noitulovE

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noitulovE
A frame from noitulovE
Client:	Diageo
Product:	Guinness draught stout
Agency:	Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Directed by	Daniel Kleinman
Production company:	Kleinman Productions
Produced by	Johnnie Frankel
Music by	Peter Raeburn
Release date(s)	3 October 2005 (Television)
Running time	60 seconds
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£1.3M (advert)[1] £15M (campaign)[2]
Preceded by	Mustang
Followed by	Fridge
Official website

noitulovE^[3] is a British television and cinema advertisement launched by Diageo in 2005 to promote Guinness-brand draught stout. The sixty-second piece formed the cornerstone of a £15M advertising campaign targeting men in their late-twenties and early-thirties. The commercial follows three patrons of a London pub on a journey back through time, showing the group "de-evolving" through a number of forms, from ape, to lizard, to mudskipper. The commercial was handled by the advertising agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, who were given a budget of £1.3M. It was directed by Daniel Kleinman. Production was contracted to Kleinman Productions, with post-production delegated to Framestore CFC. It premiered on British television on 3 October 2005.

noitulovE is the fifth television/cinema piece in the Good things come to those who wait series, and its premiere marked the end of a four-year hiatus. The advert, together with its associated campaign, was a critical and financial success. It received over thirty awards from professional organisations in the advertising and television industries, and was the most-awarded commercial worldwide in 2006. The impact of the campaign was such that during a period in which the UK beer market experienced a substantial decline in revenue, Guinness reported that its year-on-year earnings within the region had noticeably increased. At the same time, Guinness achieved its highest ever volume and value shares and became the market leader within the region. This was attributed in no small part to the positive reception garnered by noitulovE.

Contents 1 Sequence 2 Production 2.1 Background 2.2 Pre-production 2.3 Production 2.4 Post-production 3 Release and reception 3.1 Schedule 3.2 Awards 3.3 Legacy 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Sequence

The piece begins with three patrons taking their first sip of Guinness stout in a London pub. To the accompaniment of Sammy Davis Jr's rendition of "The Rhythm of Life", a song from the 1966 Broadway musical Sweet Charity, a reverse-motion sequence begins, as the three retreat from the bar and into the street, and other patrons disappear as they pass. As they move down the street, a reverse time-lapse-style sequence transforms their clothes to match a rapidly changing urban scene, which progresses through modern-day London to the Edwardian period. Electric lights transform into gas lamps and buildings begin to disappear frame-by-frame. A short cutaway sequence shows the city regressing further into the past, shrinking to a small Saxon settlement before disappearing entirely. Returning to the main sequence, the three men's clothes and hairstyles are adjusted into their Bronze Age equivalents as they pass through thickening woodland. A close-up on one of the characters reveals that his features are being quickly transfigured into those of a caveman. The trio are then frozen in a fast-moving ice age glacier.

When the glacier thaws, the three re-emerge as primitive hominids, their clothes ripped away to reveal loincloths. They continue to walk backwards with a more simian gait, and soon "de-evolve" into chimpanzees. From there, the trio are transformed into a number of different species in quick succession, including flying squirrels, furry mammals, aquatic mammals, fish, flightless birds, small dinosaurs, and burrowing lizard-like creatures. The environment around them changes rapidly as they travel, with cutaways showing millions of years of geological changes occurring in less than a few seconds. Finally, the three become mudskippers around a green-brown puddle. The last shot of the sequence is a close-up on the centre individual, as he registers his disgust at the taste of the water with a "Pweugh!" sound. The commercial ends with a transition to a product shot of three pints of Guinness accompanied by the strapline "Good things come to those who wait".^[4]

[edit] Production

[edit] Background

Main article: Good things come to those who wait

Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO won the account for Guinness in 1996 with a campaign centred around their new strapline "Good things come to those who wait", and produced several commercials using variations on the theme, including Swimblack, Bet on Black, and the critically-acclaimed Surfer, voted the "Best Advert of All Time" by the British public in 2002.^[5] After the 2001 Dreamer advertisements, Diageo, the corporate owners of Guinness, decided to pursue a more pan-European marketing strategy.^[1] The strapline proved difficult to translate, and was abandoned. Several new straplines were tried out over the next three years, including "Believe" (Free In and Tom Crean) and "A story of darkness and light" (Moth and Mustang).

The new marketing strategy had not proven particularly successful, and in 2004 Diageo returned to regional advertising.^[1] AMV BBDO were presented with the choice of coming up with either a new theme to appeal to the 18–35 British male demographic, or a new angle on the tried and tested Good things... concept. A number of ideas were put forward, including "The Longest Wait".^[1] From this concept, noitulovE was quickly plotted out: the advert would show three individuals waiting 500,000,000 years before finally taking their first sip of Guinness – the timeline compressed into a 50-second clip. The decision to run the "Evolution sequence" in reverse was taken fairly early, as it was felt that it would better hold viewers' interest during a sixty-second television spot.^[1][4]

[edit] Pre-production

The project had not yet been greenlit when the agency approached Daniel Kleinman, known for his work on James Bond title sequences, with the intention of taking him on as a director. After looking over the concept pitch and a rough draft of the script, Kleinman's immediate impressions were that the idea was "fresh", "an opportunity to try out some new techniques", and that it would "put Guinness back on track, doing a big 'wow' idea".^[6]

Kleinman contacted a pair of Canadian graphic novel artists to begin storyboarding the commercial. This would allow the agency to determine how much of the £1.3m budget to allocate to each section, and to use as part of the presentation to Diageo pitching the various concepts for a decision on which to pursue. The effort paid off and approval was given to move ahead with production of noitulovE.^[1]

[edit] Production

Production of the commercial took place over two months, with principal photography shot in Iceland. Time-lapse photographs were taken of the country's mudpots, volcanic terrain and frozen lakes using 35 mm film cameras. The shooting took place in the early summer for the nearly continuous daylight that the season afforded them.^[1] The next pieces assembled were the live-action segments, which were shot in a greenscreen studio in London. The filming took place in three stages, with the three actors changing into different sets of prosthetic makeup at each stage. For the final section, the actors spent a week practising the choreography behind walking backwards with an appropriately simian gait. Wires were attached to the back of each actor, allowing them to lean forwards to give the impression that they were being "sucked back in time" when the final cut was put together.^[7] While filming the actor sequences, VFX supervisor William Bartlett discovered and filmed the aerial view of London from Tower 42's Vertigo bar.^[4]

Feeling that with computer-generated imagery looking to make up so much of the commercial, Kleinman attempted to use film of real elements wherever possible. To this end, two hundred mudskippers were procured from South Africa for the final scene, arriving via Singapore. An entire afternoon was set aside for filming the sequence. The footage obtained formed the major part of the final cut of the scene, with the only post-production changes being the addition of tail fins and animation of the expression of disgust which closes the piece.^[1][4] Stop motion footage of other real elements was taken, including a stage-by-stage blowtorching of plants, used to show flora coming back to life in the reverse sequence, and shots of baking bread used to model the geological changes to background rock formations.^[8] Additional real elements were to have been incorporated into the commercial, mostly from stock footage of several animal species, though only short segments of apes and lizards appeared in the final cut.^[7]

[edit] Post-production

Post-production work was handled mostly by Framestore CFC, who had worked on previous Guinness campaigns Surfer^[9] and Dreamer,^[10] and had worked with Daniel Kleinman on a number of outside projects, including several commercials and James Bond title sequences. The project was overseen by William Bartlett, known for his VFX work on the BBC television documentary Walking with Dinosaurs. The original schedule allowed for three and a half months in post-production, with airing of the commercial to follow almost immediately afterwards.^[1]

The 24-man animation team was split into two groups, half assigned to the creation of the fifteen new CGI creatures which would populate noitulovE (in Maya), while the other half was to create the backgrounds (in Houdini). Compositing work – combining the greenscreen shots with stock footage and CGI elements – was performed in Flame and Inferno. As the final commercial was to be shown on cinema screens, the animators worked at a resolution higher than afforded by the 576i definition used by British PAL-encoded television sets, to improve the appearance of the advert when projected.^[1][11]

Near the end of post-production, the creative team decided that the music to which the advert had been set to until that point – an electronic track by Groove Armada – was not working particularly well. Peter Rayburn, who had chosen the track used in Surfer (Leftfield's "Phat Planet"), was brought on as music director. Rayburn suggested three pieces, with "Rhythm of Life" ultimately presented to Guinness as an alternative and approved as a replacement.^[1]

[edit] Release and reception

[edit] Schedule

noitulovE was originally to have begun its run in September 2005, but the airdate was pushed back several weeks as post-production had taken longer than anticipated.^[1] As had been the case with several earlier campaigns, the commercial was to air in several bursts, throughout 2005 and 2006. Spots were purchased in the commercial breaks of sports broadcasts, high-budget television dramas and shows whose primary audience overlapped with the campaign's target demographic of British males in the 24–35 age range. The first burst was commissioned to run from October 3 to November 13, 2005, during programming such as the UEFA Champions League, Lost, Vincent, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and terrestrial television screenings of Austin Powers: Goldmember.^[12]

The second burst lasted through December, with the focus moved to multichannel television, with appearances in live televised football matches, films, and popular programming such as I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!. Two further bursts were commissioned for 2006, to run from May 15 to June 9 and August 22 to October 8. Programmes selected for the May–June burst included Celebrity X Factor, Big Brother and live football and cricket matches. The final series of spots ran during programming totalling 56 ratings points per week (56% of British television viewers), with much of the schedule assigned to multichannel television.^[12]

[edit] Awards

List of awards

Art Directors Club Awards[13] Silver – Special Effects Distinctive Merit – Cinema-Over 30 Seconds Distinctive Merit – TV-Over 30 Seconds Distinctive Merit – Editing Distinctive Merit – Art Direction Distinctive Merit – Music & Sound Design Australian Effects and Animation Festival[14][15] Winner – Best Commercial British Television Advertising Awards[12] Gold – Alcoholic Drinks Silver – Best Over 60 Seconds Silver – Commercials Shown in Cinema and on TV BTAA Craft Awards[16] Winner – Best Crafted Commercial of the Year Winner – Best Direction (Daniel Kleinman) Finalist – Best Computer Animation Finalist – Best Use of Recorded Music Finalist – Best Video Post Production Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival[17] Winner – Grand Prix (Film) Clio Awards[14][18] Gold – TV/Beverages Alcoholic Gold – TV/Direction Silver – Visual Effects Cresta Awards[19] Winner- Grand Prix (Television) D&AD Global Awards[14][20] Yellow Pencil for Special Effects in the TV and Cinema Crafts Epica Awards[8] Winner – Epica D'Or (films) Eurobest Awards[19] Gold – Alcoholic Drinks Golden Award of Montreux[19] Winner – Gold Award (Best in show) Gold – Beverages (Alcoholic) Gold – Humour Gunn Report[21] Winner – Most Awarded Commercial in the World IAPI Shark Advertising Awards[22] Gold – Alcoholic Drinks: Beer Gold – Best Post Production/Special Effects Imagina Awards[14][15] Winner – Special Jury Prize International ANDY Awards[23] Winner – Best in Show (GRANDY) International Food And Beverage Creative Awards[24][25] Winner – Alcoholic Drinks (Television) Winner – Television (Overall) London International Awards[26] Winner – Beverages – Alcoholic (Television/Cinema) Winner – Special Effects (Television/Cinema) Winner (Disqualified)[27] – Original Music with Lyrics Finalist – Animation, Computer Finalist – Editing Finalist – Humour Midsummer Awards[28] Gold – Alcoholic Drinks Gold – Best Animation Gold – Best Post Production Silver – Best Use of Music The One Show Awards[29] Gold – Consumer Television 4th Visual Effects Society Awards[30] Winner – Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

noitulovE was well-received by critics within the advertising and television industries, and was pipped to win the 2006 Cannes Lions Film Grand Prix. Advertising Age said of the piece: "A flawless DGI production to an irresistible piece of music propelling a brilliant, astonishingly witty new iteration of a longstanding, unique positioning. This isn't just great advertising; it is perfect advertising."^[31] Gastón Bigio, Executive Creative Director for Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi remarked on the campaign in the run-up to the festival, saying "noitulovE is, in my opinion, the best. [...] This execution is absolutely incredible, as is the production."^[17][32] The main competition for the prize was thought to be the Australian Big Ad for Carlton draught beer, and the British Balls, for Sony's BRAVIA line of high definition television sets. After the three received Gold Lions in the Film category, they were shortlisted by the judges as contenders for the Grand Prix. Ultimately, the honour went to noitulovE. After the decision, David Droga, president of the jury which determined the outcome, said of noitulovE: "It's a very very strong ad. A lot of the jurors felt that it was not only a stand-alone, remarkable ad, but also a triumphant return for a fabulous campaign."^[33] The victory placed director Daniel Kleinman at Number 29 in The Independent's list of the Top 50 Newsmakers of 2006.^[34]

Cannes was not the only awards ceremony to recognise noitulovE. When the 2006 edition of the Gunn Report, an authoritative annual publication determining the advertising industry's most critically successful campaigns, was published, it revealed that noitulovE had received more awards that year than any other campaign worldwide.^[21] Among the awards presented to the team behind the commercial were three Clios, two Golden Sharks, and the Special Jury Prize at the Imagina Awards.

The ad was also a hit with the public. It has been credited by Guinness as being responsible for the substantial boost in sales experienced by the brand during the period in which it was broadcast. While revenues within the UK beer market declined by an average of −0.4% (−£19M), the year-on-year figures for Guinness showed an increase of 3.6% (+£13.3M).^[12] Between October 2005 and October 2006, Guinness achieved its highest ever volume (6.8%) and value (7.4%) shares,^[12] taking the position of market leader from Stella Artois. Diageo attributed the growth in no small part to the positive reception garnered by noitulovE.^[35]

[edit] Legacy

As one of the most recognisable television advertisements of 2006, noitulovE was one of two commercials (the other being Sony's Balls) to feature in the £200M campaign launched by Digital UK to raise awareness of the imminent switchover within the UK from analogue to digital television.^[36] New versions of the two adverts would show the first few seconds of the original spot before being interrupted by "Digit Al", an animated spokesman for the campaign.

In 2004, Guinness launched a retrospective television advertising campaign promoting Guinness Extra Cold stout, featuring new ten-second versions of British Guinness commercials broadcast between 1984 and 2004, including Mars (with Rutger Hauer reprising his role as the "Pure Genius"),^[37] Anticipation, Fish Bicycle, Surfer, and Bet on Black.^[38] noitulovE joined the campaign in 2006, and was the only piece to receive more than one new version. In the first, the patrons are encased only seconds after taking their first sip of Guinness in a glacier identical to the one which appeared half-way through the original spot. In the second, the sea through which the three fish bound backwards in the original spot is frozen while the trio are in mid-leap, leaving the characters skidding across the surface. In the final version, the primeval pool at the end of the original spot freezes while the mudskippers are taking their drink, and the protagonists' tongues are left stuck in the ice.^[39]

When noitulovE was first proposed, it was the only pitch revisiting the Good things come to those who wait campaign, as, according to copywriter Ian Heartfield, both AMV BBDO and Diageo "didn't think we could do something good enough to warrant following on from Surfer and the like."^[1] However, following the success of noitulovE, three additional commercials have been aired within the Good Things... campaign: Fridge, Hands, and Tipping Point (Guinness' most expensive advertising campaign to date).^[40]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Original noitulovE spot at the Framestore CFC website. (.mov format)
• A compilation of the three noitulovE Extra Cold spots at the Guinness website. Requires age verification. (Direct link to the swf file.)
• The "Digital Switchover Takeover" spot at Esphinx.com

Preceded by Grrr (Honda)

Cannes Lions Film Grand Prix Winner 2006

Succeeded by Evolution (Dove)

v • d • e Good things come to those who wait Swimblack • Surfer • Bet on Black • Dreamer • noitulovE • Fridge • Hands • Tipping Point