Tourism Australia today launched “Transformation”, a new advertising campaign being rolled out in 22 countries around the world. Baz Luhrmann, known for his movies Moulin Rouge and William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, was responsible for the television and cinema commercials set in New York, Shanghai and Western Australia.
Original music for the New York commercial, Billabong, was composed by Sydney composer and song writer Elliott Wheeler, from sound and music boutique Nylon Studios.
The music for the New York spot was composed and recorded within a 48 hour timeframe in early September. Film directors Baz Luhrmann and Bruce Hunt called Nylon Studios on a Friday night a month before the launch, asking for a demo to be completed by the following Monday. Elliott composed two pieces on the Saturday before recording them with a string ensemble from Sydney Symphony Orchestra on the Sunday morning.
Once the creative team had chosen one of the tracks further work included the addition of multiple layers of piano tracks to create a a signature sound for the main piano melody, and careful sound engineering and mix by Wayne Connolly. Encouraged by warm response to the soundtrack, Wheeler has written an extended version with lyrics recorded by Abby Dobson from Sydney band Leonardo’s Bride.
“We wanted to use strings, but not on such a scale that we’d be dictating to the audience what they were meant to feel, so in the end we went with a much smaller chamber ensemble. We put a lot of energy into finding a balance between the intimacy expressed in the dialogue, and the grandness seen in the cinematography.”
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Am I the only one who thinks that there is waaaaaaaaaay too much importance attached to awards?
Sure, it's nice to see good work being rewarded. But when you've got an entire issue of "Creativity" being devoted to ranking who won what, things have really gotten out of hand. Can you really measure an agency's worth by the number of One Show pencils or Cannes Lions they win?
It's gotten to the point where I question whether awards shows serve any function beyond lining the pockets of the people behind them. After all, you can already see much of the work in magazines like "Creativity" and "Communication Arts" and on websites like this one. (By the way, major props to Dabitch for providing such an invaluable forum for schmucks like me to vent.)
And while I certainly respect the caliber of judges at most award shows, I certainly don't need, say, Lee Clow or Jeff Goodby to tell me whether an ad is good or not.
And that's another thing. It's generally the same two dozen or so creatives judging these shows. So the results, with one or two exceptions, are invariably the same.
In the interest of full disclosure, let me state that I've only won a handful of minor awards in my thoroughly undistinguished career. But that doesn't bother me. I'm as insecure and ego-ridden as the next creative, but I've never given awards much thought. Yeah, it would be nice to win some - but only because others place so much emphasis on them, they'd be more likely to hire me.
....serve any function beyond lining the pockets of the people behind them... Lining them really thick too, the Cannes awards made 10 million Euros in profit alone this year.
(by the way, thanks for the props. :))