Hotels.com: Party Penthouse
Here’s the first in a series of ads for Hotels.com, directed by Smith & Foulkes. In this episode, four friends go off looking for the perfect place to spend a guys weekend…
Friday.. I’m in Love
Friday has been a bit busy of late (Hence our lack of a ‘Friday at Nexus’ post last week). But here is what she has been up too… breaking the local dogs hearts!
Meet her new friend… Ludo. (He has the red lead in case you were unsure).
Photos by Beccy McCray
Artwork by Lewis Noll
Legends of Counter-Strike
Last night was our second biannual studio Counter-Strike evening, where Nexus alumni and the current workforce meet up for an evening of networked multiplayer first person shooter action. Pizza was eaten, beer was drunk, and people got shot in the head. The big winners were Dara, Michael G and the legendary ALZHEM (Jose) with two wins each, followed up by Patrick Hearn, with a single victory. Mark Tsang, who’s pretty good with numbers, pointed out a couple of times that he would have been scoring higher if he hadn’t been playing at all. But it’s not about winning and losing really– it’s about having a good time with friends both old and new. And then shooting them in the head.
Thanks to Patrick who organised the whole thing, from the dodgy Photoshop, to the technicalities of getting everyone up and running on the server, to making sure there was just the right amount of vegetarian option pizza. At our current rate the next installment of this event will be sometime in mid 2014. See you then!
Holy Flying Circus DVD
If you’re in the doghouse for forgetting to buy your loved one the perfect Valentine’s Day gift, perhaps you could redeem yourself by getting them the newly released DVD of Holy Flying Circus. One of the extras is a documentary making of of the Jim LeFevre phonotrope that is seen in the opening credits. Lovely!
Cultivate a Better World
As noted on the studio blog last week, there was quite a bit of interest in Chipotle’s decision to broadcast the full two minute plus version of Nexus director Johnny Kelly’s short film Back to the Start during a commercial break in the Grammy award ceremony this past Sunday. For a wide variety of reasons there were more people watching the Grammys this year than any year since 1984, perhaps some of them in a slightly sombre, reflective mood. Add to the fact that the film was broadcast shortly after a live appearance by Coldplay themselves (the soundtrack of the film is a cover of Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’ sung by country music legend Willie Nelson), and the result is a massive collection of positive responses to the commercial. Views of the YouTube video spiked to over five million, ‘Chipotle’ trended on Twitter, the song worked its way up the iTunes charts (#24 on the main charts, #1 on the US country music chart), and debate was inspired from all angles.
Perhaps best of all: The Washington Post is crediting the commercial as being a factor in McDonald’s announcing on Monday that it was planning to improve the living conditions of its pork livestock. So congrats to everyone for making a commercial that has had a true impact, and has lived up to its tagline to ‘Cultivate a Better World’.
Chipotle in the NY Times
Here’s an article from the New York Times‘ Media & Advertising section about Nexus director Johnny Kelly’s Chipotle commercial. The spot will be shown in the US in its full two minute glory during the Grammy Awards broadcast this Sunday evening, for anyone reading this across the pond.
Celyn’s Guardian Review Illustrations
Last Saturday’s Guardian Review section was graced by illustrations by Nexus animation director Celyn Brazier. The piece was commissioned by Début Art. Below are some full colour stills of some of the artwork that was used, some related artwork that wasn’t used, as well as some photos of the work in context with some artful depth of field!
Friday at Nexus
Here’s friday taking this frosty friday in her stride.
Photo by Chris O’Reilly.
Robert wins Prix Canal +
The Elaborate End of Robert End got the very coveted Prix Canal + at the prestigioussimo Clermont-Ferrand Festival!
Congratulations to Fx, Matthieu and Clement and everyone who worked very hard here and in France to make it happen.
The Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival has become the world’s premier cinema event dedicated to short films. It is the second largest film festival in France after Cannes in terms of audience and professional attendance.
Click here to view the full award details.
Click here to view the project and trailer.
Friday at Nexus
Friday gets into the spirit of Oscar nomination week with a tribute to The Artist. We feel she may need to work on her timing before Uggie has anything to worry about.
Video by Chris O’Reilly.