“Sometimes” Three’s a Charm
Fun story.
Last year the MadHatterCollective was busy shooting a number of commercials for Charles and Colvard featuring their lovely Moissanite jewelry. We were asked to pitch both something sweet and something sexy, but we were also asked to seek out that special something that might go viral. Although “viral” is of course a modern-day pot of gold, we knew what they meant. They wanted something sweet, sexy, and just a bit…naughty. The kind of something you might forward to someone after a little snicker. We pitched a few ideas, several of which the client really liked. But.
“But” is what usually happens when the client thinks too hard. They get nervous. Cold feet. Conservative. And basically talk themselves out of what they really want.
So they picked two concepts that were both fine — one sweet, one sexy. But not quite that “something” they really wanted for the web.
We decided to shoot one of our viral ideas anyway. It wasn’t a big stretch for us; we had a gorgeous model/actress (the lovely Kelly Grace) willing to spend an extra hour or two with us, and a lucky man acting opposite her (the talented Zach Thompson) as well. We had an incredible location for our other commercial and the time to do both if we were clever about it.
So we shot three commercials instead of two, and surprised them with this fun little spot as a bonus.
Sometimes… a little leap of faith pays off.
(Yes, they bought it too.)
Migration to the Future at Dell
We recently completed a compelling video project for Dell which pushed the boundaries for what can be called a “case study.” Rather than the typical “talking heads,” Jeff Stolhand and I pitched something unique — a narrative format peppered with visual effects, treating the case study more like a futuristic short film than a boring documentary. The talented Drew Whelpley plays “You,” e.g. any businessman out there who may be considering migrating their company to Windows 7. Drew interviews three of the executives and technical people who made Dell’s own migration to Windows 7 possible, and discovers an interesting “future” ahead for the world of Windows.
Concepts/pitch by R. Zane Rutledge and Jeff Stolhand. Directed by R. Zane Rutledge. Edited by Jeff&Zane. Produced by Shaggy Welsh/BW Films. VisualFX by ZaneFX.
“ALICE: Madness Returns” Movie Trailer
In celebration of the release of American McGee’s video game sequel (by Electronic Arts and Spicy Horse Games), we offer this live-action movie teaser trailer. (Also available on YouTube.)
(I could probably tinker with this thing forever, but with the game’s release — it’s time. I’ll try to update with a little more backstory/info soon. In the meantime, hope you enjoy…)
An HD version of the original game trailer “inspiration” is also available (also on YouTube). Check the previous blog entry for more information and backstory on the original trailer from 2000.
ALICE: MADNESS RETURNS
a short film trailer
a Mad Hatter Collective production
starring Jennymarie Jemison as Alice
produced & shot by R. Zane Rutledge and Gray Haddock
director of photography Paul Gandersman
visual fx by ZaneFX
inspired by American McGee’s Alice
music carved from tracks by Chris Vrenna
conceived and directed by R. Zane Rutledge
FINE PRINT: “Alice: Madness Returns” video game by Electronic Arts (and Spicy Horse Games). EA, the EA logo and Alice: Madness Returns are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mad Hatter Collective is NOT affiliated with Electronic Arts or Spicy Horse Games. This is a non-profit “fan-made” movie trailer concept meant for entertainment purposes only.
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American McGee’s ALICE: Original Trailer now in HD
Back in 2000 I had the extreme pleasure of designing and directing the trailer for Electronic Arts’ “American McGee’s ALICE,” a dark and twisted original PC game. In addition to pitching and directing the trailer (with Matt Fassberg at Little Beast), we built several sequences used throughout, and also directed and animated the opening and closing sequences for the game.
For many years, this Alice trailer was one of my favorite things on my reel of work. In some ways, it was the closest thing to my own sensibilities, in no small part because at the time American and R.J. Berg showed up at our door with the Alice game, I was developing a short film based on Alice in Wonderland, a uniquely different but equally dark version called “Unexplored Wonderland.” So while that project got shelved as a result, the chance to embrace fate and throw some of my design into McGee’s project was too good to pass up. Many of the elements used in the trailer came from those beginnings.
In many ways, I am amazed at how well this trailer has held up, 11 years later. Overall I still like it.
As a retro tribute to the original game, I went back to the uncompressed source files and cobbled them together to build a high-quality 720p HD version. (Also available on YouTube if my server gets sluggish.) You can watch in 540p here (click the HD button), or download the 720p via the link to the left.
Enjoy.
