For this competition me and Mika are working together to develop the idea and campaign which I created last term for the Netflix Brief.
Developing the idea
Be brave through challenging our very understanding of creativity – be more innovative with your ideas and produce more interesting work.
Test an idea with peoples Reactions
Don’t force executions onto platforms. – make the execution relevant to the audience and your idea
15 pointers for the New Blood Awards
1. Always refer back to the brief
2. Really think about the brief. Brainstorm your responses and don’t just turn to the quick, literal answer.
3. Do your research.
4. Don’t go with the obvious idea.
5. Dig deeper and find a strong concept before going for an idea half-heartedly.
55% of 13-18-year-olds have been participating in #BlackLivesMatter protests or awareness in some way
Gen Z and Millennials have harnessed the power of social media and digital connection to forge serious change.
our 2015 trend research found that 62% of young people believe they can make their voices hear more online than offline—and increasingly they’ve found ways to make real change by bringing activism into the digital era.
72% of 13-39-year-olds agree that hashtag movements have the power to make a difference in the world.
slacktivism is when people “support a cause by performing simple measures” but “are not truly engaged or devoted to making a change.” Similarly, virtue signalling is “the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue.”
they believe the world has reached a tipping point on issues such as racial justice, inequality and the environment.
Gen Zs are taking action to drive the change they want to see in the world. They are becoming more politically involved, making a conscious effort to ensure they spend their money with companies that reflect their values and pushing for change on societal issues. They believe in their individual power to make a difference, but they are also demanding that businesses and governments do their part to help build a better future.
40% of millennials and Gen Zs believe that more people will personally commit to take actions to address climate issues after the pandemic.
Gen Zs surveyed said that, over the past two years, they have made choices about the types of work they would do—and the organizations they’d be willing to work for—based on their personal values.
Netflix’s most extensive user base is Gen Z – 71% have a subscription.
76% of Generation Z is concerned about humanity’s impact on the environment.
75% of respondents said being politically or socially engaged is very important to their identity. In addition, 63% said they primarily informed themselves about social and political issues through social media channels.
When asked about the obstacles keeping them from participating in political or social justice causes, 55% said not knowing who to contact or what groups to support tripped them up. So it’s clear that members of Gen Z are eager to get involved beyond liking and retweeting — they just need to know how.
What can you learn from non-english content / The journey throughout the non-english series : the truth about culture makes a journey to you through a screen
- You see the bits that you wouldn’t necessarily see if you were to go and travel to the country – tourist areas are different to the reality that people are living – its eye opening
- Gen z might not like subtitles and dubbing but they do like activism and making a social change
Squid Games
What do we learn about South Korea
“The show represents the inequality, the discrimination and so much more in South Korea now.”-The show’s depiction of South Korea has created a larger conversation around the country’s society and debt, The show accurately shows the reality and treatment of those who are poor in South Korea; they are treated like nothing,we see this through the country’s mistreatment of migrant workers such as character Ali Abdul and the desperate conditions for North Korean refugees
Squid games made people aware of the inequality in South Korean and subsequently resulted in social action “For a long time, this is the first time everyone seems to care about societal issues and customs in South Korea. The first time we’re addressed at all,” Chan-Woo said. “So I want to make sure we’re educating people … with the games.
Many have noted the hit series’ stinging critique of capitalism, but few have noticed that it shows a path to revolution- Household debt in South Korea has risen in recent years and is now equivalent to more than 100% of GDP – a level not seen elsewhere in Asia.
Money Heist
the series advocates a left-wing revolution against a democratic state and depicts a facism approach to politics.
What was the message of Money Heist?
By seeking the same financial freedom the government gave the rich, they send a message for the public to think about and take inspiration from. And since most people are aware of our governments’ corruption, their heist sends the message that their corruption will no longer be tolerated.- anti-capitalist movement
https://www.vox.com/22757375/money-heist-casa-de-papel-protests
Symbolism in money heist
Money heist has been used as a symbolism to explore the extent to which popular cultures and politics interact.
The Dali masks, in fact, were symbolically portraying one of the main recurring themes of the series: rejecting modern capitalist society. This concept is extremely appealing to people today because it rejects how society is constructed, a recurrent movement in politics.( anti-captalist)
the famous red coveralls were used as a constant reminder for the criminal group to fight back. Amongst many colors, red is a symbolic representation of resistance.It allso symbolisies the working class as victims to corpuption
The series was filled with symbolism, emerging in all forms and shapes such as the recurring use of the song ‘Bella Ciao’. Originating from World War Two, ‘Bella Ciao’ was an Italian bipartisan cry for freedom against the fascist regime but has been used all over the world as a cry for resistance, indignation, and skepticism towards (battel cry for freedom)
this symbolism has encouraged people to protest in their own countries about things they believe need change – over the past year people have been dressing up in red overalls and masks like the ones in money heists to initiate social change. It has lead to a large amount of global resistance
1) In Iraq, for instance, ‘Bella Ciao’ was used during anti-regime protests last November.2)In 2020, Nissan employees in Spain took to the streets dressed as the Casa de Papel characters to protest the government’s decision to close Nissan plants across the country. They were also drawing
attention to something bigger: the rights of workers and the imbalance of power between corporate elites and employees
3)Puerto Ricans donned the same costumes to call for the resignation of corrupt Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, using the adage “Somos la puta resistencia,” which translates to “We are the fucking resistance
4)in Italy in 2019, where ‘Bella ciao’ was sung in Emilia Romagna, considered the most left leaning region of Italy, against Matteo Salvini, who was campaigning there.
Lupin
The original stories were always heavily invested in a certain ideal of Frenchness – charming, gallant, insouciant. And the show certainly caters to international audiences’ seemingly insatiable appetite for images of Parisian sophistication. Here is the Louvre, there the Sacré-Cœur. Here are Louis XIII buildings and Louis XV interiors. Chanel jackets and croissants dunked in café au lait. But here too are crumbling council estates and dilapidated prisons, social disaffection and systemic racist discrimination.- shows both sides of France
but the program is also a strong critique of racism and class struggles in France. You don’t need a translator to understand how Diop’s father (who is black) can go to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
https://www.gq.com/story/omar-sy-lupin-netflix-profile
Lupin is a very slick and entertaining show but it also incorporates critiques of race and class in France. How do you identify with those critiques?It’s about our lives and our experiences. We wanted to share that in a way that we don’t really do in France. People don’t really know what’s going on. As important as it was to show how Paris is beautiful, we wanted to show that that kind of story can happen in France. What we wanted to have is a map of what Paris is today. So those differences with classes, differences with race, differences with social levels, were very interesting to tell. For example, Assane used the fact that people don’t really see him because he’s cleaning — it’s going to help him to rob them. So, it was really entertaining and fun, but at the same time, we’re saying something.
Living vs travelling in a country are two completely different things
The expansion of modernization has been increasing rapidly, so the television programmes and films nowadays can approach realistically the country at every corner of the word. As the result, some individuals would prefer watching films to absorb messages rather than going to synonymous heritage to learn skills.
When travelling a lot of people tend to go to tourist areas rather than experiencing what it is really like to live as a local – e.g when people come and visti your city they often go to tourist attractions – a lot you would be confused at why they would go and see them as to you its something you see everyday. E.g in London getting a black cab ect.
A lot of people travel for luxury and relaxation rather than for the experience – uses it as a form of escapism.
What you experience for a culture on a short holiday is a description of noticed behaviours. You clearly got some insight into how the lifestyle generally looks like, technical knowledge but Is it really understanding the culture?
Travelling to multiple countries, but for short periods of time can definitely open the eyes for the diversity that’s out there and trigger the curiosity and openness towards other people. What it can’t let you do is to deeply experience one given culture. So you can gain an amazing knowledge and awareness of the differences, but can’t quite experience the process of adjustment yourself
Activists campaign:
Definition: Activist campaigns appeal to people’s sense of injustice or desire to do good and provoke them to take action for change. Traditionally, activist strategies are most common to non-profit or political organisations. But, in recent years, brands are also getting on board and taking cues from grassroots activism.
Key Insights:
Belief-led activism leads to commercial impact
2021 Creative Effectiveness Lions Grand Prix winner Nike’s Dream Crazy showed how brands can reap the commercial benefits of standing up for issues that matter to their consumers and are true to their business. Nike has always championed athletes but this campaign which started with NFL player Colin Kaepernick, who had protested police brutality and racial inequality by ‘taking the knee’ during the national anthem at games, transcended sport culture to touch a big lightning-rod issue in society. By getting behind him, Nike was not just supporting its athletes but standing for its values. The campaign not only had worldwide impact, but was also the brand’s most successful ever, earning Nike a $6bn increase in stock value.
Brand purpose is evolving into brand activism
Today, 71% of people believe that brands are more of a ‘force for good’ than governments or similar institutions, according to research by agency VMLY&R. That opens up further white space for brands to go beyond brand purpose to brand activism. Examples from around the world include:
- US: Dick’s Sporting Goods banning the sale of assault rifles in the US in the absence of the government; Domino’s “paving for Pizza” project, which works with local governments in the US to fix roads.
- Europe: German supermarket chain Edeka removing all non-German products from one of its stores to show shoppers the reality of what a “nationalist” supermarket looks like; Absolut vodka in Slovakia celebrating multiculturalism through music in the face of widespread xenophobia
- Asia: Indian feminine hygiene brand Stayfree’s Project Free Period to help sex workers find a way into alternative sources of income through vocational learning
Activist campaigns can be highly effective, in creating fame and behaviour change
Brands should approach political topics with caution – but lead with courage if they get involved
https://www-warc-com.ezproxy.kingston.ac.uk/content/article/bestprac/what-we-know-about-activist-campaigns/108119
Advertise through video game: related to their new gaming app
- Since the start of COVID-19-related lockdown measures, gaming as a leisure activity has increased dramatically.
- According to Statista, worldwide sales of video games has seen a 63% increase as of the end of March 2020.
Thoughts and ideation so far :
from this research we developed the creative challenge , insight , audience and an initial idea which we would then present on Wednesday to see if this is something strong enough to move forward with or if we need to keep thinking.
Initially idea:
Target audience:
- Gen-Z
- 18-21 yo university students
- interested in making a change. Activism
Insight:
Gen Z may dislike subtitles and dubbing, but they enjoy activism and making a social impact – 75% of Gen Z said being politically or socially engaged is very important to their identity, and 63% said they learned about social and political issues largely through social media platforms.
Idea:
As a result, our objective is to make activism – a cause that gen z is interested in – the reason why it is vital to watch non-English content.
Around the World in 80 Nights – shows and movies provide insights into political and social issues within a country that travel alone cannot provide. Learn what issues are presented in these shows and participate in the competition in which Netflix provides an opportunity for young people to create projects to address the issues depicted in these movies and act for real social change.
From this ash said that we were overcomplicating it and going to far away from our initial idea. we needed to make around the world in nights fun and engaging so started to brainstorm some more.
New idea
Insights:
92 percent of the Gen Z generation – have researched a destination after being inspired by other users’ posts online.
A new study has found that almost half of the generation trusts recommendations from people they don’t know like Instagram travel influencers.- hijack travel influencers
Half of Generation Z trusts recommendations from influencers, prompting 92 percent of them to research a destination after being inspired by social media posts.
Gen z experience culture and plan their trips through influencers on Instagram and tik tok. This is why Netflix is hijacking influencers
Netflix’s takes over the world in 80 nights
What will happen over the 80 nights – inspired by top gear; grand tour
- At the start, there are three influencers that all start in the uk on a 80 night international road trip where they will compete for your engagement and votes as you determine who has had the best journey.
The rules :
Each influencer documents their journey on instagram stories and posts – the only way they can communicate with each other and with you is through social media
Their next destinations will be set by you as netflix presents them with fun and exciting challenges that are inspired by international shows.
Examples of challenges:
Money Heist: Act like an actor of money heist – go to the bank in the dali mask and red jumpsuit and interact with as many people of the public as possible and try to convince them to join your heist.
Toy boy : Challenge – Go to the famous strip club in spain and put on a performance of a lifetime
At the end of the 80 days – you vote for who your favourite traveller is.
Tiktok challenge #80nightswithnetflix
- Create content inspired by the non-english shows they have watched
Brand identity:
Tone of voice – Rebellious , confident , powerful , opinionated , cool , fun , innovative
Characteristics – funny , entertaining , humorous , trendy , modern, hijacking , disruption
Mood boards and inspiration
Development and versions of the logo:
We wanted the logo to have a glitch effect but also visually look like the original light drawings identity of the campaign I created last term.
Choosing the influencers:
We researched into some influencers we thought would be suitable for the campaign- they needed to be popular with Gen z but also people who are up for a laugh and would be engaging and entertaining to watch in challenges
Ksi and simon
Saffron barker and Anna kingsnorth
Jack Whitehall and dad
Natalina Noel and David Dobrik
Script
I then started to play around with the script:
Current version of the script ( first draft )
Storyboard:
Scene 1 : The phone scene
inspired by:
The first scene would consist of two gen z actors having a phone conversation about there plans for tonight – the girl would call the guy asking him what he wanted to watch tonight and he would say ‘ I wanna go around the world in 80 nights’ the girl would be confused and then the music would start to play before the videos starts explaining what he means by this. we got inspired by rap songs and how at the start of a lot of songs t starts with a phone conversation between a girl and a guy. we want the visuals of this part to be very vintage as this is the style that is in trend at the Moment
Scene 2 :
scene 2 is where our insight and problem would be explained
Scene 3:
Scene 3 would start to explain what actually will happen across the 80 nights and introduce the infulencers to the audience.
Scene 4
this scene would show the challenges that would be to offer:
Challenges will consist of embarrassing public challenges such as going to the spanish bank in the dali mask and red jumpsuit and interact with as many people of the public as possible and try to convince them to join your heist. Reinacting narcos by Smuggling flour and acting suspicious as you cross the border of mexico. Become a toy boy as infulencers go to famous strip club in spain and put on a performance of a lifetime. we are planing on seeing if we can film the toy boy challenge at the strip club fillies in Kingston and have emailed to ask and are now waiting for a reply.
Scene 5:
scene 5 would be mainly animations – showing the audience the TikTok challenges they could take part in and the prizes that are up for grabs.
once we had our story board we then wrote a list of videos and assets we would need to create to be able to execute this and the separated the list up so we could start creating some of the assets. I am mainly going to be focusing on the animation and Mika on the filming as most of the filming will be done in central where she is at the weekends and animation is something I have done in the past.
Creating Assets:
We started to create some of the assets for the video so when we edited it we had a lot of it ready. I started by creating the opening scene as this would be the simplest to create:
I then went on to create the Netflix profiles for our infulencers in Illustrator.
once I had these I then exported then into photoshop to create the Netflix profile
From here I then used after effects to edit the scenes that these would be used in:
first of all I used the opacity to make the profiles come onto screen one by one before creating a glitch animation in procreate to add behind and the text for the VS element in the same style as our 80 nights logo:
I then started to create the montage of Netflix international shows. I downloaded these through an app called Kigo Netflix video downloader and then cut them together in premier pro:
The next asset I began to work on was the winning element scene at the end.For this I needed to create mystery profiles and a subscription box. I also wold need a podium but used a free online vector for this.
Mystery profiles – created in illustrator
Subscription animation- created in photoshop and procreate
Animating the edit in after effects :
I then animated the mystery profiles onto the podiums and added in the 1st ,snd and 3rd place numbers like how they are positioned on the Netflix top ten. I did this by editing the position key frames.
The next asset I created was the spinning globe – for this I did some experimentation to see which wold look the best.
I started by creating different versions of a red globe and seeing what I could find and use:
I then started to animate the glitch effect in procreate to create a giff by sing the glitch effect and editing this frame by frame.
I then imported this into after effects and tried to get it to roate bt couldn’t get it to rotate left to right only up and down. I then tried a different technique following the tutorial bellow:
I then started to experiment with glitching in after effects and followed the tutorial bellow to see if I cold make the globe and the Netflix text glitch.
This is how the ending result of the Netflix glitch turned out:
Feedback and presenting :
when we read our script to Xavi and ash they said we need to cut it down and just keep working on our video. We then from this made a list of tasks we needed todo for the week. the first one we did was to cut down our script.
Cut down version of script
Social media assets
I then created some social media animation assets in after effects:
For the brand visual identity ash said we should keep inline with the colour light drawings which I did or the project last term.
to achieve this I used light paintbrushes in the studio however as we are creating a video this time me and Mika decided to give it a go in the film studio to see what we could create. we had a bit of a fail of a session , first of all our touch broke so we had to find a charger to charge it and the shutter speed on the film camera wasn’t slow enough to. properly capture the movement.
instead we decided that we would find a way to create this effect in after effects.
Creating light streks in after effect inspired by the apple iPod advert:
it was quite hard to find a tutorial that didnt require plug ins but after a lot of experimentation in after effects I magnet to get something similar to the desired outcome we were hoping for.
Animation in procreate
for one of the elements we wanted to create a animation of eyes and a red carpet coming out – we weren’t sure if this would look good but I gave it a go creating a animated giff in procreate. in the end it didnt end up like we wanted and I dont think we will use it but it was fun learning a new skill.
Draft/Trail 1
For our teams meeting we created a quick trail draft of the videos we had so far which I will attach bellow.
The feedback we got was that they wanted us to incorprote more of the concept of the journey along the 80 nights and get the whole learning about culture and what u will experience during these nights into the video.
We also needed to ,make the video look more consistent as we thought it looked like a lot of separate videos put together we wanted the brand identity to be a lot clearer and incorporate the light element a lot more in our video.
To start I created a AR filter with the light drawing brand idnitiy which we were going to get people to use and included I our video. I created the pngs in photoshop then exported them and decreased the file size using tinypng before creating the AR filter in Spark AR.
I also startd to experiment with the use of maps and created some Giffs on procreate as assets that we could potentially use to make our video more unified and in line with the brand identity
.
Other assest and development :
Mika created some Tiktok edits that we used in our ideo and she also created an overlay for a video to convey the interaction from the public which I then animated in after effects to show somone interating with the votes.
For the vote overlay we initially had questions surrounding the next destination of the influencers but we got feedback saying they should be more interactive so we changed them to link to the challenges that we created in the video.
Experimenting with the green-screen videos from my inital project:
We also tried using after effects to edit the green screen from the videos that I took in the studio for the project I did last term. we also wanted to add more about the fact that there were 80 nights so created counters to show this in the corner.
We created a first draft of the video to show to Ash and Xavi for feedback to see what they think we should change
From here we then made a lot of changes
We are now working on filming the challenges and content for the 80 nights.
We started with the money heist challenge. We ordered a money heist costume and dressed our mate up in it and then asked him to take part in fun and cultural challenges at night around Kingston.
We then went on to do the toy boy challenge. For this we got in contact with the local strip club Fillies and asked them if we could use their venue to film in which they said yes to.
We then went with a camera and light and took some footage from a range of angles.
We also filmed and edited challenges inspired by country’s around the world such as Paris and Japan. we got one of our friends to chat in French to pick up a girl to represent the Parisians charm and we also go him to make Japanese cuisine by eating noodles with chopsticks.
We also wanted to change the opening scene of the phone call to text messages as although it fits with our inspiration of the old rap videos Ash made the pint that it wasn’t realistic people are more likely to just text.
I editied this in after effects after I filmed it. we started by trying to film the whole thing so that you could read the texts but we struggled to get it to focus so I decide to just film my mate texting then add the texts over the top after wards. I downloaded some texting sounds and sending sounds to add over the top to make it sound more realistic.
We also changed the branding from the glitchy effect to 3D red typography tomato it more Netflix like.
Making the 3d text
We also filmed the voice over in the studio rather than at home to make it more professional as at the moment the voice over was just in place so we could start to edit.
When we showed ash he said he preferred the glitchy brand identity so we changed it all back to. Bellow is the second draft that we created
When we showed Ash and Xavi they liked it and said we should make any changes but me and Mika weren’t happy with it there was something not right about it. we spent a lot of time the night before submission changing a lot. we started with the text we didn’t like the glitch and thought it didn’t look professional enough so we started researching into cool kinetic typography that we could use and found a tutorial where we could make these lights trace the text.
To create this it was a long process as I had to do it letter by letter for every word I wanted. to start with I had to create an outline mask and animate it so it drew itself and then I had to create a null object and follow the path of the animated letter outlines. once I had done this I had to create a new solid and then animate the lens flare to follow this path.
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