
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.”
If I*m not mistaken, the unit of exchange has now changed to two EUROS instead of two DOLLARS.
Now, it doesn*t take a stupid American to realize that by changing one non-monetary unit, you*ve effectively increased the "measely" $2 price of subscription to a WHOPPING $2.50 .
NOW, NOW, CALM YOURSELVES AMERICANS
I REALIZE THIS IS A TOUGH TIME FOR THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
Okay, I won*t mind this change as much if America doesn*t go down the $ pit.
Also, I*m guessing maybe somebody else already noticed this?
Yeah, we kept it such a big secret that we announced it on the front page, in the why two bucks (as in €), in the FAQ (hey, wasn*t it dollars?) and gave everyone a heads up about the monetary change way back in January...... wink
In hindsight, perhaps I should have started the whole thing in Euros, but then the currency was so "new" I thought - honestly - it would freak people out.
Yes, you see, I*m good at...
not paying attention to this site until I want an ad, and then only getting the ad.
Er.. if you have it. razz
Not your fault, not like you have USATV advert*s .. um.. amazing network or whatevers. $2 . . er.. E2 (blah, I*m not learning the ASCII For the Euro sign o_o or the unicode/whatever o_O) is still reasonable. razz
Speaking of usatv - have you ever used his services? I*ve heard nothing but bad things about the ads he sends out on tape/CD. Just curious if you have another experience.
site news regarding adland on the topics page if you just want to keep up with the site news like.
and dude, the front page news is the best part of this site! wink
You could also just click on this
ha! I post site news so seldom - figuring if I posted about every tweak I do I*d soon bore the heck out of people....... wink
ps sorethumb, is it sore from playing console games? grin