Time Sculpture
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''Time Sculpture'' is a British television and cinema advertisement launched in 2008 to promote
Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...
's
high-definition television High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...
upscaling technology. The piece, which comprised a collection of interacting loops sequenced into a moving shot, was created in collaboration with
advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...
Grey London Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asi ...
, based on a
video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...
proposal by director
Mitch Stratten Mitch Stratten is a director, sculptor, composer and writer based in the United Kingdom. Stratten is best known for the cut-up, "mash-cut” album ''Nodern Loves You'' released on Sub Rosa (label), Sub Rosa records and the world record breaking ...
. ''Time Sculpture'' holds the
world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...
for the greatest number of moving image cameras used in a single shot. ''Time Sculpture'' was directed by
Mitch Stratten Mitch Stratten is a director, sculptor, composer and writer based in the United Kingdom. Stratten is best known for the cut-up, "mash-cut” album ''Nodern Loves You'' released on Sub Rosa (label), Sub Rosa records and the world record breaking ...
and the shoot was handled by production company Hungry Man with post-production completed by The Mill in London. ''Time Sculpture'' was recognised for its innovation from within and outside of the advertising and television industries and garnered various awards including a
Clio Award The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...
, a London International Award and a GTC Award.


Sequence

''Time Sculpture'' opens with a fixed camera view of an undecorated art studio. On the open floor is a chair and a platform trolley. A man and a woman walk into frame from left and right respectively. The man falls to the floor and begins doing push-ups. The woman holding a set of black cards walks to the centre, spins around and throws the cards in the air. The music ("
Air War "Air War" is a single by Crystal Castles. It was released on 17 December 2007 by Trouble Records as a 7" vinyl. An earlier version of the song was released in July 2006 as the B-Side to "Alice Practice" on Merok Records. The lyrics are from the 192 ...
" by
Crystal Castles Crystal Castles was a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, by songwriter-producer Ethan Kath and singer-songwriter Alice Glass. Crystal Castles was known for their chaotic live shows and lo-fi music, lo-fi melanc ...
) starts and the stationary camera begins to move to the right on a consistent circular track while the elements within frame, compiled from all angles in 360 degrees, loops back and forth at different timings in the same physical space, forming an interconnecting rhythmical pattern from the spontaneous movement captured. As more performers walk into frame some interact with props like basketballs, a pink flag and spilling two large cans of purple paint. A man encircling the group in a yellow raincoat jumps in beneath a paint spill before stepping onto the chair in a balancing act of backwards forwards movement as the music rises. The "flag" and "skateboard" men each pick up one of the balls now bouncing infinitely by themselves as a voiceover begins, stating: "When what we watch constantly redefines itself, shouldn't how we watch it do the same?" The piece closes with the Toshiba logo, the motto "Leading Innovation" and a link to the company's upscaling website.


Production


Background

The second half of the 2000s (decade) saw electronics conglomerate
Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...
engaged in the
high definition optical disc format war The high-definition optical disc format war was a market competition between two optical disc standards for distributing high-definition video: Blu-ray Disc, backed by Sony, and HD DVD, backed by Toshiba. The conflict lasted from 2006 to 200 ...
, in which it supported the
HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Density Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video.
format. In 2007, Toshiba made the decision to consolidate its European advertising ventures with a single
advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...
, where previously it had split its £25,000,000 marketing budget between Lowe,
Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi and Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency ...
,
Grey Global Group Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asi ...
, and
Young & Rubicam VMLY&R was an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the 2020 mer ...
.The Week: Creative Reviews - Grey lands £25m Toshiba
, '' Campaign'', 22 June 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
In June 2007, Grey won the account with a pitch based around emphasising Toshiba's history in research and development, pushing the company's image as an "innovator in the field". The first television and cinema commercial from the partnership, Light, lighter, aired in January 2008, to a lukewarm reception. The middling results of the campaign caused Grey to re-evaluate its approach, leading to a new campaign, which would see an advertisement "push the boundaries of what was possible.” To this end, Grey London re-examined several proposals presented to them in the past which had been abandoned as unworkable, before deciding upon a concept which had been proposed by
Mitch Stratten Mitch Stratten is a director, sculptor, composer and writer based in the United Kingdom. Stratten is best known for the cut-up, "mash-cut” album ''Nodern Loves You'' released on Sub Rosa (label), Sub Rosa records and the world record breaking ...
. The idea, inspired by
Eadweard Muybridge Eadweard Muybridge ( ; 9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904, born Edward James Muggeridge) was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture Movie projector, projection. He ...
, was to build on the "
bullet time Bullet time (also known as frozen moment, dead time, flow motion or time slice) is a visual effect or visual impression of detaching the time and space of a camera (or viewer) from that of its visible subject. It is a depth enhanced simulation of ...
" technology pioneered by
the Wachowskis Lana Wachowski (born Larry Wachowski, June 21, 1965) and Lilly Wachowski (born Andy Wachowski, December 29, 1967) are American film and television directors, writers and producers. The sisters are both trans women. Together known as the Wacho ...
in the feature film ''
The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...
'', by replacing the stills cameras with moving image cameras to show movement not seen before as backward and forward simultaneously appose to the frozen moment of "
dead time For detection systems that record discrete events, such as particle and nuclear detectors, the dead time is the time after each event during which the system is not able to record another event. An everyday life example of this is what happens whe ...
". The title “time sculpture” came to the director on the way to Grey London with his producer where they presented the project as a production and post-production blueprint.


Production

The idea had originally been put aside as unachievable for a singular reason: the project required a quantity of data unprecedented in a television commercial,Stratten, Mitch;
Making of: ''Time Sculpture''
, Hungry Man (2008).
and would be one of the biggest visual effects jobs ever undertaken by a commercial production company."Mill Sculpts Time for Toshiba", The Mill, 10 December 2008. After the technique was decided upon, the agency sourced a specific creative teams to collaborate with the director.Hotshots: In-Camera Invention
", ''Shots'', 12 November 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
They wanted to restrict using
computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...
, and
stunt A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Befo ...
work would be kept to a minimum to maintain focus on the ordinary movements which would be seen in a completely new way through the technique. Based on early tests films of the director, a simple treatment was assembled. The piece would be set in an
art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...
studio to "showcase creativity at its rawest" according to creative director Andy Amadeo. Timings of predeterminate movements of several performers were choreographed using
computer simulations Computer simulation is the running of a mathematical model on a computer, the model being designed to represent the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be determin ...
which also informed the
set construction Set construction is the process undertaken by a construction manager to build full-scale scenery, as specified by a production designer or art director working in collaboration with the director of a production to create a set for a theatr ...
at
Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
where the shoot took place."The Mill Clocks a Guinness World Record for Toshiba ''Time Sculpture''", The Mill, 6 April 2009. Colour was used to isolate movement and enhance structure. It took over a month and a half to assemble the engineering team who would work on creating the custom 360 moving image capture system. The rig which supported 200 Gigashot high-definition video cameras requisitioned from Toshiba, was 1.8 m-highNettleton, Kate;
Close-Up: Live issue - Toshiba eschews the 'big idea' for technology
, '' Campaign'', 21 November 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
and weighed over half a tonne. It was constructed in two halves, each covering 180 degrees of the inward view of a 14 m circular space in the centre of the constructed set. Once the rig itself was assembled, it took a team of four technicians three days to set the focus and alignment on all 200 cameras. Technology devised by electrical engineer Richard Glover was used to synchronously activate the entire system from a single
remote control A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...
.Toshiba Premieres the World's First Timesculpture Advert.
''Presswire'', 11 November 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2010 via Accessmylibrary.com.


Post-production

Each of the fourteen performers in ''Time Sculpture'' were captured separately from all angles by the 200 cameras. The resulting 110 hours of high definition footage, representing around 20  Tb of data, took
post-production Post-production, also known simply as post, is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording indivi ...
three weeks to process, running 24 hours a day, resulting in 2,500,000 single  
frames A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
. In addition, the director had designed the workflow with a custom Edit Decision List and editing application to manage the vast amount of footage in the edit room. Independent programmers were commissioned to create this software, for use by editing company The Whitehouse. The initial editing pass by editor Christophe Williams pared the film down to around 30 hours. The remaining data was passed back to The Mill, who began working on compositing the film using
Flame A flame () is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction made in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density, they are then considered plasm ...
. While on set, each half of the rig had been given one run individually to create a blank background to allow The Mill to remove the rig. While minimal CGI work was needed on ''Time Sculpture'', minor modifications to details such as lighting were made using software including Baselight, Floctane,
Smoke Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...
, and
Autodesk Softimage Autodesk Softimage is a discontinued 3D computer graphics application, for producing 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling, and computer animation. Now owned by Autodesk and formerly titled Softimage XSI (stylized as Softimage, XSI), the software has ...
.


Release and reception

The final 60-second cut of ''Time Sculpture'' premiered on 10 November 2008 on terrestrial television channels
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...
,
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
and on the satellite television channel
Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
."Toshiba runs pounds 3m HD ads", ''
Marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...
'', 5 November 2008.
The full version aired for one week on terrestrial television, and for three weeks on Sky One, supported by 30-second cuts on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
,
Five 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...
, Sky,
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...
, and
ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV plc. The channel focuses primarily on general entertainment programming targeting a male audience, including action series and films, ...
through 17 November, followed by 20-second cuts on the same channels. This was accompanied by in-store retail promotions and by an online presence. In all, around £3,000,000 was spent on media purchases. While ''Time Sculpture'' proved popular, attracting over 500,000 views on
video sharing website An online video platform (OVP) enables users to upload, convert, store, and play back video content on the Internet, often via a private server structured, large-scale system that may generate revenue. Users will generally upload video content vi ...
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
in days, featured on most popular blogs and international news, reactions to the commercial from critics was mixed. Comparisons were made with other "bullet time" works such as ''The Matrix'', and advertising criticisms were leveled that the piece lacked a "big idea".Campaign's top 10 TV and cinema ads
, '' Campaign'', 12 December 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
However, others were more complimentary; Noel Bussey of ''Campaign'' magazine commented: "Brave, interesting and expertly realised, this is a breath of fresh air, and a call to arms from an agency that has struggled with having a reputation for not doing interesting creative." The publication later went on to name it one of the top ten advertisements of the year. This was not the last honour ''Time Sculpture'' would receive; over the next few months it received honours from the
D&AD Awards Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. ...
, the
Clio Awards The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The award ...
, and the Midsummer Awards. ''Time Sculpture'' was also selected for
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
Year In Ideas, quoting Mitch Stratten: An alternate version of ''Time Sculpture'' was later exhibited by the director in London after it caught interest from the art world. The film also inspired other commercials and
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
s. In 2009, it was recognised by the
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
for having used the highest number of moving image cameras in a composite shot. Following the commercial success of ''Time Sculpture'', Grey London and Toshiba decided to continue the campaign the following year, titled as '' Space Chair'', with the aim to brake the world record for the highest television commercial shot in high-definition.


References


External links

*
Time Sculpture
', via video-sharing website YouTube. {{Authority control 2008 works 2008 in British television British television commercials 2000s television commercials