Carousel (advert)
Encyclopedia
Carousel is an online advertisement
launched in April 2009 by Philips
to promote Philips Cinema 21:9
LCD televisions. The 139-second (2m19s) piece is a continuous tracking shot of a frozen moment after an armoured van
heist gone wrong, with robbers dressed in clown masks holding a pitched battle with police officers inside a hospital. The campaign surrounding Carousel was handled by advertising agency
Tribal DDB
in Amsterdam
. It was directed by Adam Berg
, with production contracted to London
-based production company
Stink Digital. The ad went on to become a huge critical success, winning the advertising industry's most prestigious award: the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
. It is only the second online advertisement to win in the Film category, after Dove
's Evolution in 2007. Scenes from Carousel were used in the music video
for hip hop
artist 50 Cent
's single
"Ok, You're Right
".
. The camera pans across and travels past an armoured van in mid-explosion. It continues to the entrance of a hospital, where two officers are engaged in a firefight with a criminal in a clown mask, while a further two are dragging a clown out of a station wagon
. The camera passes into the hospital to a reception desk, where a clown is kicking an officer through a glass window while others come up behind him. The camera rotates upwards to reveal another clown/officer pair in midair after falling from a balcony above. The camera travels up to the second floor, through an explosion into a corridor filled with clowns and officers, with several civilians cowering against the floor. Passing a ward where more figures are shooting at each other, the camera reaches a clown carrying a sack of cash who has just been shot in the back, before panning right to reveal a team of officers around a man stripped to his underwear. The camera exits the window and returns to ground level, to the pointing officer on the car (revealed to be number 219
) at the start. It scrolls past the officer, who hides a clown mask and a sack of cash, revealing that he is in fact one of the criminals. The piece then begins a fresh loop from the beginning.
line of LCD televisions, promoting them as being the first production television whose proportions matched that of a cinema
screen. To inform consumers about the product's features, Philips approached advertising agency
Tribal DDB
in Amsterdam
with a request to create an advertising campaign
based around an educational website The team assigned to the campaign knew that many, many variations on "real cinema experience" advertisements had been tried in the past, and quickly came up with the idea of a piece composed of a single tracking shot
. The team proposed the idea to several production companies, eventually settling on London-based production house Stink Digital. After consultation with Stink about the possibility of having the tracking shot move through a frozen moment in time, the team brought on director Adam Berg
, who had produced a similar advertisement for JC Jeans in 2006.
Working together with Stink executive producer Mark Pytlik, Berg began brainstorming ideas for the piece in February, including car chase
s and bank robberies
. Eventually, they settled on the concept of a robbery gone wrong, with the clown-masked robbers escaping through a crowded hospital. The brief created, the team began scouting for locations to shoot the ad. Several hospitals in Prague
were looked at, but with a recent outbreak of influenza
in the Czech
capital, most were unavailable. To speed up the location scouting, director of photography Fredrik Backar and post supervisor
Richard Lyons accompanied the recce
teams. Eventually, the team discovered an old Communist
university which had been converted into a sports college, and gained permission to dress the location as a hospital.
An animatic was assembled exactly matching the proportions of the chosen location, though the action itself was made up by Berg as he went along. Tribal DDB had a schedule of seven weeks from the pitching to the end of post-production, and assigned two days for shooting the film itself. A crew
of more than a hundred people was assembled for Carousel. The 60-strong cast of extras
mostly comprised Czech dancers and stuntmen, who had the muscle control necessary to stay sufficiently still for the extended filming sessions.
The path taken through the location was 100 m long, and was broken into seven shots. These were taken on Kodak Vision3 500T 35 mm
film stock
in an Arriflex 435
camera. Three cranes (a Fisher, a SuperTechnoCrane 50
, and a Scorpio) and a motion-controlled rig
were needed to produce the range of movement the camera takes through the scenery. Two versions of each of the shots were taken, one at 50 fps
(instead of the usual 25 fps) to minimise any motion from the extras, and a second "clean" shot with all extras and suspended vehicles removed, to aid in post-production editing.
transfer was performed by colourist Jean-Clement Soret at The Moving Picture Company
in London. The palette for each room was slightly altered to give the illusion of separate spaces, and the colour grading
was deliberately made "flat" to make video effects work easier. The footage was then passed to Stockholm
-based visual effects
company Redrum, where editing and 3D effects work was overseen by Richard Lyons, who had worked with director Adam Berg on his earlier JC Jeans advertisement. The first thing done was to stitch together
the seven shots using video editing
software Flame and Xpress Pro
. 3-D elements such as flying debris, bullets, explosions and muzzle flashes were created by Magoo Studios using 3ds max. Other video effects work included wire removal
and set extension. When the work was completed, another telecine transfer was performed to push the contrast
and blend the added effects with the live-action footage.
Carousel had been intended from the start to be primarily web-based, as it was felt that the length and level of violence in the piece were too great for screenings on television to be an option. A microsite
was developed for the piece by Tribal DDB and Stink. Because of the time it would take to buffer a Flash video of Carousels length, a number of tricks were used to disguise the video's loading time. Buffering begins while users select their internet connection type
on a page designed to look like an MPAA certification
, and continues through a cinematic title sequence
. The length of the title sequence varies depending on the connection speed selected.
At certain points during Carousel, viewers can elect to switch to watching one of three short films blended into the tracking shot. When one of the films is selected, the effects which were added in post-production disappear, and the rigging used in production reappears. An actor portraying a member of the cast comes on to discuss an element of the filming or a feature of the product. In the first, the director of photography discusses the lighting techniques used in Carousel. In the second, the director discusses the cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio and interacts with one of the extras. In the third, the VFX supervisor expands on the post-production process, and through a fake video-editing interface alters various aspects of the scene. The scripts for these short commentaries were written by Tribal DDB, with input from Stink and Redrum.
The soundtrack
to Carousel was composed by Michael Fakesch. The music was altered for the Philips microsite by a Flash music developer so that, if users chose to move through the film at a different rate or in a different direction, the music would distort to match. Other features of the microsite included an Ambilight
feature and the ability to switch at will between 21:9 and 16:9 aspect ratios.
pointed followers of his Twitter
account to it,, and hip hop artist
Kanye West
referred to it as "hands down the best video of the year", Media publications made comparisons between Carousel and the opening scenes of the 2008 film The Dark Knight
, in which criminals wearing clown masks rob a bank under instructions from The Joker
.
In June 2009, Philips collaborated with hip hop artist 50 Cent
on the music video
for his single
"Ok You're Right". the video begins by zooming into a Philips 21:9 LCD television, and contains footage from Carousel, as well as scenes of 50 Cent dressed as one of the robbers. The video was directed by Chris Romero, and featured 150 listeners of radio station Hot 97 as extras.
Carousel received much critical acclaim from within the advertising industry. Editors of the trade journal
Boards
said of the piece: "Technically, the stillness contrasted with the implied sound and fury is eerily fascinating, while the muffled sound design gives subtle, grim contextual cues. Masterful stuff." Early indications at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
, the industry's most prestigious awards ceremony, were that, with few stand-out televised candidates, the winner of the Film Grand Prix was likely to be an internet or viral film. As such, Carousel was pipped as a contender in both the Film and Cyber categories. Other potential winners in the Film category included Fate for Nike
-brand sportswear, House of Cards for the homelessness
charitable organisation Shelter
, and Secrets and Lies for Levi's-brand jeans
. In the Cyber category, Carousels prime competition was believed to be the Whopper Sacrifice campaign for Burger King
. The 22 members of the awarding jury unanimously voted Carousel the winner for the Grand Prix in the Film category, and the winner of a Silver award in the Cyber category.
A member of the awarding jury later said of the piece: "Philips' Carousel is a prime example of forward thinking. Not only is it a remarkable, highly watchable film in its own right, but viewers could scroll across the piece online to discover films hidden within the film. One winds up spending ten or 11 minutes with the brand voluntarily - what is that worth to a client?" As only the second online advertisement to receive the Film Grand Prix (after Dove
's Evolution in 2007), Carousels win, and the potential effect on the future of the category, was widely remarked upon within the advertising industry. Rae Ann Fera of Boards
commented: "The Grand Prix winner was thrilling for [several] reasons. First, that an online-only film with well-integrated interactivity won the top Film award further signals the future direction of the industry." Campaign declared that "It took the prize at Cannes not because it was made for online, but because it succeeds where many ordinary ads fail - it draws viewers in voluntarily"
The first episode of the 10th season of CSI
starts with a cold open
that uses a similar time-frozen tracking shot.
The Other Guys
features a similar scene, except it shows the antics of the protagonists at a bar.
Internet marketing
Internet marketing, also known as digital marketing, web marketing, online marketing, search marketing or e-marketing, is referred to as the marketing of products or services over the Internet...
launched in April 2009 by Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
to promote Philips Cinema 21:9
Philips Cinema 21:9 TV
The Philips Cinema 21:9 TV is the world's first LCD television using a 64:27 aspect ratio , with a resolution of 2560×1080. It is designed to show films recorded in CinemaScope or the modern anamorphic format of 2.37:1...
LCD televisions. The 139-second (2m19s) piece is a continuous tracking shot of a frozen moment after an armoured van
Armored car (valuables)
A common meaning of armored car is as an armored van or truck, used in transporting valuables, such as large quantities of money . The armored car is a multifunctional vehicle designed to protect and ensure the well being of the transported individuals and/or contents...
heist gone wrong, with robbers dressed in clown masks holding a pitched battle with police officers inside a hospital. The campaign surrounding Carousel was handled by advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
Tribal DDB
Tribal DDB
Tribal DDB is a worldwide network of interactive agencies, established in 2000, when the advertising giant DDB integrated all its interactive-web properties under the Tribal brand....
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. It was directed by Adam Berg
Adam Berg (director)
Adam Berg is a Swedish music video-director and brother to Joakim Berg of the music group Kent. He has also directed a number of television and cinema commercials...
, with production contracted to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
Stink Digital. The ad went on to become a huge critical success, winning the advertising industry's most prestigious award: the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in advertising and related fields. The seven-day festival, incorporating the awarding of the Lions awards, is held yearly at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France...
. It is only the second online advertisement to win in the Film category, after Dove
Dove (brand)
Dove is a personal care brand owned by Unilever.Dove products are manufactured in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and United States. The products are sold in more than 35 countries and are offered for both women and men.. The Dove...
's Evolution in 2007. Scenes from Carousel were used in the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
artist 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
's single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Ok, You're Right
Ok, You're Right
"Ok, You're Right" is the first promotional single by rapper 50 Cent from his fourth album, Before I Self Destruct. It also appears as the first promo single for his mixtape War Angel LP, the song is also featured on Tony Yayo's mixtape The Swine Flu.-Background:The song was produced and mixed by...
".
Sequence
After a credit sequence, Carousel opens on a police officer kneeling on a parked police carPolice car
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a...
. The camera pans across and travels past an armoured van in mid-explosion. It continues to the entrance of a hospital, where two officers are engaged in a firefight with a criminal in a clown mask, while a further two are dragging a clown out of a station wagon
Station wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
. The camera passes into the hospital to a reception desk, where a clown is kicking an officer through a glass window while others come up behind him. The camera rotates upwards to reveal another clown/officer pair in midair after falling from a balcony above. The camera travels up to the second floor, through an explosion into a corridor filled with clowns and officers, with several civilians cowering against the floor. Passing a ward where more figures are shooting at each other, the camera reaches a clown carrying a sack of cash who has just been shot in the back, before panning right to reveal a team of officers around a man stripped to his underwear. The camera exits the window and returns to ground level, to the pointing officer on the car (revealed to be number 219
Philips Cinema 21:9 TV
The Philips Cinema 21:9 TV is the world's first LCD television using a 64:27 aspect ratio , with a resolution of 2560×1080. It is designed to show films recorded in CinemaScope or the modern anamorphic format of 2.37:1...
) at the start. It scrolls past the officer, who hides a clown mask and a sack of cash, revealing that he is in fact one of the criminals. The piece then begins a fresh loop from the beginning.
Background and filming
In January 2009, Philips announced its new Philips Cinema 21:9Philips Cinema 21:9 TV
The Philips Cinema 21:9 TV is the world's first LCD television using a 64:27 aspect ratio , with a resolution of 2560×1080. It is designed to show films recorded in CinemaScope or the modern anamorphic format of 2.37:1...
line of LCD televisions, promoting them as being the first production television whose proportions matched that of a cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
screen. To inform consumers about the product's features, Philips approached advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
Tribal DDB
Tribal DDB
Tribal DDB is a worldwide network of interactive agencies, established in 2000, when the advertising giant DDB integrated all its interactive-web properties under the Tribal brand....
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
with a request to create an advertising campaign
Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
based around an educational website The team assigned to the campaign knew that many, many variations on "real cinema experience" advertisements had been tried in the past, and quickly came up with the idea of a piece composed of a single tracking shot
Tracking shot
In motion picture terminology, a tracking shot is a segment in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken...
. The team proposed the idea to several production companies, eventually settling on London-based production house Stink Digital. After consultation with Stink about the possibility of having the tracking shot move through a frozen moment in time, the team brought on director Adam Berg
Adam Berg (director)
Adam Berg is a Swedish music video-director and brother to Joakim Berg of the music group Kent. He has also directed a number of television and cinema commercials...
, who had produced a similar advertisement for JC Jeans in 2006.
Working together with Stink executive producer Mark Pytlik, Berg began brainstorming ideas for the piece in February, including car chase
Car chase
A car chase is the vehicular pursuit of a suspect by law enforcement officers. Car chases are often captured on film and broadcast due to the availability of video footage recorded by police cars and police and media helicopters participating in the chase...
s and bank robberies
Bank robbery
Bank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...
. Eventually, they settled on the concept of a robbery gone wrong, with the clown-masked robbers escaping through a crowded hospital. The brief created, the team began scouting for locations to shoot the ad. Several hospitals in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
were looked at, but with a recent outbreak of influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
in the Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
capital, most were unavailable. To speed up the location scouting, director of photography Fredrik Backar and post supervisor
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
Richard Lyons accompanied the recce
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
teams. Eventually, the team discovered an old Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
university which had been converted into a sports college, and gained permission to dress the location as a hospital.
An animatic was assembled exactly matching the proportions of the chosen location, though the action itself was made up by Berg as he went along. Tribal DDB had a schedule of seven weeks from the pitching to the end of post-production, and assigned two days for shooting the film itself. A crew
Film crew
Television crew positions are derived from those of film crew positions.A film crew is a group of people hired by a production company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. Crew are distinguished from cast, the Actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for...
of more than a hundred people was assembled for Carousel. The 60-strong cast of extras
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
mostly comprised Czech dancers and stuntmen, who had the muscle control necessary to stay sufficiently still for the extended filming sessions.
The path taken through the location was 100 m long, and was broken into seven shots. These were taken on Kodak Vision3 500T 35 mm
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
film stock
Film stock
Film stock is photographic film on which filmmaking of motion pictures are shot and reproduced. The equivalent in television production is video tape.-1889–1899:...
in an Arriflex 435
Arriflex 435
The Arriflex 435 is a movie camera product line created by Arri in 1995 to replace the Arriflex 35III line. The number reflects its position as a successor camera to the Arri III and the fact that it is designed for 35 mm film. The 435 cameras are specifically designed as MOS cameras, which means...
camera. Three cranes (a Fisher, a SuperTechnoCrane 50
Technocrane
Technocrane is a telescopic crane that is used in the film industry. There are many different sizes available from 15 ft to 100 ft. The camera is mounted on the remote head on the end of the crane and is moved by a camera operator at a control desk. The Technocrane can telescope at...
, and a Scorpio) and a motion-controlled rig
Rig
Rig may refer to:* Rig, Something that a dog pulls when Mushing* Rig, a slang term referring to a tractor unit* Drilling rig, a structure housing equipment used to drill or extract oil from underground* Gaming rig, a PC built for high-performance gaming...
were needed to produce the range of movement the camera takes through the scenery. Two versions of each of the shots were taken, one at 50 fps
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
(instead of the usual 25 fps) to minimise any motion from the extras, and a second "clean" shot with all extras and suspended vehicles removed, to aid in post-production editing.
Post-production and website
Even with 90 percent of the final footage and stunts captured in-camera, the post-production work required for Carousel was extensive. An initial telecineTelecine
Telecine is transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process....
transfer was performed by colourist Jean-Clement Soret at The Moving Picture Company
Moving Picture Company
The Moving Picture Company is a post production facility creating digital visual effects and computer animation for feature films, commercials, music videos and television...
in London. The palette for each room was slightly altered to give the illusion of separate spaces, and the colour grading
Color grading
Color grading or colour painting, is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture, video image, or still image either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. The photo-chemical process is also referred to as color timing and is typically performed at a photographic...
was deliberately made "flat" to make video effects work easier. The footage was then passed to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
-based visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
company Redrum, where editing and 3D effects work was overseen by Richard Lyons, who had worked with director Adam Berg on his earlier JC Jeans advertisement. The first thing done was to stitch together
Image stitching
Image stitching or photo stitching is the process of combining multiple photographic images with overlapping fields of view to produce a segmented panorama or high-resolution image. Commonly performed through the use of computer software, most approaches to image stitching require nearly exact...
the seven shots using video editing
Video editing
The term video editing can refer to:* Linear video editing, using video tape* Non-linear editing system , using computers with video editing software* Offline editing* Online editing...
software Flame and Xpress Pro
Xpress Pro
Avid Xpress Pro was a non-linear video editing software aimed at professionals in the TV and movie industry. It was available for Microsoft Windows PCs and Apple Macintosh computers....
. 3-D elements such as flying debris, bullets, explosions and muzzle flashes were created by Magoo Studios using 3ds max. Other video effects work included wire removal
Wire removal
Wire removal is a visual effects technique used to remove wires in films, usually as a safety precaution or to simulate flying in actors or miniatures....
and set extension. When the work was completed, another telecine transfer was performed to push the contrast
Contrast (vision)
Contrast is the difference in visual properties that makes an object distinguishable from other objects and the background. In visual perception of the real world, contrast is determined by the difference in the color and brightness of the object and other objects within the same field of view...
and blend the added effects with the live-action footage.
Carousel had been intended from the start to be primarily web-based, as it was felt that the length and level of violence in the piece were too great for screenings on television to be an option. A microsite
Microsite
A microsite is an Internet web design term referring to an individual web page or a small cluster of pages which are meant to function as a discreet entity within an existing website or to complement an offline activity...
was developed for the piece by Tribal DDB and Stink. Because of the time it would take to buffer a Flash video of Carousels length, a number of tricks were used to disguise the video's loading time. Buffering begins while users select their internet connection type
Internet access
Many technologies and service plans for Internet access allow customers to connect to the Internet.Consumer use first became popular through dial-up connections in the 20th century....
on a page designed to look like an MPAA certification
Motion picture rating system
A motion picture rating system is designated to classify films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content...
, and continues through a cinematic title sequence
Title sequence
A Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
. The length of the title sequence varies depending on the connection speed selected.
At certain points during Carousel, viewers can elect to switch to watching one of three short films blended into the tracking shot. When one of the films is selected, the effects which were added in post-production disappear, and the rigging used in production reappears. An actor portraying a member of the cast comes on to discuss an element of the filming or a feature of the product. In the first, the director of photography discusses the lighting techniques used in Carousel. In the second, the director discusses the cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio and interacts with one of the extras. In the third, the VFX supervisor expands on the post-production process, and through a fake video-editing interface alters various aspects of the scene. The scripts for these short commentaries were written by Tribal DDB, with input from Stink and Redrum.
The soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to Carousel was composed by Michael Fakesch. The music was altered for the Philips microsite by a Flash music developer so that, if users chose to move through the film at a different rate or in a different direction, the music would distort to match. Other features of the microsite included an Ambilight
Ambilight
Ambilight, which is short for Ambient Lighting Technology, is a feature invented by Philips Electronics, generating light effects around the TV that correspond to the video content. The effect, the company claims, is a larger virtual screen and a more immersive viewing experience. In addition,...
feature and the ability to switch at will between 21:9 and 16:9 aspect ratios.
Release and reception
The release of Carousel was a huge success. In just over two weeks, it had been viewed over half a million times, with visitors to the minisite spending an average of 5m20s watching the film. Of these, 50 percent used one or more of the interactive features of the site. A number of celebrities commented on the quality of the ad; actor Ashton KutcherAshton Kutcher
Christopher Ashton Kutcher , best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model and comedian, best known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show...
pointed followers of his Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account to it,, and hip hop artist
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
referred to it as "hands down the best video of the year", Media publications made comparisons between Carousel and the opening scenes of the 2008 film The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
, in which criminals wearing clown masks rob a bank under instructions from The Joker
Joker (comics)
The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
.
In June 2009, Philips collaborated with hip hop artist 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
on the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for his single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Ok You're Right". the video begins by zooming into a Philips 21:9 LCD television, and contains footage from Carousel, as well as scenes of 50 Cent dressed as one of the robbers. The video was directed by Chris Romero, and featured 150 listeners of radio station Hot 97 as extras.
Carousel received much critical acclaim from within the advertising industry. Editors of the trade journal
Trade journal
A trade magazine, also called a professional magazine, is a magazine published with the intention of target marketing to a specific industry or type of trade. The collective term for this area of publishing is the trade press....
Boards
Boards (magazine)
Boards is a former international trade publication catering to the advertising community. Launched in August 1999, the magazine was published monthly until May 2010, when a corporate restructuring of its Canadian publisher, Brunico Communications Ltd., led to the brand's shelving...
said of the piece: "Technically, the stillness contrasted with the implied sound and fury is eerily fascinating, while the muffled sound design gives subtle, grim contextual cues. Masterful stuff." Early indications at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in advertising and related fields. The seven-day festival, incorporating the awarding of the Lions awards, is held yearly at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France...
, the industry's most prestigious awards ceremony, were that, with few stand-out televised candidates, the winner of the Film Grand Prix was likely to be an internet or viral film. As such, Carousel was pipped as a contender in both the Film and Cyber categories. Other potential winners in the Film category included Fate for Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
-brand sportswear, House of Cards for the homelessness
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
charitable organisation Shelter
Shelter (charity)
Shelter is a registered charity in England and Scotland that campaigns to end homelessness and bad housing. It gives advice, information and advocacy to people in need, and tackles the root causes of bad housing by lobbying government and local authorities for new laws and policies to improve the...
, and Secrets and Lies for Levi's-brand jeans
Jeans
Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...
. In the Cyber category, Carousels prime competition was believed to be the Whopper Sacrifice campaign for Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
. The 22 members of the awarding jury unanimously voted Carousel the winner for the Grand Prix in the Film category, and the winner of a Silver award in the Cyber category.
A member of the awarding jury later said of the piece: "Philips' Carousel is a prime example of forward thinking. Not only is it a remarkable, highly watchable film in its own right, but viewers could scroll across the piece online to discover films hidden within the film. One winds up spending ten or 11 minutes with the brand voluntarily - what is that worth to a client?" As only the second online advertisement to receive the Film Grand Prix (after Dove
Dove (brand)
Dove is a personal care brand owned by Unilever.Dove products are manufactured in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and United States. The products are sold in more than 35 countries and are offered for both women and men.. The Dove...
's Evolution in 2007), Carousels win, and the potential effect on the future of the category, was widely remarked upon within the advertising industry. Rae Ann Fera of Boards
Boards (magazine)
Boards is a former international trade publication catering to the advertising community. Launched in August 1999, the magazine was published monthly until May 2010, when a corporate restructuring of its Canadian publisher, Brunico Communications Ltd., led to the brand's shelving...
commented: "The Grand Prix winner was thrilling for [several] reasons. First, that an online-only film with well-integrated interactivity won the top Film award further signals the future direction of the industry." Campaign declared that "It took the prize at Cannes not because it was made for online, but because it succeeds where many ordinary ads fail - it draws viewers in voluntarily"
The first episode of the 10th season of CSI
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (season 10)
The tenth season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered on CBS on September 24, 2009 and ended May 20, 2010. Jorja Fox returned for 15 episodes as a special guest star.-Notable cast members:-Episodes:-References:...
starts with a cold open
Cold open
A cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
that uses a similar time-frozen tracking shot.
The Other Guys
The Other Guys
The Other Guys is a 2010 American action comedy film directed and co-written by Adam McKay, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and featuring Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, and Ray Stevenson...
features a similar scene, except it shows the antics of the protagonists at a bar.
External links
- Carousel minisite
- Making of Carousel, via BoardsBoards (magazine)Boards is a former international trade publication catering to the advertising community. Launched in August 1999, the magazine was published monthly until May 2010, when a corporate restructuring of its Canadian publisher, Brunico Communications Ltd., led to the brand's shelving...
website. - Music video for "OK, You're Right", via YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.