Monday, June 13, 2016

In the near future advertising still looking for get the attention of consumer, using state of the art gimmicks. No matter the consequences of what the products do, company owners and advertisers have the need to engage in the general audience to get the products at any cost.

Creative Control is the film directed by Benjamin Dickinson, tells the story of David (Benjamin Dickinson) a creative director of a prestigious ad agency, with the responsibility to create a campaign to release a new pair glasses, in the same vibe as the google glass, but simpler. David is recommended to test the product in order to understand how to create a more effective promotion.

The new augmented reality technology allow the user to manage vast information of their surroundings, from voice recording and recognition, image capture personal data and eventually create vertical personas who interact with the user. David lives with Juliette (Nora Zehetner) a frustrated yoga instructor who left her job to find more mundane style of life. David and Juliette have a fine relationship, but David seems to be unsatisfied with her.

David’s best friend is Wim (Dan Gill) a director and art innovator who is in a relationship with Sophie (Alexia Rasmussen) who is a costumer and fashion designer. Secretly David is attracted to Sophie who turns into his virtual reality experiment after receiving his pair of Augmenta.

Director Dickinson explore several issues with society: technology dependency which have similarities to the film Her by Spike Jonze. The substitution or replacement of real persona by a new wave of avatars of virtual reality.

David’s character turn his obsession from love to sexual desires using Sophie’s digital footprint to a real 3 D character which David interact.

Other subjects explore on this film are advertising as a dying medium of constant repetition of old ideas in the new digital age, enhancing it with fake representations of reality. In a scene David and his creative team are working in a pharmaceutical product where is been shooting on stage, but later will be enhanced digitally. The scene represents the inability of the clients to understand how of visual piece is created and the agency to perform properly and deliver it.

Creative Control express the anger of some millennials against other generations like generation X who are wiser and richer, but seems to be ignorance about new technologies, this seems to be reflected in a conference room scene when David’s boss (Gavin Mclinne) is trying to use the new Augmenta glasses but he is unable until he is been help by David and finally figure out. He said to David: You are a fucking genius! and David replies: No, I’m not, I’m just younger than you…

Creative Control is a great sci fi film for the new digital ages and a great film for advertising people who wants to understand that in the near future, what matter is real ideas to sell products.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

In the post modern future, society is confined into megastructures. These places gather different type of people. From wealthy to the poor, all group of people are practically forced to live in a symbiotic environment facing so many challenges. This concept is not new. In Snowpiercer society was forced to live in a train due a catastrophic climate experiment who cause the earth to freeze. Every train car contain every level of society.

“Where there is a state of capitalism, there can never be political freedom”
Margaret Tatcher

“High Rise” is the latest film directed by Ben Weathley and it tells the story of Dr Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) the new resident in a luxury high rise in London. This building offers the state of the art amenities (swimming pool, gym, spa, supermarket and even a primary school) which make it very appealing to everyone. This place is been praised by his architect Anthony Royal (Jeremy Irons) as the epitome of chic, modern living.

Laing lives in the 25th floor perhaps a metaphor of middle class society, floors above is the rich and famous tenants who despise the residents from levels down.

At this point director Ben Wathley set the foundation of a story of social clash between rich and poor. The audience sort understand that, by using visual nuances as well some line of dialogues who make the story flow. After some of the services in the building start failing residents from level down start creating chaos, claiming sabotage from the upper levels who still receiving the best services no matter the problems within the High Rise.

In certain way this film presents a metaphor of countries like Venezuela, Zimbabwe or Yemen where wealthy people (government) on higher levels enjoy luxurious life, even if the rest of the population are suffering from shortage on supplies as well living conditions. The perfect example is a scene where the residents are experiencing riots on the supermarket and Dr Robert Laing fight for a bucket paint who later use on his apartment wall. This is what it means when there is total desesperation and people fight for what ever resource is available, no matter if is really need it.

The big problem with “High Rise” is the film structure, sometimes I found the film confusing forcing me to give full attention and find meaning to everything what was happening, also the film lacks of connection with characters, this drawn me entirely from the experience. During those 2 hours I was trying to connect and I couldn’t because I didn’t know where most of this characters came from or going.