Promo Batch: Urban Channel, Cityvibe

Latin American premium channel Cityvibe has released a big delicious batch of promos touting its lineup of carefully selected programming which includes independent film, acclaimed series, horror and adult movies, short films, anime, concerts and documentaries.

Cityvibe is described as “the other side of mainstream television”. The promo style is based on the change, re-interpretation and overlapping of stimuli.

You’ll notice that these promos have the style of a VJ session (responsive AV) or one of a live cinema piece. Interestingly, as the channel’s advertisements don’t aim at direct sales, the spots act on a much more abstract level, making room for being more experimental and less literal. The “Primetime May Dub” promo (seen next) is particularly clever and amusing.

Special thanks to Andre Takeda, Creative Director FOX Latin American Channels for reaching out and sharing the new work. Credits include VP Creative Services: Corina Capuano, Associate Director: Juan Mascali, Senior Copywriter: Adriana Lodolo, Editor: Diego Gonzalez Farina / Pablo Espanet, Sound Designer: Federico Bertossi

Nostalgic Idents for Fox Retro Channel

[tweetmeme]

Fox International’s 70s/80s/90s classic American TV network , Fox Retro, has just released a series of new idents. The Italian channel’s new spots, which plays old hits including Miami Vice, Starsky & Hutch, and Macgyver, features a bevvy of grooving spacemen dancing to a few good old tunes, including personal favorite “I had the time of my life”. Did I just admit that?

The new idents were helmed by Fox Channel Italy’s Juan Pablo Kessler working with Peppermelon.

FOX Latin America Unveils FX Rebrand

[tweetmeme]

Several years ago, I shared a stage at CTAM with Stephanie Gibbons (then SVP at Showtime). We presented a few joint case studies and were invited to talk about the challenges that come with keeping on air-brands fresh, emotive, and relevant. Just a short while later, Stephanie would head to FX as EVP Marketing and lend her considerable talents to lead the channel’s first major branding campaign in 13 years, simply titled “There is no box”.

Since launching the campaign in the US in 2008, FX has continued to deliver versatile (and successful) programming along with a distinct and well recognized on-air brand personality. This success has translated into a worldwide channel fanbase in areas as diverse as Romania, UK, Taiwan, and (as we bring you here) Latin America.

FX 2010

FX 2010

FOX Latin America has unveiled a new on-air refresh for FX. The new campaign is led by FOX VP/Creative Director Corina Capuano and Argentine design agency Superestudio. The new look, predominantly 2D, offers a diverse palette to support a wide diversity of genres presented on the channel. So here’s a look at FX, from a Latin American perspective:

FX 2010

FX 2010

First Look: Otherworldly Fringe Promo Featuring NIN/Trent Reznor

[tweetmeme]

First Look: Fox’s sci-fi drama Fringe tonight released an eye-catching :60 promo (which I had been hearing bits about for the last few weeks) featuring NIN frontman Trent Reznor.  Reznor lends his song “Zero Sum” with specially recorded dialogue for the spot.

After being asked by series EP Jeff Pinkner, co-creator JJ Abrams sent a single email to Reznor and got him on board for the unique collaboration.

For those folks who might’ve missed it, here’s the promo, which has already lit up chatter on the Twittersphere. Also- I’m told Reznor embedded one of the show’s signature glyphs (much like those hidden in the Fringe fall TV poster) into the track’s sound waves. Apparently, if you watch the audio waves on a computer, you might see something very interesting.

Dare to investigate?

Best of Fall TV Posters (Part 1)

Another beautiful summer has come to a close. And with it, fall television season premieres are nearly here. Yes, those eye-catching billboards lining Barham can be distracting. Interestingly, they do give us an early glimpse at the creative approach the promo/marketing teams are shaping for both established and freshman brands. Although currently in the UK, my spies in LA tell me that these favorites for fall 2009 are already getting plenty of attention. Here for your review is Part 1 of Best of Fall TV Posters.

Also, for Fringe fans- there are over half a dozen hidden glyphs in this poster. Can you find them? (hint: look for an apple, rabbit, seahorse, butterfly, and frog among others). Click on the poster for a closer look.

Click for Large View

FOX International (Italy) 2009 Idents

[tweetmeme]

New channel brand ID work out of Europe, with Fox International and Directors Andre Maat & Henk Loorbach (aka Superelectric) collaborating on a series of :15 idents for Italian entertainment channel Cult. For those unfamiliar with the brand, Cult (since it’s launch) has twice been named Best Thematic Cultural Art Channel in Europe. Extra thanks to Andre and Henk for the spots.

The whimsical set of 17 idents extend the successful “TV or Not TV” campaign, and are incidentally an offshoot of a music video Superelectric had done for Kraak n Smack. The art direction of the spots reveal the duo’s Dutch heritage.

The Simpsons brand new HD Main Title Open

Last night on FOX, The Simpsons ushered in a new era. After 20 years, The Simpsons had their Sunday night premier in High Definition. And with it came a much bigger development: A brand new main title open and already tens of thousands of comments across the blogosphere debating the implications. And with 2009 main title season pitch presentations already underway, seems like Homer and gang might have provided a quiet reminder of the influence that our title design efforts hold in the public domain.

It is the first significant revamp of the title sequence since 1989.  The open takes advantage of the generous HD panorama and featured an extended couch gag of the Simpsons chasing their couch across the world, as well as into space. While some of the old parts remain (Bart still writes on the chalk board, Lisa still saxes her way out of music class, and Homer still throws radioactive material down his shirt) most of it has changed to catch up on 20-seasons worth of character additions.

Digital Collage Comparison- Click for Full View

The last time the open garnered so much attention was for Sky One’s live-action recreation of the iconic title, directed by Chris Palmer. Attached to the end of the UK sequence was the message “Come home to The Simpsons on Sky One” (which is not end-tagged to the youtube clip below). Because the live-action spot was made in the UK, there are some slight cultural differences including Homer and Marge driving on the left in the right hand side of the car and Chief Wiggum wearing a British police uniform.

With so much hubbub, perhaps we’ll see new main title refreshes on a weekly basis. How’s that for a stimulus plan for the broadcast design industry?