We've just launched the new Firefox Flicks video site. Here's a taste of what you can find over at Flicks. This Firefox ad, called "Daredevil" was created by Pete Macomber.
Voice Over:
The idea behind this spot was to capture a youthful energy and approach to life that is often lost in adulthood. In order to pull this off I studied the master of truth Errol Morris. I interviewed Ella Minot (a surfer, not an actress) using some of his techniques. I found that being passive, but engaging, allowed Ella to get lost in her world and when this happens you get the gems. As Errol once said, "you couldn't write this stuff." And he is so right. The word "daredevil" has been missing from my vocabulary for twenty years. I did the interview on the beach, which I think helped her relax and the fact that the sound quality is not perfect perhaps makes the spot more believable.
Camera:
"Daredevil" was shot with a DVX100 through a fisheye lens. I liked the using the fisheye for this project because the spherical quality of the image lends itself to the global nature of the product. (Please take all this with a grain of salt.) The skateboarding was shot from a bicycle. I like the silhouette of the rollercoaster on the pier in the background. I think it reflects the magical nature of a kid's imagination.
Post:
I made an effort to color the scenes to match the hot Firefox logo. The tag line changed several times, but I like the juxtaposition of this one. The music reminds me of something Ennio Morricone would write if he were an outlaw surfer. And one final note: Please remember it is much easier to make this stuff up after the fact.
About Pete:
Pete Macomber was born in Holland, raised in South Africa, received a degree in English literature from University of Colorado, competed on the US Snowboard Team and now creates music videos, commercials and screenplays from his Venice, California home when he's not off searching for undiscovered waves in Panama.
W're going to be putting up several new Flicks videos each day-- and there are two additional videos, "Drama Queen" and "Double-Click Relief" already up at the site, so head on over to Firefox Flicks and see some of what our community is working on.
Posted by asa at 08:12 AM - 17 Comments
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Looks like my media player needs to be updated :( why aren't the videos in a more standard format like flash (.swf) ??
Posted by: rayh ulop on April 11, 2006 10:41 AMHow is flash any more of a standard then quicktime?
Posted by: Kevin on April 11, 2006 11:38 AMThere's no Quicktime for Linux...
Posted by: Rishi on April 11, 2006 11:43 AMI like it! Firefox really is a lifestyle :)
Posted by: Emil Stenström on April 11, 2006 11:57 AMi love it! really great!
Posted by: testboy on April 11, 2006 12:12 PMGreat stuff. I can save it as a source file using QT Pro on the flicks site, but not from this blog. Also, the other 2 videos can't be saved as source. Shame, I wanted them on my HD for offline viewing, but never mind.
Great quality stuff though.
Posted by: Mr Lizard on April 11, 2006 12:58 PMMr Lizard, you can download all three videos. There's a download link on the page.
- A
Posted by: Asa Dotzler on April 11, 2006 01:27 PMIt would be nice if you could include the creator's notes with each of the submissions to better highlight that these adverts have been community contributed.
Posted by: Kroc Camen on April 11, 2006 01:45 PMThis stuff does not load and sometimes even crashes firefox. Try opening two windows of your blog with firefox on windows without quicktime or whatever is needed.
Posted by: Manuel on April 11, 2006 01:46 PMYou don't need any special program to download the videos:
View -> Page Info -> Media
OMG!! they're incredibly BAD, it's like those things you can't stop watching because they're sooooo embarrasing
Posted by: lala on April 11, 2006 02:35 PMCheers for pointing out the download link Asa. Do Mozilla make specs? ;-)
Posted by: Mr Lizard on April 11, 2006 03:03 PMJust a thought- anyone able to add subititles (captioning) to the videos? Just a thought for those who are hearing impaired
Posted by: Mr Lizard on April 11, 2006 03:04 PMI really like the phased approach with a few new flicks posted every day to keep us coming back for more.
Posted by: GeekyGirl on April 11, 2006 04:41 PMPlease also check out the new banners (if you feel like spreading the flicks)
Posted by: marco casteleijn on April 12, 2006 08:11 AM<abitofftopic>
FF 1.5.0.1 tells me that for http://www.firefoxflicks.com/flick/index.php?id=19319&c=false "additional plugins are required to display all the media on this page".
I press "Install Missing plugins" and the Plugin Finder Service tells me that i have to "press next to install these [ Apple Quicktime ] plugins". I press "Next" and a the PFS show "No plugins were installed" .... ( and give me the "Manual Install" alternative ) ( at this time i believe the non technical give up Quicktime plugin, give up Firefox and return to IE ).
Questions ( with my respect ):
. is there any incompatibility with FF 1.5.0.1 and Quicktime plugin ? ( Flash plugin just installs and just works )
. why www.firefoxflicks.com dont post the videos in a more ubicuous format like Flash Video, MPEG or a totally open format like Theora ? ( http://www.theora.org/)
</abitofftopic>
By the way: go Firefox and FF Flicks !
Posted by: omz on April 12, 2006 01:21 PM@omz, that's why I think they should use flash instead of quicktime, it's more widely a standard format for os's, it doesn't blow up when they do upgrades, and almost everyone who has a computer has flash.
Posted by: Anti_Anti on April 12, 2006 01:39 PM