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June 11, 2007

		Fallon, Pleix Craft a Strange Experiment
		Flash Developers on the Defensive
		TANGLED WEB A round-up of what's online and on our minds
		MOVERS: People news from TM Advertising, Sedgwick Rd., Trumpet and more

Fallon, Pleix Craft a Strange Experiment

Sony - 'HD Experiment'

Picture this: a 1969 Mustang Mach One, cut in half lengthwise, driven by a poodle through a set of quarterpipes made of neon while giant robotic arms wave bubble wands, a foam machine shoots white spumes and a car wash brush spins, water splashing over everything, large black foam blocks crashing on the hood and silver Mylar balloons floating out of the trunk, with cameras flashing, monitors feeding it back and a camcorder taking it all in. Oh, and Iron Maiden's "Can I Play With Madness" yelping along. The latest spot out of Fallon/London, touting Sony's HD range of cameras, camcorders and televisions may sound like the fever dream of a DMT abuser, but it's really a meeting between the agency and the vaunted Parisian collective Pleix, who, we think, re-cast the dog star of "HD Experiment" after its role in their music video for Vitalic's "Birds." Either way, it shook us out of our Monday stupor.

Flash Developers on the Defensive

Nurun - 'The Flash Files'

While Flash has practically been a cornerstone of interactive executions, it's had its share of detractors. The main issues with the Macromedia software seem to rest not on its creative limitations, but its functionality. So to address this problem and dispel notions that Flash is overly faulty, the development team at Nurun | Ant Farm Interactive created, not so ironically, a Flash-based site to make their case.

Dubbed "The Flash Files," the homepage is a virtual desktop with the coffee cup, lamp, monitor glare and a half-dozen file folders each offering explanations on specific Flash criticisms. Among the topics addressed are "Flash is a discouraging plug-in," "Flash cannot be optimized to be search engine-friendly" and "User behavior cannot be monitored on a Flash website." The Nurun gang appears to have done its research in coming up with their defenses and suggestions, as each reads like a thesis without being overly tech-focused. While the agency probably won't find an overabundance of backlash from the interactive community when it comes to its pro-Flash views, Nurun has nonetheless given non-believers some keen insight to ponder and perhaps less room to argue.

TANGLED WEB
A round-up of what's online and on our minds

It looks like Uniqlo's up to something again with its Uniqlock microsite, featuring a countdown to a June 15 dance event and dancers auditioning to be clocks, keeping time to the music of Fantastic Plastic Machine. We're not entirely sure what's going on, but we're paying attention.
Statheads, infographic nerds and concerned taxpayers alike will get a kick out of Thebudgetgraph.com's 2008 poster, which details where Federal monies will be allotted during the next fiscal year. Quite frankly, we lost focus when we saw the Department of Transportation's logo and went off down the rabbit hole trying to figure how it wound up resembling the Klingon insignia from Star Trek.
Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was "Rome Reborn," a virtual likeness of the European capital that launched this week and is being touted as the world's biggest simulation of an ancient city. University of Virginia's Bernard Frischer, the mastermind behind the project, explained that "Reborn" will track Rome's evolution from Bronze Age hut settlements to the Sack of Rome in the 5th century and the Gothic Wars. Frischer utilized digital images, ancient maps and building catalogs as sources for his model, which proves a little 3D tutorial can go a long way.

MOVERS: People news from TM Advertising, Sedgwick Rd., Trumpet and more

Tom Hansen, president of TM Advertising, and Jim Walker, president and executive creative director of Sedgwick Rd., announced the merger of the two agencies, which will operate under the TM name until a new name is unveiled. Hansen will serve as president, and Walker as chief creative officer of the united agencies, which are part of the Interpublic Group. ... Brand studio Trumpet added seven new staff members to its New Orleans headquarters and promoted one. Now onboard are Calvin Ho, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Debbie Koppman, Ashley Owens, Reid Stone, Mark Taylor and Shaun Walker. Meanwhile, Tiffany Starnes was promoted to brand strategist. ... Tabletop director Greg Ramsey joined Curious Pictures. ... Oil Factory signed Peruvian director Creature. ... Visual effects firm Guava welcomed animator/designer Jamie Collins to its roster.