less said about them the better because I missed some great screenings to watch them. Next year I hope the organisers manage to achieve better quality and less quantity. Terry Savage has done an amazing job with the Lions and it is a real shame when some of the speakers let him down.
The most bizarre fact came from Proximity. Did you know that 48% of Baby Boomers think working mothers are selfish? Can’t wait to work that one into my next brief.
As usual, quite a lot of deals were discussed this week. I happen to be privy to a few of them, but what happens in Cannes stays in Cannes.
So that’s it until next year. Let’s hope Australia does better. My fellow Perth agencies that attended this year – Marketforce, 303, Meerkats, Gatecrasher and The Brand Agency – are all committed to coming home with metal.
At least one of us will.
3 Comments
I have enjoyed your coverage Paul. Makes me want to go next year. A previous story says Simon McQuoid directed the whole Halo 3 campaign yet you write that he directed one. An amazing effort either way.
3.47 – Just the one I believe but it is a beauty. Kim reckons he directed three pieces but the credits on the Lions only have his name against Enemy Weapon. Simon if you are reading this was there some other work you did that was not entered? Thanks for the kind comments. Paul
Let’s split the difference Paul. Simon directed two spots “Enemy Weapon” and “Hunted”. “Hunted” was not part of the winning Film submission, but it was part of the Titanium submission. Below is a press release that explains it further. Kim
“The key for us was imagining the reality of it, the characters, the actors, the performances. The CGI and effects are simply support to tell human genuine stories. To achieve that goal, we scoured theatre groups to in search of the right cast. For ‘Enemy Weapon’ I wanted an actor who could portray a world-weary warrior who has been through a lot, but who also has sensitivity. Ultimately, I am drawn to performances with integrity and humanity about them; these war veterans needed to feel totally genuine in the way they paid homage to the Master Chief. He is after all, the quintessential unsung hero.” Says GO Film director Simon McQuoid.
McQuoid takes a foreboding, dramatic – and poignant – approach to a pair of spots for the wildly anticipated Xbox game, Halo 3.
The spots depict documentary-style interviews with battle-weary veterans sharing tales of war.
Demonstrating a Spike Rifle used by the Brutes, one vet, discomfited by the experience of holding an “Enemy Weapon”, states that they owe their survival to the Master Chief.
On the now-deserted battlefield, a soldier recalls – and relives – those dark, tense moments when his platoon was “Hunted” by Covenant forces.
“The idea for the entire campaign centered around treating Master Chief as a true hero to humanity, in a tone that we felt needed to be reverential, human, and have a certain amount of gravitas. Simon seemed to understand that from the start, and he never lost sight of it. His passion for the project was clear from the very beginning, which probably wasn’t hurt by the fact that he seemed to know as much about Halo as we did. Because of Simon’s dedication, we were able to work together through every phase of the campaign, and he stayed involved until the very end. He brought an incredible amount of energy and ideas to both films, and in the end what you see was a true collaboration between agency and director, from start to finish.” Creative Director John Patroulis at T.A.G.