KPMG Slant

We were recently asked by our friends at KPMG to help make some films for their KPMG SLANT portal. The KPMG SLANT portal is an interesting website that uses the scale and insight of their organisation to break down some of the toughest questions today regarding work and life and how people and organisations fit into the changing digital environment. The films and articles that are featured are accessible, and aren't afraid to set out a point of view which we feel is important given that much of the the topics that the site covers have no single correct approach. It's refreshing to see a dynamic and engaging website that speaks knowledgeably about the pervasive but complex topics that face organisations and individuals in the digital age.

We weren't involved in the design of the website, but here's what it looks like, we love the design:

The films that we created involved interviewing employees at KPMG who were experts in their field in order to distill their expertise and passion. There was no script, no agenda, simply a contemporary topic with different points of view and approaches which are appropriate depending upon your circumstances. KPMG were confident enough in their employees to let them respond to our interview questions without prior briefing. From the filmed interviews we created films which explored these differing approaches to contemporary digital issues.

The topics covered were (click on the link to view the film):

• Do we need a privacy charter for the internet?
• Who should keep us safe online?
• Is the real world ready for virtual currencies? 
• Pricing - the price isn't right 

We're all a bit geeky here at FLETCHERWILSON, however we were largely out geeked by the supremely knowledgeable boffins at KPMG and had an utterly fascinating few days of filming with the KPMG team and learning about the fields that they work in.

Below are some stills from the completed films. We created the illustration and animation to support the messages that the films conveyed.

Finally, here's a link to the SLANT website: www.kpmgslant.co.uk

In Production for Soho Square / Ogilvy

We're nearing completion of a project for our friends at Soho Square / Ogilvy and whilst we can't give precise details about the production yet, we thought we'd share some production shots by way of a bit of a teaser. When the production is live online, we'll share a link.

In the meantime, thanks to our friends at Soho Sqaure / Ogilvy for the inspiration and input that they brought to this production - Phil, Rams, Roly, Malc, Amy, and thanks to the FLETCHERWILSON team - Joe R, Joe E, Phil, Kat, Ken, Darren, Rob, Nat

This light sphere is used to record both a reflection map (the shiny side) and the ambient colour temperature and direction and quality of light source (the matt white side).

The film was shot on a Sony F55. Thanks to Shoot Blue for supplying the equipment, including the beautiful Arri Alura 45-250 zoom lens.

The production involved a lot of going up and down stairs, both on and off camera.

 Kat, Phil and a camera

Darren looks focussed whilst Phil focuses and Ken contemplates what it all means for post.

We filmed at Soho Square / Ogilvy's client's offices. They were very helpful in allowing us access to some normally inaccessible parts of the building.

 Joe directs Darren, our talent.

Camera assistant Joe 

 Director Joe

Joe and Phil with practical legs! 

Rob stands on a dolly at the top of a large flight of stairs. No H&S issues there, then.

The Shortest Stories Ever Told!

Stories; we all tell them, we all hear them and we all have them to share. Here at FLETCHERWILSON - the Real Story Company we've been looking at some remarkably short stories that need a little help and imagination from the audience to get to the bottom of them.

It is said that the shortest story ever written, consisted of just six words and was scrawled on a napkin by Ernest Hemmingway amidst a bet with friends that it was impossible to tell a story so short. Hemmingway’s story was simply:

‘For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.’

It’s likely that the quote was taken from a newspaper advert in an attempt for Hemmingway to win a bet and was not his own original writing. However, regardless of the circumstances in which the six-word-story was written, its implications are remarkable. Were the shoes bought for a child that was never born, due to infertility or miscarriage? Did the child die shortly after the birth? Or perhaps on a less tragic note – and my favourite possibility – perhaps aliens found the shoes having arrived on a destroyed planet Earth. They scan them for footprints and find that they are the only human shoes to never have been worn and sell them to alien life- forms (courtesy of caveman from egodialogues.com).

So, we may never know where the story came from or how Hemmingway intended it to be interpreted but it just goes to show, that even a story of just 6 words can spark as much debate as the timeless classics of Jane Eyre and William Shakespeare’s Star Wars – wait, is that right?

In essence we've found that whatever the story is, there’s no single right way to tell it. There’s no word limit or time restraint on getting to the heart of the stories we tell. As for choosing what those stories are – well that’s for you to decide!

If you think you can beat old Ernest Hemmingway, or if you think you’ve read one better, then tweet us @FWFilm and tell us about it. Drum roll please - there will be a prize for the best short story! We'll even give it a go ourselves.

Here a few more that we found to help inspire you…

2013 Man Book prize winner, Lydia Davis

Losing Memory

'You ask me about Edith Wharton. Well, the name is very familiar.'

Guatemalan short-story writer, Augusto Monterroso

El Dinosaurio

'When I woke up, the dinosaur was still there.'

Science fiction writer, Frederic Brown, 1948

(The shortest story before Hemmingway's)

Knock

'The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door...'

And finally, in response to Brown's attempt, Ron Smith wrote:

A Horror Story Shorter by One Letter than the Shortest Story Ever Told

'The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a lock on the door...'