Archive for October, 2008
Sliced Bread …we’re on the move
Posted by Administrator | Filed under News, Sliced Bread
Finally we can confirm that we are moving out of Covent Garden! After 6 years here it really is time for a refreshing change! We have found an amazing space in Shoreditch which (you’ll be pleased to know) includes a lift! Lots of people have questioned why, so i have written this post to answer just that.
One of the many questions we get asked is ‘is it cheaper’, the answer is not really, its a little more than we are paying now in Covent Garden but considering the rent in CG has gone up 120% (even in this climate), it made it impossible for us to stay without upping our fees . . . and our lease was up for renewal.
When we first opened in October 2002 some of you will remember that our office was in excellent condition, it was newly refurbished and excellent shopfront for any new business. Sure the stairs are a hassle, but the impressive entrance seemed to take away some of that burden. Many of our new clients liked to drop by as they ‘were in the area’.
Sadly much of that has now changed, the impressive entrance is really no more.. and not even a reflection of its former self, now a battered and bruised door that is urgently in need of some t.l.c.! Last year some new owners took over over property (Cap Co), they brought a number of them in the area and have ‘great’ plans for Covent Garden as a whole. Rumour has it they want to turn our office in residential, but that may just be a rumour! The way the office is managed has changed, where simple requests for improvements seem to go unnoticed but rent demands brink on harrasment from the managing agents (even though we have always paid on time).
The Covent Garden business space has changed too, no longer is it really a home for creatives, much more tourists and bigger corporate buinesses . . . the creative ‘hum’ has definately gone. Also, over the past 9 months we have had lots of new opportunities come our way from the Old Street/ Shoreditch area, indeed some of our existing clients are already there.
The new office is awesome, its a new building that was opened in May this year, the interior was designed by the same people that did the (now famous) Shoreditch House, on top of the Tea building. Its 5-10 minutes away from Liverpool Street/ Old Street, surrounded by excellent restaurants, bars and coffee shops. It has an impressive entrance with lots of comfortable meeting rooms, and even a stunning roof terrace!
Why not come over for a cup of tea (or coffee) so we can show you our new home, and some of our recent work while we’re at it? We could sit on a bean bag on the roof if it’s not too frosty, or pop out afterwards for a frothy beer or 2.
We move on the 1st November and look forward to seeing you there!
New address will be:
Sliced Bread Animation Limited, 81 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 3AY
New telephone numbers to follow! + Our new website will launch definately be in November too . . .
Jamie @Power to The Pixel
Posted by Administrator | Filed under Events, Sliced Bread
Programme, Day 2 23 October 2008
WORKSHOPS & PROJECT FORUM LAUNCH at The Royal Society for Arts15:00 – 15:50
13. ADVENTURES IN MOBILE DISTRIBUTIONLIZ ROSENTHAL, Director, Power to the Pixel (Session Moderator)
After years of expectation, mobile media is about to boom, bringing personalised on-demand content straight to your hand. A combination of technological breakthrough and new business models are leading to faster and more affordable downloads and a richer variety of made-for-mobile content. The Direct-to-consumer (D2C) content market is beginning to compete with operator portals to deliver better deals for content makers and users. In this session, leading experts in mobile video and film distribution will explain how to use mobile to distribute your projects, discuss if there is the potential for significant revenue streams and explain the best way to reach consumers directly.
RICHARD MORRIS, Director of Video & TV, Player X
JAMIE DENHAM, Managing Director, Sliced Bread Animation
ANDRE BURGESS, Managing Director, Crucible Media
On Thursday I have been invited to take part in a discussion about the ‘adventures in mobile distribution’, after a last minute cancellation. Some may ask why we have been invited as an ‘expert’ in this area where we can’t demonstrate ‘phenomenal’ success. The perspective is that since 2004 we have gone through many routes in order to try and get our mobile content ‘out there’. We have experienced several dead-ends over the years and they have mainly been distributors offering ‘exceptional deals’ (or so they think) with little or no return. For them there is little or no risk. In 2004 we were shown an angle in mobile distribution and was told it was ‘no-brainer’ right across the chain. We were told that revenues would exceed £250,000.00 in the first year, that was base on just one property, we had 2 more planned . . . this was it, rich beyond our wildest dreams! Sadly the reality was far from it, to date from that one product, we have generated £28.00 and not seen a penny of it.
Of the distributors we have meet, none have shown any realisation of the costs that go into production, their line is usually a biased revenue share (in there favour) and exclusive rights. We walked away from a deal with MTV because, despite being offered access to their ‘supposed’ large mobile audience, the numbers just didn’t add up and we would never have ‘broken even’ on the cost of production alone . . . to MTV it was a zero-risk partnership. Any distributor will tell you they need/ want content, only to find that it goes into a large vat of other unmarketed/ unsold work . . . the ultimate question is how will yours reach its ‘real’ audience?
I’m going in to fly the flag for creative ‘content creators’ looking for a fair share of the deal, and to also open up the discussion on other avenues in mobile distribution – do we really need the distributors?
So what do I see as the positive turnaround in this adventure? I’ll blog back after the event and let you know . . .tbc.
Ooops..
Posted by Administrator | Filed under General, Personal
Sudden flurry of posts relates to the fact that some our database got lost yesterday – human error! Normal service resumes shortly.
Well you fooled me.. amex
Posted by Administrator | Filed under Animation, Video
Superb piece by Not To Scale, when I first saw this from the viewpoint of my living room I admit, I was fooled. Closer inspection does reveal its true 3D approach, but its still great.
Shooting the elements for real would have left the Agency and Client little room for ongoing changes and edit decisions, so bringing the script to life in Maya was quickly agreed as the best possible option for all eventualities.”
Smile for Kodak!
Posted by Administrator | Filed under Animation, News, Sliced Bread
We have recentaly completed work on another product visualisation piece for Kodak. The V1253 is a 12 megapixel camera with true HD for pictures and videos. The movie was used as part of its marketing collateral (click images to view), if you would like to discuss simliar projects, please contact us.
What next . . . brand funded animation?
Posted by Administrator | Filed under General
One of the most recent events that has prompted me to write this post, is the discussion surrounding the sponsorship of Somers Town (the new Shane Meadows film) by Eurostar.
Creative Review opens the discussion by saying:
The film is the first release from a new division set up by Mother advertising agency, Mother Vision, which aims to create “entertainment ideas and non-traditional communications”, and it was funded by Eurostar.
The benefits for Eurostar remain to be seen. Outside of blogs such as these, the brand’s involvement has been less trumpeted, and there have been reviews where it is not mentioned at all. Yet the movie demonstrates that such overt branding is not always necessary – we all know that it is Eurostar that operates the train between London and Paris that Tommo and Marek travel on, so we do not need the brand name shoved down our throats, in fact it would be a detriment to it if it was.
The success of the film also places Eurostar in the position of potentially being a brand that could grow to be seen as a patron of British cinema, offering funding to an industry that is always strapped for cash. This would require further investment of course, plus the even braver step of backing films that might contain no mention of trains at all. As it is, Mother and Meadows have managed to pull off a surprisingly difficult trick – making a film that is credible and watchable, which also serves as 85-minute ad.
Over the recent years much has been said about ad-funding and what the future holds in this area. Personally I think it is great, if you can get a film or project you want of the ground with little (or preferably NO) creative interference from the ‘the brand’ – then why not?
If we can tell genuinely entertaining stories that are authentic to the brand’s core values then it’s good news for everyone – brands find an audience, and that audience is entertained – Mother Vision.
The animation industry has taken a bit of hammering of late, given the recent ‘junk food ban’ imposed by the government. Long standing animation studio Cosgrove Hall, has admitted that the current industry climate is directly affecting their trade:
UK production studio Cosgrove Hall, creators of Dangermouse and other great British cartoons, is to cut its work force by 25%. The downsizing is being blamed on the junk food ad ban, which is impacting on the animation industry and exacerbating the already difficult UK production climate. Managing Director Anthony Utley said, “We are really struggling to keep our heads above the water.
However agencies and brands alike will always see the incredible potential of animation as an communication asset, you only have to look at the awesome success of the LloydsTSB by Studio AKA to reaffirm this.
We have several original content productions that we are looking to get off the ground, and as well as private investment, we are of course looking at ‘brand investment’. On our part, what comes with it is that the ‘brands values’ needs to be a 2-way thing – i.e. ‘ethical’. Do our own ideals fit with the brands own ‘values’? Eurostar is a ’safe brand’, and a lot has been said recently on how its helping towards reducing carbon emissions with so many business users now using it as the best alternative to air travel. However there are many brands out that are seen in less than favoured light, and I think that ‘content’ developers should be wary as to with whom they should associate themselves. Eurostar/ Mother vision must have given some great consideration to the collaboration with Meadows and his style (brand) of filmmaking.
Animation is long seen as an ‘expensive art’ requiring so much time to turn around (against live-action), in order to achieve the quality our audiences now expect… all this costs from ’script to screen’. Investor’s have tendency to favour investment with live-action since the production time can be a lot less and hence their return. I would challenge that theory now though, technologies in animation software and rendering allows for a lot faster turnaround time (see Trona as a case study). The beauty of animation is that once you have the pre-production complete, you can keep producing episodes and assets without reliance on the elements (watch Gilliam’s lost in La Mancha to see what I mean!). Merchandising components are easily arrange…again I think the Lloyds ads have got great mileage out of this, enabling them too use large amounts of the content in digital and print media.
So what is next for the industry? I see a lot more online ad-funded animated content coming into play, however it will be associated with both explicit and subtle global brand branding, some of which will be bad associations on either part. High quality content will be key, alongside ‘not-in-your-face’ brand support – but the brands will always be seeking that all important ‘return on investment’! Online content is much more measurable than traditional TV, so it really is a key placement going forward.
The Dudes t-shirts now on sale
Posted by Administrator | Filed under General, News, The Dudes
You can now buy your very own ‘The Dudes’ t-shirt via RedBubble. Click the image for access to almost 50 designs (more to be updated soon). They say each one is based on someone we know… can you guess who?
And don’t forget there’s the build your own Dude for Facebook/ MySpace avatar etc. via this link plus there’s the ‘We Love The Dudes’ Facebook group. If you are interested in finding out more about ‘The Dudes’ property, email us @ info@karmablueproductions.co.uk or via The Dudes website.
Safe Travel
Posted by Administrator | Filed under Animation, Jobs, Sliced Bread, Video
As part of our progression into e-learning applications, Sliced Bread Animation has recently completed the Safe Traveller application for Janusian. Working alongside Fresh01, Sliced Bread generated all the animated content for the 5 step process. A robust ‘back office’ system was also created by us which allows seat allocation, and client management. Click to view trailer.
SafeTraveller is an electronic learning program for companies seeking to achieve universally high standards of safety and security for their business travellers. It allows corporate security and HR managers to rapidly and effectively roll out a highly cost effective and engaging travel security training programme across their travelling workforce.
SafeTraveller has been designed by Janusian’s security experts, reflecting their experiences of travel in the world’s most challenging locations. It sets a clear learning objective- to encourage delegates to actively seek to become more safety and security aware- and delivers in an engaging and interactive way across five modules:
- Taking Control From The Start: travel planning and preparation
- The Art of Safety: heightening security awareness
- Getting From A To B: staying safe and secure on the move
- Mastering Your Environment: personal security at the airport, hotel and on the street
- How To Handle Difficult Situations: coping with street crime, bribery, surveillance, espionage and hostage-taking
At the end of each module users must complete an evaluation exercise designed to enhance as well as test the knowledge they have acquired.
