Lolly and Nat's Whipple Squeezer

Brevity is the soul of wit

Lolly and Nat — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:13:00 GMT

We've been going to an amazing sketch-writing course on weekends. It involves watching classic sketches from Smack the Pony and Monty Python, laughing a lot, and then analysing why.

So it's basically heaven. Oh and then we have to improvise on the spot in front of the whole class. Not so heavenly.

Wanted to share a few things from it, as - inevitably - there were many moments which crossed over into advertising.

So this week, class, we'll look at how the "craft" of sketch writing overlaps into crafting good ads. (forgive the use of the word 'craft', it is pretentious but necessary).

The classic sketch structure consists of:

The setup. The twist. Escalation. Pay-off.

The interesting bit is escalation. There are many different ways in which a comic can escalate the joke in a sketch...

Repetition - think of Lauren in Catherine Tate who is relentlessly 'bovvered'. Or Cleese and his million ways to describe how the parrot is in fact dead.

Revelation - where a new layer of unexpectedness is revealed. Or something new about the character which adds to the humour. e.g. the Constable Savage sketch in Not the 9 o' clock News. In this, the constable is being disciplined for a bunch of absurd arrests. Then we find out that it's the same man he's been arresting. Then we find out why - because he's black. and then we find out the script actually has a strong political polemic. Worth watching if you've not seen it (can't find it on youtube though)

Variation - a new version of the same twist. For example, in this god-like Fry & Laurie sketch, a man insists his surname IS the sound of a lighter being dropped onto a counter. the variation on this joke comes when he insists his address IS a tap dancing sequence.

I was struck by how similar this is to writing an ad campaign. The joke is the central thought, or strategy. And the variations are simply different executions of the same thought - just as three posters in an ad campaign are basically escalating the same concept in different ways.

Our homework this week was to write a 3 minute sketch. I'm writing about call-centre ineptitude. Nat's writing about delusional estate agents. Should be lots of fun. Any fun horror stories on either, please feel free to share - we may use it as script fodder - thanks.

The real reason Campbell Lace Beta have stopped pitching

Lolly and Nat — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:02:00 GMT

As I'm sure many of you are aware, Campbell Lace Beta have decided to stop pitching for new business. To make their blog readership even higher they offered a £1000 prize to the best comment on this subject. Since Lol is buying a flat, and I am off to Thailand we decided to have a go at pushing Clare Beale off the top spot in the Campbell Lace Beta comment competition. Anything to try and get our hands on the cash.

As words failed us, we thought we'd go a little bit audio visual.

We hope you like it and Robert/Garry we also hope you're not offended.

What's the opposite of No Logo?

Lolly and Nat — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:36:00 GMT

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to see a retrospective by H5 at the BFI, as part of the One Dot Zero festival. One of the films that really stood out was 'Logorama'. Perhaps you'll have seen it when RSA last came in to show you reels, but if you didn't then you're in for a treat.

It's like some sort of Kleinian nightmare. A world where everything - everything, down to the smallest detail - is a famous logo. Ronald McDonald plays the lead role, staring as a homicidal maniac. His fellow actors include Mr Pringle, Michelin man, Haribo Kid, the MGM lion and even the Glazier mint polar bear. To name but a few.

Then, as the initially joyous brandscape suddenly turns in on itself and erupts into an apocalyptic earthquake, you can't help thinking the whole thing is a massive, unbridled attack on capitalism.

Once the raputurous applause had subsided, H5 came on to do a Q & A. One thing that was hard to believe is that they made the entire thing without getting any permission from any of the many brands featured. In fact, they have now received complaints from a certain brand that they weren't included in it!

It took four years to make, at a cost of £200,000. Ironically, when they started making the film all those years ago, they had no idea that the world would be drowning in global recession by the time it was released. 'No, but we were lucky,' laughs Hose, one of the H5 creators.

When asked if they'd consider making a feature out of it, they declined. 'It has to be strong and short. So that you wish to see it again and again.' It's certainly that.

At the end of the Q & A, H5 hinted that they might be nearing the end of their time together. They've some incredible films in their reel - 'The Child' which later 'inspired' that vodafone ad; and a brilliant Royksopp video among them. But with Logorama, they've certainly gone out with a bang.

www.logorama-themovie.com/

Bring me the Head of the Head of Glue

Lolly and Nat — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:10:00 GMT

To celebrate turning ten yesterday, Glue had a bake-off.

Too many highlights to mention them all - but they included a tiny Tea Building (Honey I shrunk the Tea Building by Jenny Smart), an incredible pizza cake by Fraser Nicholas, interactive laptop projection fairy cakes, and an astounding likeness of Mark Cridge, by illustrator Steve Cutts.

Happy 10th birthday Glue, you talented bakers.

As wedding invites go

Lolly and Nat — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:22:00 GMT

I (lol) think this is definitely one of the cooler ones. It may be just because I write romantic novels, but I can't help loving this.

this.

There's been a crime

Lolly and Nat — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:50:00 GMT

A crime against the English language.

The poor, innocent unsuspecting words cafe and restaurant did nothing to deserve this, did they?

Even funnier than this was the poster with the caption underneath, that said 'More than a cafe...'

That's all it said. Even though clearly by saying that, it's planting the phrase 'less than a restaurant' into the head of every passer by? and that's not a good thing, is it?

Do you agree that this is an offense, and a bastardisation of English? Or is it, as Nathalie thinks, 'acceptable because it makes you laugh.’

Monstrous Makeover

Lolly and Nat — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:12:00 GMT

Someone at work sent this around Glue today. It uses Augmented Reality to transform your head.

What makes it more interesting than other AR ideas, is that it doesn't use any paper or codes. Just your eyes!

If you have a web cam give it a go. It's lots of fun. Especially when you make your robot head do unrobotty things such as drink tea or smoke cigarettes.

Exceedingly healthy birthday cakes

Lolly and Nat — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:27:00 GMT

It was our birthday a while ago, and these bizarre things things landed on our desk. they were a gift from the placement team here, Mauro and Tom
We just thought they were really fun and worth mentioning (a bit like their creators). thanks guys.

p.s. in case you can't tell, that's not buttersotch sauce on those carrots, it's hummous.

Love on Chance Street

Lolly and Nat — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:41:00 GMT

We stumbled across this on our way to our new favourite brainstorm spot, Franz & Evans, (the italian near Brick Lane).

I just LOVE it. It was just in Shoreditch outside a cool little place called the Idea Generation, which, by the way, has a big exhibition called the Campaign for Drawing on at the moment. Any art directors who happen to be losing their love of drawing, it's well worth popping in.

One Dot Zero and gravity defying ideas

Lolly and Nat — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:35:00 GMT

We were invited to go and mentor at the recent Cascades workshops run by One Dot Zero. It was a great day down at the Doodle Bar in Battersea, with loads of brilliant ideas on Urban Intervention from all the teams. They're presenting their work again this week at the BFI, so good luck to them all. One team had a lovely analogue blog charting their idea's development.

Our favourite thing of the whole day was an installation by Squint Opera. This piece they were building was entitled 'Final Reminder', and portrayed an imaginary world where you have to pay for your Gravity on a meter as though it's water or gas. Here's what happened when one lot of tenants forgot to pay the bill. Love it.

More Fringe Highlights (and Missing Highlighters)

Lolly and Nat — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:18:00 GMT

Earlier readers of this blog may recall the confessions of our lever-arched kleptomania. So when Matt Harvey (the stand up poet) read out his amazing poem Works Perks I couldn't believe how bang on the nail it was. It's all about the dangers of getting a little carried away when you're in the stationery cupboard...

But his poem's not just about pens and pritt sticks. Something bigger underpins it which is a little haunting... for those days when you wonder if your life is drifting away in the monotony of office life, which Joshua Ferris also explores in 'Then we came to the end'. I just love the bit 'I take these reams... you take my dreams'. ' You take the best part of my month. I take this hole punch.' Brilliant. It's a bit like the literary equivalent of Martha Tilston's Artificial.

It's not printed in his brilliant book 'The Hole in the Sum of my Parts', but happily he sent it to me, so I'm reproducing it at the end of this blog.

Other Edinburgh highlights were the dance group Circa at the Assembly Rooms. I never really get that excited by Circus shows, but this is really contemporary dance blended with circus skills with a very sensual, poetic feel that leaves you uplifted but melancholy at the same time. Truly the most captivating dance show I've ever seen, and the standing ovation suggested everyone in the room felt the same. Circa are from Australia but if they're ever in the UK again I can't stress enough how you have to go and see them.

Also I have to mention the unendingly surreal Mr Paul Foot. There is no other comedian on the circuit like him - he's mad, surprising (in a spontaneously dry-humping a giant teddy bear kind of way), and he thrives on audience awkwardness. Among his many shows in Edinburgh this year was his meanderingly hilarious Bed Time Story, which took place at 2pm in the Pink Bus - an eclectic double decker stuffed with art and nostalgia (above). He's definitely an acquired taste, and as such Paul Foot doesn't have fans, he has connoisseurs. Check him out here.

And now back to a less bonkers type of comedy, with a subtle (and I wonder if intentional) tribute to adland in the last line.

'Works perks'… by Matt Harvey

…it’s just a little thing,
I wouldn’t call it pilfering
Or petty theft. I took one, yes
But look – there are so many left.
I’m in on time. I smile, work hard.
Why should my conscience twitch or flinch?
Each working week you take a yard,
So why begrudge me my half-inch?

You take the best hours of my day
What do you give me? Take-home pay.
I’m so tired I can hardly speak
You take the best days of my week.
You take the best weeks of my month
I take some paper, this hole-punch.
You take the best months of my year
I take this swivel-chair. Oh dear.
You take the best years of my life…
… a laminator for the wife

So now please look the other way –
I need my little takeaway
To give myself a token raise
To supplement my take-home praise

Some get to meet celebrities
Or go on junkets overseas
I’m simply taking some of these –
Some paper clips, some folder files
A pritt stick, stapler, carpet tiles
Some tippex, a waste-paper bin
This thing for putting thingies in
This ream. Okay this box of reams
This laptop…
…well, you take my dreams

How did ever come to this?
My perky chirpy perquisites
Have been turned into exhibits –
These trinkets I gave house-room to:
Exhibits ‘A’ to ‘W’
Don’t ask what reason or what rhyme
Drove pretty me to petty crime
Nobody’s perfect
I guess it built up over time
Because I’m worth it

Do I stutter?

Lolly and Nat — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:40:00 GMT

Take a look at the top 8 photographs on Jamie Martinez's site. Notice anything strange about them?

They move! Fun isn't it? He's achieved this by simply animating 3 frames together.

See some more here.

And if you can't get enough of the stutter, check out this amazing site too.

'I think we're in a play' - Fringe Highlights part one

Lolly and Nat — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:51:00 GMT

I (lol) had a very appreciated day off last Friday. And in a naïve attempt to get away from advertising for a few days, I joined some friends on a jaunt to Edinburgh for a little artistic nourishment.

How wrong I was. There is no such thing as escaping advertising. First off, I was travelling only a carriage down from the whole BBH creative department on their summer jolly. So I got a quick update on Bill’s postcard collection which has taken a turn for the vintage. I managed to resist joining them in their 11 A.M. boozing. And I caught up on the news since we left black sheep towers in March.

Then later we crossed paths at the brilliant Idiots of Ants. A sketch group formed by some guys we went to university with, they've just been shortlisted for the Comedy Awards, rightly so. They had some really clever material. The opening sketch was a plaful dabble in post-modernism, where Nazi soldiers suddenly realise they are actors. ‘I think we’re in a play. I think these are just costumes!’ Again, I couldn’t get away from advertising even then – I kept thinking how much it reminded me of the recent ‘mini – I think we’re in a viral’ viral.

As ever, an essential part of one’s edinburgh experience involves tempering your outbreaks of FOMO (fear of missing out), as you walk round and see that all the things you weren’t OCD enough to book back in January 2007 are now sold out. The Faulty Towers Dining Experience being one of them. Just round the corner from the Pleasance courtyard, it's a restaurant where they hire actors to perform as Basil, Manuel and Polly while you eat. From the little show we caught through the window, it looked amazing. Complete with sound effects of smashing glass and Manuel being hurt in the back room.

The flip-side of not being too anal about booking stuff up is that you find yourself with spare time for spontaneous hidden treasures. One such gem was Matt Harvey and his stand-up poetry show 'Wondermentalist' on the Sunday afternoon. From the moment he started, this understated master of wordsmithery had me in uncontrollable hysterics. He's not just mind-blowingly insightful and lyrical, his delivery is hilarious too. Check him out at Mattharvey.co.uk

Then came his his anecdote about being paid copywriter rates to write Ode to a Spud. As it turns out he was recently hired by Archibald Ingall Stretton... to write a poem for their Love Food Hate Waste campaign. There really is no escaping 'adland'! But then I guess you never do when you're a creative. And that's the fun of it. Being inspired by all sorts of stuff you see, making a note of it and then forgetting all about it.

Anyway, have run out of time and space, so more on Matt Harvey and other highlights in a second blog.

Girls - Hot new friday night make up tips

Lolly and Nat — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:14:00 GMT

******* Contact the incredible Nina Chakrabarti for your weekend makeover. Choose from permanent or wash off markers. ********

I (Nat) love these images. So tribal and futuristic. Could this be a clue as to where make up is heading 10 years from now? Maybe we should move our coloured markers and fine liners to the make up bag? Just think, we could do scamps on our faces..

(Only joking.
These images were done for Seattle magazine “I Want You”.
Check out her site. She does beautiful things with pens.)

The Dark side of the Moon

Lolly and Nat — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:29:00 GMT

I (Nat) went to see new British film Moon a few weeks ago, and thought it was absolutely brilliant. I really, really loved it. Partially funded by Trevor Beattie, the film was made with just two million pounds. Which goes to show that with the right team, you can make 'proper' films without the need for big studios and massive wallets.

It was all filmed with just one actor, Sam Rockwell. He plays the character Sam Bell, a lonely guy who has been send to the Moon for three years to harvest Helium 3 to send it back to Earth for their energy source. Being completely isolated up there, his sanity begins to dissipate before long. There's no live communication to earth so he has to make video messages and send them to his wife and daughter. Ironically, Sam Rockwell was away from his girlfriend for months on the shoot, echoing his character's feeling of desolation. Which must have helped him 'find his motivation' no end.

Because Rockwell plays multiple characters of himself, in the form of clones, it's easy to forget when you're watching it that there's only one actor. Each scene was redone and redone, with him playing a different clone each time. A one man show, it must have been an exhausting process. What is also great about this film is that the 'twist' is dealt with quite early on do you spend the rest of the time concentrating on what's really going on rather than waiting for the big reveal.

The only other character is the robot assistant 'Gerty', played by Kevin Spacey. His voice is incredible. Totally sinister, but totally not. You spend the whole time not wondering if he's on the dark side or not, wondering is he a goodie or a baddie?

Our friend from Glue Gavin Rothery was the Visual Effects Supervisor, part time stunt man and Production Concept (meaning he designed the film's aesthetic). He also has a cameo appearance in it - did you spot where? According to Gavin, everyone interprets Gurty differently, many of them projecting things onto this faceless character.

We've been promised us a couple of 'making of' videos that show how the movie was made in miniature. We'll put them up soon, but for now, go see it for yourself. Here's the trailer.