It rolled out the big guns for us to watch, as you would expect from a potentially rogue entity such as Framestore CFC.
OK ... let's see. We start with Guinness "surfer". One word ... Apocalypse! Have you read the Bible? We swear that's one of the seven (or is it 12?) things that are supposed to happen at the end of the world. If Framestore CFC can do this, just imagine what it could do to the world.
After a superb minimalist set-up with the surfers waiting for the moment to hit the waves, we are taken for our own ride. The true feeling of nature and man's desire to be in "it" curl up into a violent and chaotic visual mixed with elegant horses storming through the waves. Classic.
Possibly one of the coolest ads of all time ... and frighteningly amazing detail, mixing real horses with real waves, seamlessly blended.
Next we have Guinness "dreamer". This, again, is really freaky. Another surreal ride from Mr Glazer, and possibly the first sign of a secret alliance with Framestore CFC. We open on a dreaming local who has sleeping rights at the bar, when we flip into Squirrel World. The lighting and the grade overall is signature. That is not real fur, folks! And we love the little Guinness pint glass ... oh man, that's tight - even the perfect froth on top. The squirrel's little whiskers, eyes ... and it's talking too.
Yes, Framestore CFC could be cloning future presidents and prime ministers.
Next, to lighten things up a bit, we have Tropicana "parrot dance". After they scare you with Guinness, they want to make things nice and friendly, so that you come into their world and trust them.
This essentially is a music video starring three parrots. Just like the manufactured pop stars we know so well, these parrots are semi-manufactured.
Those are real parrots, but they are under the control of Framestore CFC's "digital wizards". See, we told you - it has wizards. The parrots undulate and romance you with their colours and flirtatious dancing, all choreographed and lip synched ... very cool. Peta may not agree, but there should be more flirting animals.
Johnnie Walker "fish" is more scary. It shows that Framestore CFC has found ways to control undersea life, marshalling it into huge shoals and turning it into an army of naked human-looking stormtroopers to let loose in our world. There are no tricks or FX in this film. It is a subtle demonstration of its hidden powers in collusion with El Presidente Kleinman.
Blackcurrant Tango "St George" is a true classic. Framestore CFC shows you what it can do with its machines here. Its alters time and space as if it were George W. remembering who the real terrorists are. In one shot, we follow the spokesman for Tango from his office to an epic location complete with boxing ring and rabid blackcurrant fans pumped up to take on Sebastian, a French exchange student who didn't like the blackcurrant flavour. Framestore CFC combines film formats and locations into one guilty pleasure spot for those of us who geek out on things like that.
Last, we love Lilt "odyssey". Levi's, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Glazer, Mother, Kleinman, Framestore CFC, what more can we say? Framestore CFC, your special effects rock, man. Imagine what it could do if it owned its own news network.
Scary.
GUINNESS
Project: "Dream club"
Client: Diageo
Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Art director: Peter Souter
Writer: Walter Campbell
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Production company: Academy Productions
Visual effects and post-production: Framestore CFC
JOHNNIE WALKER
Project: "Fish"
Client: Diageo
Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty
Art director: Neil Dawson
Writer: Clive Pickering
Director: Danny Kleinman
Production company: Spectre
Visual effects and post-production: Framestore CFC
TANGO
Project: Blackcurrant Tango "St George"
Client: Britvic
Agency: HHCL & Partners
Art director: Al Young
Writer: Trevor Robinson
Director: Colin Gregg
Production company: Eclipse
Visual effects and post-production: Framestore CFC
GUINNESS
Project: "Surfer"
Client: Diageo
Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Art director: Tom Carty
Writer: Walter Campbell
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Production company: Academy Productions
Visual effects and post-production: Framestore CFC
LILT
Project: "Odyssey"
Client: Coca-Cola
Agency: Mother
Art director: Darren Bailes
Writer: Al Maccuish
Director: Danny Kleinman
Production company: Spectre
Visual effects and post-production: Framestore CFC
TROPICANA
Project: "Parrot dance"
Client: Tropicana
Agency: DDB London
Creative: John Webster
Director: Mick Rudman
Production company: Park Village
Visual effects and post-production: Framestore CFC
