Tagged: Marketing
Watch: Harmony Korine Directs Dior Addict Ad
“I got Escape! Calvin Klein Escape! Mix it up with Calvin Klein Be. Smell nice? I smell nice!” That’s a line from Aliens’ (James Franco) monologue in Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers, where he shows the girls all of his stuff (or shit). Who would have thought that the director of films which are mostly about white trash characters like Gummo (1997), Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) or Trash Humpers (2009) would go on to direct an ad for Christian Dior, one of the top French fashion houses? Certainly not me, but it works. Take a look!
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BW’s List of Favorite WordPress Blogs & Friendly Blogging Advice
Señor Mark Aldrich of The Gad About Town, was kind enough to nominate me for a Liebster Award. What poor Mark didn’t know was that I had decided not to do award related posts anymore. Why? Because LV (Literary Vittles, not Louis Vuitton), had written a very convincing piece about why having a blogroll is more interesting. Also, I’m just very lazy when it comes to writing these acceptance posts. Sorry Mark, but do not despair! I will feature your wonderful blog on the new page I created to permanently promote the blogs I love and follow. Continue reading
Prada Candy L’Eau: A Film by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola Starring Léa Seydoux
Sometimes an ad can be just as awesome as a short film. Especially when they hire an auteur to direct it. The Prada Candy co-directed by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola are an excellent example. The “series” consists of three seventy seconds clips and they all-star Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color) as Candy. In the first spot Julius (Rodolphe Pauly) is in a French café with Candy and she’s eating a banana split. They just met. Next thing you know Julius’ trouble maker friend Gene (Peter Gadiot) comes in suddenly it’s an uncomfortable ménage a trios. Continue reading
First Look at Sofia Coppola in Marc Jacobs’ Final Louis Vuitton Ad Campaign
Time to say goodbye to Marc Jacobs. Back in October (2013) the iconic fashion designer announced the end of his longtime collaboration with French fashion brand Louis Vuitton. Now, we are getting a first glimpse at the last thing he worked on before leaving the luxury brand to focus on his own label. The protagonists of Jacobs’ last campaign are no small names themselves. Among the designer’s muses are actress and historical Louis Vuitton testimonial Catherine Deneuve, Chinese actress and singer Fan Bingbing, supermodels Gisele Bundchen, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell and a personal favorite of mine: Writer, director and bag designer extraordinaire Sofia Coppola. Continue reading
Prada Presents: Wes Anderson’s Castello Cavalcanti
Quirky indie director Wes Anderson made a new short film financed by Italian fashion brand Prada. The almost 8-minute long short is about an Italian American (played by Jason Schwartzman) race car driver crashing his car during a race in a (fictitious) Italian small town (Castello Cavalcanti) in the 1950s. Of course the film/ad looks beautiful as only cinematographer Darius Khondji is able to do. The story was co-written with no one other than fellow Academy Award nominee Roman Coppola and has a very Italian feel, while at the same time feeling unmistakably Wes Anderson.
As an Italian I was thrilled to hear my language spoken in a Wes Anderson film. Prada and Anderson are of course a great fit. He has worked for them before doing a commercial for Prada Candy L’eau (with Léa Seydoux). This isn’t the first time Anderson has worked with luxury brands (in general), for example on The Darjeeling Limited where all the luggage was designed by Louis Vuitton. He’s also done his fair share of Adidas product placement in films such as The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Personally, I’m all for directors working with big brands if it helps them getting money to finance more of their art. Especially art house directors and auteurs who sometimes struggle with getting their projects financed are able to do something creative in exchange of a bit of “selling out”. Other notable examples I’d love to mention are David Lynch’s Blue Lady Shanghai (for Dior), Wong Kar-wai’s BMW short The Follow and any ad that has Sofia Coppola’s name on it of course.
Penelope Cruz’s Directorial Debut ‘L’Agent’
By Agent Provocateur.
Words are overrated.
Enjoy!
Five Favorite Logos
Brands and logos are part of our everyday life. Every second of our life we’re surrounded by them. From birth to death. You’d have to be naked in the desert and maybe you’d manage to escape them. Since that’s unlikely and silly, why not just embrace them and have fun with them? Some logos are actually works of art themselves, beautiful and tasteful instead of manipulative and exclusively sales oriented.
These are my personal favorites. Most of these are very simple: Simplicity equals beauty. Some of these brands I see everyday, some I wish I did. There are a lot of good designs around, but these are also some brands I can personally identify with.
5. Fair Trade
Whenever I read bio or fair trade on a product I feel a certain confidence the product is somehow worth more. “I am a better person for choosing it”. In return I just have to pay a little surplus, but can you put a price tag on a good conscience? I also like the color choices and stylized image.
4. Skrillex
In case you hadn’t noticed this is the same font used for the logo of my blog. Skrillex is one of my favorite artists and the three red lines (“ILL”) epitomize perfectly everything he stands for. The raptor. The scream. The wolverine scratch. It feels ‘electronic’, poignant and totally fits Sonny Moore’s persona.
3. The Louis Vuitton Monogram
As far as status symbols go owning a Louis Vuitton bag is on the top of my list. Seen in vintage films, bought by Hollywood royalty and just incredibly stylish this is my favorite designer brand. Again a very simple design, but a timeless icon appreciated by fashion lovers all over the world.
2. Venice Film Festival
Being a film fan, to me the Golden Lion is the highest honor you can get. Won by my favorite directors: Michelangelo Antonioni, Sofia Coppola and Kim Ki-duk, and very Italian, this simple design is very effective and surely the best logo for any film festival, followed closely by Sundance. Every time I see it on a DVD/Blu-Ray I feel like I need to buy it.
1. Criterion
The Criterion Collection emblem is probably my favorite logo. A triumph of simplicity, married to design and aesthetic. Every time it appears on screen I know I’ll get at least a very interesting classic film. The Criterion logo is more than a logo, it’s a quality seal. A stamp of approval. If you’ve made it into the Criterion Collection, you’ve made a good film.
Seven Great Fan-Made ‘Bling Ring’ Posters
The poster art for Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring certainly wasn’t the marketing team’s strong suit. As it happens with these indies, sometimes the fan-made posters are more interesting for their raw and gritty qualities. Here are seven posters for The Bling Ring that are better than the ‘official’ ones. Some of these are very much inspired from the real ones (or the other way around?), featuring the same images or font, some are basically just scenes from the film pieced together and some are completely ‘original’ designs.
First ‘Moebius’ Trailer Unveild
Super excited!
After getting some buzz for being banned in South Korea, Kim Ki-duk’s new film Moebius also gets a first teaser trailer. All of the director’s trademarks are present: Great actors, fantastic score and creepy stalking.
black is white 