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DCM – The Art Of Cinematic Storytelling at Advertising Week Europe

Joey Payne — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:02:55 +0000

In the packed Run Run Shaw theatre at BAFTA, Andy Law of Fearlessly Frank led the DCM workshop, The Art Of Cinematic Storytelling, including Asif Kapadia, Director of Senna and The Warrior, Mike Bennett, CEO/Founder of OIL Studios and Ed Edwards, Creative Director, Writer and Director at Havas Worldwide.

The session was kicked off with a video showcasing the favourite adverts and moments in cinema from the panel, including two creative’s from Benson and Hedges (Salvage and Iguana) and the Guardian “Points of View” creative, along with iconic moments from Goodfellas, The Godfather Part Two, Once Upon A Time In The West and Notting Hill.

Mike Bennett said: “Cinema is an oasis, a place where you can shut off and escape”

Asif Kapadia went on to say: “Cinematic means visual storytelling, a visual language that is meant to be experienced on the big screen”.

Ed Edwards said: “You have people triple screening everywhere, cinema is one of the few mediums where everyone is glued 100%. Only in cinema”.

The full session can be viewed below.

Digital Cinema Media Workshop by advertisingweek

Don’t Be Afraid To Be Original: A Conversation With Filmmaker Asif Kapadia

Joey Payne — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:33:09 +0000

Asif Kapadia is the visionary director responsible for hits such as Senna and The Warrior. He is highly regarded in the industry and has the “brass” to prove it (awards including the coveted London Film festival Sutherland Award and BAFTA’s for Best Documentary and Best Editing).

Asif will be part of the DCM workshop, “The Art Of Cinematic Storytelling” at Advertising Week Europe. Ahead of this, Advertising Week’s Doug Zanger interviewed Asif on his origins in film and what he loves most about cinema.

1) Let’s start way back. Do you recall the very first film you made? Or the very first thing you shot, that may not have been made into a film?

A short film called A State Of Flux, about a man waiting for a train. It was made it in 1989 at Stamford Hill train Station. It was shot on u matic. I did pretty much everything on it.

My next film was a documentary Pizzaman about an Italian Pizzeria owner from Sao Paulo living in a rough part of South Wales, coming up against the local gangs. The lead was an amazing character, so even though the film wasn’t technically great, it worked. I still like this film! It was shot on a VHS camcorder and edited on a linear VHS edit suit.

2) Was there a distinct moment, early in your life, when you absolutely knew that this is what you wanted to pursue in your work and life?

I had worked as a runner on a student film, the DOP on that film asked me to work on her graduate film a few weeks later in Cornwall, I suddenly found myself in the middle of nowhere, working with a group of people I hardly knew. I felt I had run away with the circus. It was while traveling back from Cornwall on the long train ride that I decided to make my own short film.

3) You are of Indian heritage and The Warrior was filmed in Rajasthan. You also started this film not long after graduation. The lens I’m looking through here is more of the “advice” side of the equation for those just graduating from film schools. Were you ever wary of the ambition of something that could be perceived as more complex as you embarked on your career? Or were you so focused on creating such great work that you didn’t think much of it?

After graduating from the Royal College of Art I wrote a first feature screenplay called On The Corner, the film was set in Hackney where I grew up, it was very personal, darkly humorous, based on real experiences. It had a lot of character, lots of different story-lines, the problem was that it was really a short film expanded into a feature, so it didn’t quite work, it had lots of great scenes but not a strong structure or spine to the narrative. It got stuck in development hell.

As I was waiting for that project to come together, I co wrote a detailed outline for another film, which was based on a footnote in a book of Japanese stories. This project became The Warrior, people who read it loved the idea, many felt it was too complicated to do as my first film, it should be my ‘third’ feature. But a French producer came on board, he financed the development of the script, the finance came together quite quickly, so I ended up making the more original, crazy film rather than the safe, sensible option.

My aim was to make something which stood out, something visual, cinematic, with minimal dialogue, a film where the story was revealed through images, this film would be a mixture of my Indian heritage, my interest in Samurai films and Japanese culture but told in a European camera style. I was influenced by Zhang Yimou’s early films, like Raise The Red Lantern and Story Of Qiu Ju as well as a French / Vietnamese film Cyclo and Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped.

4) Fanboy here. I absolutely ADORED Senna. It is one of my all-time favourites. Sadly, we all know what happened in the end. But how you captured the essence and purity of Senna was masterful. It is always a challenge to find the honesty and the “sweet spot” of the narrative. How did you retain that focus and keep the powerful impact of narrative in check when there was (and still is) so much emotion around a legendary figure like Senna?

It’s a long story as it took about 5 years to make the film. It was a close collaboration between the producer James Gay Rees, Writer Manish Pandey, who was the great Ayrton Senna fan on the team and myself, together with our brilliant team of researchers and editors.

We wanted Ayrton Senna to narrate his own life story, the aim was to make it as cinematic as possible, no talking heads, no voice over, no actors, nothing that would break the purity of the experience of his personal journey.

The aim was to make Senna as a thriller, an action film, it had to be emotionally engaging both for the non sport fan, someone who has never heard of cannot stand Formula One, as well as the hardcore fan who knows and thinks they have seen everything about Ayrton already.

We tried to structure the film in the same way as a fiction film, with a beginning, middle and end, with all of the twists and dramatic turns of a good drama, we had to find the balance between telling the story we wanted to tell, yet working only with footage that existed somewhere in archives around the world.

We had a ‘good’ problem on the film from the start, we had far too much material! There were so many incredible stories in Senna’s life, he was so charismatic, so intelligent, the racing footage was visceral, it was a huge challenge to bring the material and story down to length. Our first assembly was seven hours long, the first cut 5 hours long! It took two years to bring this down the the 100minute film which was released.

We screened rough cuts of the film continually to a selected audience, the reaction was always great, people laughed and cried, even when the footage was technically so poor. This process helped keep our focus when dealing with 15,000 hours of material.

5) You are deservedly highly-awarded. I’ve heard all sides when it comes to awards. What does the recognition mean to you in terms of your artistic point of view? How do the accolades help enhance the opportunities that you have when it comes to your craft?

It’s a key way to get your work noticed when you are starting out. It is such a huge challenge to get a film together, both shorts and features, so anything that can help; a commercial success, a critical success, positive word of mouth or awards help to give you a chance to make the next project, particularly if you are taking risks, trying to create original work.

6) Any up-and-coming filmmakers in the UK we should be knowing about?

I’m on the jury for the Best Debut Film Award at the BAFTAs, so I see a lot of first films, both fiction and documentaries. I think the nominees for that award over the years are a good signpost to who the next big thing might be.

7) What do you value most about the cinema experience — the actual immersive nature of being in the cinema, without distraction?

Absolutely, I love the group experience of watching a film in a dark space, without interruptions from email, calls or text messages. Where I can totally immerse myself in the cinematic experience.

8) You are part of an excellent panel at Advertising Week Europe. What are you most looking forward to sharing?

Anything that might be helpful!

I think it’s important for people to find their own style, don’t be afraid to be original!

The original interview can also be found here on Advertising Week Europe’s blog.

Digital Cinema Media (DCM) Workshop – The Art of Cinematic Storytelling
Tuesday 19 March / 11:00am
Run Run Shaw, BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London

Heat, Mercedes Benz ‘Lucky Star’ (Michael Mann) / Sexy Beast, Guinness ‘Surfer’ (Jonathan Glazer) / Mulholland Drive, Sony ‘The Third Place’ (David Lynch) / Fight Club, Adidas ‘Mechanical Legs’ (David Fincher). Just a few of the great stories that illustrate why cinema is as essential for brands as it is for filmmakers. Join a group of inspirational panellists from the world of film and advertising to explore the art of storytelling through the continually evolving cinema medium that not only provides a richer, more creative and emotionally impactful canvas on which to communicate, but now offers more ways than ever to tell your story.

Moderator: Andy Law, Chairman, Fearlessly Frank
Mike Bennett, CEO/Founder, OIL Studios
Sara Dunlop, Director, Rattling Stick
Ed Edwards, Creative Director, Writer and Director, Havas Worldwide
Asif Kapadia, BAFTA award-winning Film Director – Senna, The Warrior, Far North

DCM to play leading role at Advertising Week Europe

Zoe Jones — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:27:29 +0000

For the first time Advertising Week, which has been running for nine successful years in New York, is coming to Europe and making its debut in London from Monday 18 March. It’s testament to the talent and success of the UK’s creative industries that Advertising Week has chosen London as its base and DCM is proud to be a partner to celebrate and showcase the new power of cinema advertising.

Taking place at BAFTA, Advertising Week Europe will bring together more than 15,000 representatives from the creative industries and beyond with inspiring speakers such as Lord David Puttnam, Dave Brailsford, Sir Martin Sorrell, Lord Sebastian Coe, Frank Abagnale and DCM’s very own Simon Rees.

As part of the build-up to the event, Simon has shared his thoughts with the team at Advertising Week about the opportunities for cinema advertising and what he’s most looking forward to at the event.

Read it here

The DCM team will be attending throughout the week, with Simon participating in two panel debates and DCM hosting its own Creative Workshop with headline panelists that include BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia (Senna, Far North, The Warrior).

Read on for more details and visit Advertising Week Europe to find out more about how you can take part.

Delegates can join DCM at the following events:

WIRED Global Conversation
Tuesday 19 March / 10:00am
The Agenda Stage at Princess Anne Theatre, BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London

Today’s CEO faces unprecedented turbulence as the winds of change blow with hurricane force from sunrise to sundown every day. Join this panel session to share the insights from leading edge CEOs who are navigating forward, driving results for clients and expanding opportunities as others fight contraction.

Moderator: Rupert Turnbull, Publisher, WIRED
Bob Greenberg, Founder, Chairman and CEO, R/GA
Sir John Hegarty, Worldwide Creative Director, BBH
Jon Kamen, Chairman & CEO, @RADICAL.MEDIA
Steve King, Worldwide CEO, ZenithOptimedia
Simon Rees, CEO, DCM

Digital Cinema Media (DCM) Workshop – The Art of Cinematic Storytelling
Tuesday 19 March / 11:00am
Run Run Shaw, BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London

DCM Tuesdays screening of Welcome To The Punch
Tuesdays 19 March / 18:00 – 22:30
The May Fair Hotel, Crystal Room Entrance, Berkley Street, W1J 8LT

This month, adland’s hottest monthly event DCM Tuesdays is proud to be teaming up with Advertising Week Europe to bring you Welcome To The Punch at the Mayfair Hotel, London.

For the first time ever, Advertising Week Europe will be hosted in London and as part of their week-long schedule of events, galas, concerts and inspiring seminars, DCM Tuesdays will be hosting a VIP screening on the Tuesday night.

The event will celebrate cinema in style with a champagne reception and a special screening of Welcome To The Punch.

There will be a short Q&A session with the producer of Welcome To The Punch producer, Rory Aitken, prior to the screening.

Time:

18:00 – Drinks reception

19:30 – Screening of Welcome To The Punch

21:30 – Post screening drinks

Excited? Let us know on Twitter using the hashtag #DCMTuesdays and #AWEurope.

Anyone who works in the media industry can sign up to the DCM Tuesdays film club and to this screening of Welcome To The Punch.
We ask that all sign ups use their work email address to register.
All personal email addresses will be contacted to confirm place of work and ticket.

Media Playground – Screen session
Wednesday 20 March / 9:00am – 10:20am
RBS, 250 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 4AA

Returning for a sixth year, MediaTel’s headline conference Media Playground 2013 – part of Advertising Week Europe – includes a keynote speech from Wired UK editor, David Rowan; panels and insight on screen, social media and mobile, which explore how new technologies and innovation are changing the face of advertising. Companies involved include: Digital Cinema Media, ITV, Decipher, Rovi, Smooth Radio, Videology, Mutual Media, GfK, Newsflare, Carat and LG.

Derek Jones, Managing Director of MediaTel Group, said: “Due to the unique relationships we have with media professionals, we are extremely well positioned to provide our growing list of delegates with independent, tailored and inspiring environments for people to learn and connect.

“2013′s Media Playground is set to be the most dynamic we’ve yet run. We have an excellent mix of media owners and agencies, research companies, advertisers, investors and technologists taking part and our past successes will ensure we deliver a truly first-rate event for anyone with a stake in the future of our industry.

“Becoming a partner event with Ad Week – and with ISBA this year – goes to show how well respected the event is becoming.”

Screen session:
Chair: Graham Lovelace, Director, Lovelace Consulting
Simon Rees, CEO, Digital Cinema Media
Jon Block, Controller of Digital Products, ITV
Jon Hewson, Advertising Director – EMEA, Rovi
Nigel Walley, Managing Director, Decipher

The Orange British Academy Film Awards

Maria Deevoy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:24:22 +0000

As we walk up the red carpet the screams get louder and louder; unfortunately we realise early on this isn’t for us but for a certain George Clooney who is working his fans into a high pitched frenzy. The celeb spotting doesn’t stop there, this years 65^th British Academy Film Awards was one big celeb-fest.

From Brad Pitt to Meryl Streep and everything in-between this was one of the most impressive BAFTA’s to date. Despite the freezing conditions, the women paraded in their finery (with some carrying it off better than others) while the men looked as dashing as ever (take a bow Mr Fassbender!).

We were lucky enough to get front stall seats allowing a great view point for the stars below (including the amazing Scorsese) and the captivating and engaging Stephen Fry who returned as host and managed to carry the night with great aplomb and some seriously funny one liners.

The evening’s big winner was The Artist, which bagged seven major prizes including best film, best director for Michel Hazanavicius and best actor for Jean Dujardin as well as some very funny acceptance speeches. On the other hand, Meryl Streep won her second BAFTA for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, losing her shoe on the stairs in the process (thankfully the rather gallant Colin Firth reclaimed it and placed it back on her foot – a regular Cinderella moment!)

Best supporting actress went to Octavia Spencer for The Help and best supporting actor went to Christopher Plummer, 82, for Beginners, and in doing so, he became the oldest person to be awarded a BAFTA.

The outstanding British film award went to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and best documentary went to a very well deserving Senna.

For the full run down of winners, please see below. Me? I’m off to recover following an epic after party which still has the live gig from Emeli Sande ringing in my ears…

Academy Fellowship

Martin Scorsese

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema

John Hurt

Best Film

The Artist - Winner
The Descendants
Drive
The Help
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer – The Help – Winner
Carey Mulligan – Drive
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Judi Dench – My Week With Marilyn
Melissa Mccarthy - Bridesmaids

Outstanding British Film

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Winner
My Week With Marilyn
Senna
Shame
We Need To Talk About Kevin

Outstanding Debut

Tyrannosaur - Paddy Considine, Diarmid Scrimshaw – Winner
Attack The Block – Joe Cornish
Black Pond – Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley, Sarah Brocklehurst
Coriolanus - Ralph Fiennes
Submarine - Richard Ayoade

Director

The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius – Winner
Drive - Nicolas Winding Refn
Hugo - Martin Scorsese
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Tomas Alfredson
We Need To Talk About Kevin – Lynne Ramsay

Documentary

Senna – Winner
George Harrison: Living In The Material World
Project Nim

Original Screenplay

The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius – Winner
Bridesmaids - Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
The Guard – John Michael Mcdonagh
The Iron Lady – Abi Morgan
Midnight In Paris – Woody Allen

Adapted Screenplay

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Winner
The Descendants
The Help
The Ides Of March
Moneyball

Film Not In the English Language

The Skin I Live In – Winner
Incendies
Pina
Potiche
A Separation

Animated Film

Rango – Winner
The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
Arthur Christmas

Leading Actor

Jean Dujardin - The Artist - Winner
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
George Clooney – The Descendants
Michael Fassbender – Shame

Leading Actress

Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady – Winner
Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn
Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin
Viola Davis – The Help

Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer – Beginners - Winner
Jim Broadbent – The Iron Lady
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Ides Of March

Original Music

The Artist - Ludovic Bource – Winner
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Hugo - Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Alberto Iglesias
War Horse – John Williams

Cinematography

The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman – Winner
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo - Robert Richardson
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Hoyte Van Hoytema
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski

Editing

Senna - Gregers Sall, Chris King – Winner
The Artist - Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
Drive - Mat Newman
Hugo - Thelma Schoonmaker
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy – Dino Jonsater

Production Design

Hugo – Winner
The Artist
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Costume Design

The Artist – Mark Bridges – Winner
Hugo - Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’connor
My Week With Marilyn – Jill Taylor
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Jacqueline Durran

Sound

Hugo - Winner
The Artist
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Make Up & Hair

The Iron Lady – Marese Langan – Winner
The Artist – Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
Hugo - Morag Ross, Jan Archibald
My Week With Marilyn – Jenny Shircore

Special Visual Effects

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Winner
The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
Hugo
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
War Horse

Short Animation

A Morning Stroll - Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe – Winner
Abuelas - Afarin Eghbal, Kasia Malipan, Francesca Gardiner
Bobby Yeah – Robert Morgan

Short Film

Pitch Black Heist – Winner
Chalk
Mwansa The Great
Only Sound Remains
Two And Two

Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award

Adam Deacon – Winner
Chris Hemsworth
Tom Hiddleston
Chris O’dowd
Eddie Redmayne

The video below shows The Artist claiming it’s well deserved 7 BAFTAs.

check out some of our snaps from the night.

DCM’s Top Films Of 2011

Tom Linay — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:00:04 +0000

With all the 2012 blockbuster trailers coming out this past week, (if you haven’t yet seen the Prometheus trailer, what have you been waiting for?!) it’s not difficult to get excited about next year’s film slate but at DCM we’ve paused for a minute to reflect on the last twelve months.

There’s been some spectacular cinematic highlights over the past year (has it really been twelve months since The King’s Speech made waves at the UK box office?), so we asked DCM staff to name their top three films of the year. The results have been processed through an extremely complex spread-sheet and collated into an exhaustive list for your reading pleasure.

Over forty films were voted for, with a few surprise entrants (Just Go With It – anyone?) but as expected there were a handful of titles that kept popping up again and again.

The clear winner with thirty two points was Nicolas Winding Refn’s hugely stylish Drive, with Asif Kapadia’s thrilling documentary about Ayrton Senna just pinching second place from The King’s Speech. One other particularly notable performer was David Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Considering it isn’t on general release until Boxing Day and most staff haven’t seen it, it did incredibly well to make the top ten.

The rest of the results are as follows:

1. Drive	32
2. Senna	27
3. The King’s Speech	24
4. Black Swan	20
5. Bridesmaids	17
6. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2	13
7. The Inbetweeners Movie	11
8. Warrior	10
9. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo	7
=10. The Help	6
=10. Friends With Benefits	6

Let us know what your favourite film of 2011 on our Facebook page.

Whatever your thoughts on the eventual winner, 2011 has been a fantastic year for cinema and 2012 is shaping up to be even better.