Toyota Avalon Travels Back in Time

What do you guys think about these new retro kitsch Toyota Avalon commercials? They are part Mad Men, part vintage advertising, and part stepford wife creepy.

At first i thought they totally missed their mark, trying to be vintage but not going far enough with the aesthetic, lighting or film stocks, but the more i see them, and think about the two of them as a campaign rather than individual spots i get the kitsch factor much more and kinda really like them. I also like the idea of travel as a luxury rather than a given or a right, it's a nice change of perception. thoughts? Mr. Sandman bring me a dream?

Saturday Night Live Take a Cue From Mad Men

I caught some of last Saturday's SNL with January Jones (Betty Draper) as the host. I felt some of it fell short but this sketch of A Ladies Guide to Party Planning is everything ridiculous i love about housewives, cookbooks, and etiquette from the 50's and 60's.

Harley Davidson Enlists a Pin Up Girl for Veterans

If you've been to YouTube at all today you've probably noticed the pin up girl inspired salute to the military from Harley Davison in the form of a banner ad. A trip to the Harley website offers more videos, photos, and even a contest for bike riding vets. I'm loving the retro pin up love on this veterans day.

Sesame Street Turns 40

Yep, the lovable educational muppet show is 40 and still one of the turn to television programs for children. To celebrate here are some of my all time favorite segments.

Susie and Jessie Create Bad Shoes

My dear friend Susie is getting married in Vegas this weekend, and to celebrate i want to share one of her music videos that i think absolutely belongs in the - wow i have such talented friends categories.

The video is for "Bad Shoes" by Dagger Lees, created by Directing/Editing/Writing Duo Susie and Jessie (Susie Morrell, Jessie Ward). Check it out and see below for a little background info from Sue on the concept and the creative process.

The Dagger Lees - Bad Shoes from jessie ward on Vimeo.

What came first the medium or the concept? Did you have the camera and want to experiment or did the inspiration for the look of the film come directly from the song/artist?

The whole thing was inspired by a dress! Donna, the lead singer, found this amazing vintage Victorian nightgown and from that they were inspired to make a video for their upcoming single that evoked a similar menacing, old time air. Well, I guess a nightgown isn't menacing but it's still a little decrepit and creepy! We like the idea of making videos that look vintage themselves and we all decided to make the film look like it was shot entirely on super8 (we both have our super8s and love them, but budget constraints - and practicality - make producing music vids on super8 basically impossible for us).

I love the use of the iconic villain from the silent era. Can you tell me a little about the story line and where it came from?

Once we had the visual motif in mind, we decided to cast each band member as a unique character. Donna was the little girl lost in a nightmare set in the forest. Grum (guitarist) was the pied piper villain. Benni (bass) was the living doll gone mad, breaking her dolls (possibly a little girl lost herself who never made it out of the woods). And Justin (drums) is the odd man in the background who digs graves and plays with clocks.

We came from the visual first - the characters, their individual locations in the woods, the props they held and their costumes, and from that formed the loose plot of a our girl waking up in the woods, disoriented and without her way, befriending a little boy who, unbeknownst to her, is actually in cahoots with the Bad Man in the Top Hat. [Oh, another tidbit, the little boy is Donna's real life son, Steven.]

The use of color or lack of it is obviously very deliberate - anything you want to say about that decision? (aside from the fact the red lips pop amazingly among the desaturated film!)

Thanks! Yes, originally, it was to be all black and white. Then we tried sepia. Then as we were playing with the footage, we watched Donna's singing parts in oversaturated color and thought she looked amazing and that it would be a shame to lose all that color. So a happy accident really! Some parts (like her being tied to the tree) were filmed during a wintry sunset and the sunlight was unbelievable. We decided a happy medium of the cold, old film look in some scenes and the overblown color in others was a little risk we wanted to take. Call it indecision, we think it adds another layer visually. It also adds a little more dreamlike, home movie meets nightmare quality to it. At least we like to think so.

What's in the box!?

A lamb's heart. They were out of pig that day. It was my job to go buy it. The things I do for our projects!

Compared to the other videos the two of you have created this one stands out in tone I think. Do you aim to be diverse or is your style more circumstantial? Is this a look you'd like to explore further?

The variation in tone from project to project is both circumstantial - the artists we've worked with so far and perhaps most importantly their non-existent budgets - as well as our completely all-over-the-place personal preferences. Clearly, we both LOVE silent movies, super8 films, nostalgia, vintage imagery, experimental cinema, abstraction. We are also interested in technology and using that to create interesting art, hence our dabbling in somewhat "techy" looking video effects on the Neosupervital vid, which suited that band's synth-pop style. I think it's a coincidence that the majority of bands we've made videos with so far are into making stuff look old, but it's a coincidence that suits our interests too. (And actually, ever since the Dagger Lee video, everyone seems to say they want a super8 looking video like that one!)

How do you and Jesse work together...does one of you tend to be more involved with the talent while the other with the camera for instance or is it a full on collaboration in all aspects?

Definitely a total collaboration. Jessie would have been more into the technical side of film school at NYU (she intended initially to become a cinematographer) while I was more interested in writing. Seems we've both ended up in the directing arena, but our two distinct jumping off points in studying film is probably the reason we both like to come up with the ideas, shoot, direct and edit simultaneously. I think we've both mixed nicely as well in that we both collaborate creatively on each project, while both manning the camera (I'm always trying to become more technically adept). It also helps that we're very close friends - I'm sure not many directors are able to share camera and directing duties, then sit in front of an editing suite for days on end without killing each other! We find it fun, if exhausting.

Check out more work from Susie and Jessie here

Vintage Futuristic Fashion

Love these vintage fashion videos from the 30s and 60s respectively, about the future of fashion.

Chaquita Banana Commercial Animated for a New Age

Late last night I saw a new Chiquita Banana commercial! So good, i got excited and I had to share. And of course revisit the original Disney animated spot from the 40's. Enjoy!

Hitchhiking Coming Back into Fashion?

Last night i saw two separate corporately dressed hitchhikers looking for a ride out of the city during rush hour while I was on the way to class - i love it! Maybe it's Jack Kerouac or stories from my hippie parents about hitching rides to protest rallies that have romanticized my views of the freeloading traveler but I would love the country to turn back to a place where need takes precedence over want and the rides are shared (of course watching out for men with hooks for hands and not traveling alone as a single woman, or picking someone up while driving alone as a single woman, but still!)

Circus Zoetrope for Temperley London

This has got to be one fo the coolest things I've seen in a long long time. Directing collective Legs created a Victorian circus Zoetrope for Temperley London to showcase their Spring 2010 line (also circus themed, hence the inspiration) at fashion week. I love the creepy beauty that the old time circus aesthetic has.

What's a Zoetrope? It's a wheel of still images in succession that when spun produces the impression of movement, basically the origins of film and animation as we know it today. The tecnology inspired the innovators of the medium such as Eadweard Muybridge, ( but you film school kids already knew that!)

Check out the Zoetrope in motion below and for more info about the making of process see here.

Temperley London Circus Zoetrope from LEGS on Vimeo.

..and speaking of Zoetrope's and advertising, just last year Sony Bravia landed a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records for creating the largest Zoetrope. Very cool. Check it out.

Mad Men for Vanity Fair Shot by Annie Leibovitz

I know, I know, it's Mad Men mania. After last night's repeat Emmy Wins, today's Oprah special, and yesterday's killer episode it seem s like its all Mad Men all the time. So, I'm going to continue to add to it! Check out these spreads from the September issue of Vanity Fair from famed photographer Annie Leivobitz.



Don't they make you want to jump into that world and steal Don and Betty's wardrobe (or furniture depending on your shopping fetish!)

Looking Back at Canada Dry

Don't you love the little commercial fun facts you get as bumpers to some of Mad Men sponsors? I'm loving the vintage Canada Dry they've been showcasing and couldn't help but to find some more.


This first one featuring Ann Margeret is very Mad Men, it reminds me a bit of the Patio/Bye Bye Birdie spot that Sal directedt...



One gulp is for thirst, the others for kicks...


The taste that's less sweet...

Seu Jorge does Bowie

My friend Sue has got some Bowie up on her blog today, what a good way to start out the morning? Since i'm a little sleepy I'm feeling a little more like Seu Jorge does Bowie myself.

Puff the Magic Dragon

So sad, another iconic loss this week, Mary Travers has passed away.

Mad Men Inspired Bacardi Ads

I have a problem. After each new episode of Mad Men I find myself scouring for the vintage ads the team is working on that week. I just want to see if their ideas are real and authentic to the brand strategy or are fabricated for the show. I know what the answer probably is, but I still look.

In honor of this week's Bacardi brainstorming session, here are some vintage Bacardi Rum Ads for your enjoyment.
ps. I know they aren't all from the 60's but I think they still work well together as a group.

Sea Monkey Revival

Or did they never really go away and it's just that I grew up? The weird little shrimp that have been fascinating kids and grossing out parents for 40 years have a new print campaign. The illustrations haven't changed much - which is good for them - it's their greatest marketing tool. I know I wanted a cute pink illustrated Sea friend on my dresser, and presumably unlike the masses i was disappointed with the creepy alien bugs that hatched and never turned pink or sprouted fun accessories.I heard the news on adfreak, and was happily surprised to find out the agency behind it was Gertrude - they seem to be one to much churning out more and more good work.

Craving some vintage Sea Monkey Love? Here's some of the weirdness...

Joe Cocker Little Help From My Friends Translation

Just a final Woodstock tidbit to make you smile before the weekend. This video translates Joe Cocker's Woodstock rendition of Little Help From My Friends, guaranteed to make you smile.

Three Days of Peace and Music

It's hard to believe that it's been another 10 years, but it has - this weekend marks the 40th Anniversary of the Woodstock festival held August 15-17th 1969. To celebrate LIFE has been featuring a fantastic photo array - check it out, it's a visual time capsule.
...and my personal favorite performance from the weekend, The Star Spangled Banner from Jimi Hendrix.

For Even the Toughest Stains...

I'm having a fight with the laundry today trying to find the right home remedy to remove rust stains from a load of my most precious whites, so i thought - why not? Why not review some of the best stain fighter commercials from our past. Here are some of the laundry commercials I was able to dig up, some are vintage commercials and some are modern ads that i just like!








This is what i need, Stain Lifter - that's All!



For all of those that have wondered what happens once you close the lid...


This is one of my favorites


....and just because I think this one is just darling...

...any you remember or love? please send them on over!

Me and My Shadow

Check out this dance off, promoting Volkswagen. Fun Stuff!



...now check out the flashback, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., classic.

Steampunk in Stop Motion

When The Falcon popped up on my Vimeo list this morning I was just thrilled, i love waking up to great creative ideas! It is a combination of some of my absolute favorite things, stop motion animation and vintage cameras - the result a Steampunk story about a cast of photographic characters battling exposure and depth of field.

As with most stop motion experiments, i first thought of PES, but then began to think of other Steampunk animated pieces that might be fun to dig up. What is Steampunk you ask? Steampunk is a subculture aesthetic that references the future using elements from our industrial past. Think gears, watch parts, and factory components combined to create something new. I think of Modern Times, Monty Python title cards, and the intro to You Can't Do That on Television.

Check out these commercials from 8fish that were featured as a part of this years' Addy Awards Ceremony, there were a total of 18 bumpers in the collection.