(1888PressRelease)
February 27, 2008 - Three Spot Campaign Features Tracks By The Strokes, Flaming Lips and Band of Horses – All Remixed By Creative Director Alex Moulton
NEW YORK, NY – Few projects tap as many skill sets at one time as the new Team Direct, Detroit, MI, created campaign for Microsoft's Sync did for original music/sound design house Expansion Team (www.expansionteam.org). The three-spot campaign for the revolutionary new Bluetooth syncing device found in exclusively in new Ford, Lincoln & Mercury vehicles, featuring visuals from Expansion Team sister company EyeballNYC, New York, needed equal parts original music and sound design, music supervision/remixing tracks from the bands The Strokes, Flaming Lips and Band of Horses, and licensing a track from Expansion Team's own library – the New York-based band Beasts of Eden's song "End Times." The campaign is currently airing nationally.
"This is a great example of how we can be a complete musical resource for our clients," Alex Moulton, Expansion Team's Founder/Creative Director said. "Team Detroit came to us with a clear idea of what the product was and the tone for the campaign, but no specific idea of how it should be implemented. Our job was to come up with how to tell the story musically. I knew we needed an intro that needed to integrate with the songs from The Strokes, The Flaming Lips and Band of Horses. I also wanted to end each spot with something that would make you feel good. The overall aesthetic needed to be fluid and simple. My parents still have a hard time with their iPods so it was key for a Ford consumer to look at this and think it looks cool, not overly complicated and intimidating."
Visually the spots weave an eye-catching blend of 2D/3D animation and dramatic camera moves that bring to life the power of the Sync system. As the Expansion Team original music begins, we hear a voice say simply "this is Sync" as a car drives across a brilliant computer generated sunrise. In the spot featuring The Strokes, a voice says "play artist The Strokes" and suddenly stylized video images of the band pop up suddenly on the road like living billboards. As the voice offers other commands such as "call office" and "play genre rock" similar 3D images envelop the scene.
Musically the spots move effortlessly from Moulton's opening music, which deftly builds the tension toward the remixed versions of various songs and finally into the Beasts of Eden track that ends each of the three spots.
"The opening music is more a simple textural element in the same key as the song, it's there to set the mood and atmosphere of the campaign," said Moulton. "Visually we go on this journey and the audio needed to reflect that as well. Ultimately the challenge was about finding the right flow musically. "
About Expansion Team:
Expansion Team redefines how music can be created for today's media by building a bridge between the recording, TV, film and advertising industries. They know the importance of a successful brand message and focus on creating impassioned brand aficionados. Led by founder and creative director Alex Moulton and executive producer April Jaffe, Expansion Team is supported by an exceptional roster of talent; an international collective of award-winning producers, songwriters, DJs and remixers. Because they work in studios around the world, an additional network of top session players and vocalists have become part of their growing family. For more information check out: www.expansionteam.org.
Web Resources:
Click here to watch the new Microsoft Sync/Ford, Lincoln & Mercury campaign:
http://www.expansionteam.org/website.php?id=p66
Click here to visit Expansion Team's website:
http://www.expansionteam.org
Click here for more info about Sync:
http://www.syncmyride.com
Creative Credits:
Agency: Team Detroit, Detroit, MI
Executive Creative Director: Lance Paull
Copywriter: Bob Havlena
Art Directors: Kevin Finney, Beth Hambly
Producer: Judd Stricker
Executive Producer: Carole Gall
Production Company: Eyeball NYC, New York
Chief Creative Officer: Limore Shur
Creative Manager: Hyejin Hwang
Creative Director: Jory Hull
Art Director: Kazz Ishihara
Head of Production: Mike Sullo
Producers: Kimberly Abels, Jason Sonner
3D supervisors: Stuart Simms, Vi Nguyen
3D Modeling & Animation: Nickolay Shchetinkin, Anthony Jones, Caius Wong
Animators: Jason Conradt, Doug Purver, Neil Stuber, Cyprian Sadlon, George epulveda, Johan Wiberg
Rotoscoping: Ghazia Jalal, Sergei Martirosav
Designer: Mara Smalley, Lionel Gaillard
Conceptual Artists: Christopher Williams, Oliver Navarro, Kiffer Keegan, Tali Brettler, Daniel DeGloria, Mauricio Leon, Maren Morstad, Tim Haldeen
Assistant Editor: Brian Douglass
Studio Manager: Jason Dillard
Music/Sound Design/Audio Post: Expansion Team, New York, NY
Creative Director: Alex Moulton
Composer/Sound Designer/Engineer: Alex Moulton
Executive Producer: April Jaffe
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