Happy hens lay tasty eggs in this cheery, upbeat spot.
On a thankfully sunny couple of days in September 2023, Curious ventured up north to one of Noble Foods best chicken farms, just outside of Nottingham, to capture real Happy Egg Co. farmers and their feathered friends.
Curious produced four TV spots and four radio spots to go live in February 2024. Everything from the kitchen table shots to all post-production were carried out at our studio in London. We handled everything from signed off creative, through to radio and TVC delivery. To check out how the shoot went down below, and for the final TVC click here
Our brief was to produce a standout PR campaign film, with eye catching photography, that promotes Knorr bouillon stock cubes in both a comedic and fashionable way featuring a micro handbag.
From the beginning we knew this project was going to require a full Curious cross department collaboration. Early in the development stage we decided that building the bag in CGI was going to be the most effective way to get in close and personal with our shots, this would give us maximum flexibility when exploring shape, texture and lighting with the super close ups, as well as building intrigue before the bag is revealed in its entirety.
We kicked off production by working closely with the designers of the real bag to digitally build, shape and texture the virtual bag to match the real one that would eventually be given away to influencers and prize winners.
Throughout the following weeks we continued to shape our pre-visualisations into a polished render whilst we were casting and styling to find a fierce fashion look to compliment the bag. After a fantastic fashion shoot, all the pieces finally came together and resulted in a campaign that is equal parts unique, hilarious and stylish.
The campaign was a huge success with 100 bags given away to influencers and prize winners across Italy and the USA, a live TV appearance and social hype. It created a big PR splash with dozens of glowing articles and reviews across marketing and advertising publications.
Below is a behind the scenes peak at what we got up to. For the full campaign video please click here and for the stills click here.
We were shortlisted for a Kinsale Shark, for the work we created on Aston Martin, Ultimate Ferocity with our friends at Design Bridge. We are so pleased to be acknowledged for the work under the category of CGI/Visual Effects FX, to see the work we entered click here.
When Copa 90 were looking for someone to produce Pepsi’s UEFA Champion’s League social media image toolkit, Curious had the perfect solutions.
The brief was to create a suite of product focused assets that provide the opportunity to join the conversation during the football calendar with a particular focus on the UEFA CL partnership. This would be delivered through a series of fixed (predicted) and fluid (reactive) moments based on three core sets of assets: product stills, product moments & product films.
Dan Humphreys shot a week of motion and static scenarios in our Clerkenwell studios, followed by two weeks of post-production – cgi, retouching, editing and VFX – to create and deliver over fifty assets in a toolkit format. The shoot gave us the perfect opportunity to use a scaled down virtual studio set-up, using a cgi generated stadium on an LED screen as a backplate for the Pepsi player line up, as well as all the usual liquid tricks of the trade.
Consistency across the range was paramount, along with some clever production tricks coupled with our complete onsite team, meant Copa 90 and Pepsi could deliver the complete suite of assets within the tight budget and timeframe. Check out the full campaign here & here.
At Curious we have a dedicated team working for the award-winning retirement home developer, McCarthy Stone. Our dedicated team of brand guardians work alongside McCarthy Stone’s 25 regional managers, as well as the central marketing team, to deliver multidisciplinary marketing comms across their portfolio of products and services.
The Curious technology team developed a custom platform that works harmoniously with the existing McCarthy Stone internal marketing applications to help streamline the end-to-end process for creating and delivering all of their collateral across CRM, DD, DM, print media and events. Utilising the latest automation, review and digital asset management technologies, the platform provides a robust base to create and deliver content at speed and at scale.
We offer a focused and centralised marketing solution that allows McCarthy Stone to manage their marketing comms on a regional and central level via one simple tool. Utilising a fusion of digital asset management and automation functionality backed up with a dedicated team of brand guardians, McCarthy Stone are able to enjoy increased consistency in their brand messaging ensuring collateral is produced on brand, every time. The introduction of technology to the brand made reporting simpler and has enabled them to enjoy enhanced reporting and gain critical insights into activity and allows them to refine processes, increase efficiencies and value across their output.
Curious Productions is proud to support the incredible work of the Amelia-Mae Foundation. A foundation set up to support families affected by Neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer, as well as raising awareness of the condition through the work they do. To find out more, or to support them, please do check out their website for more details by clicking here.
Curious have recently partnered with the School of Communications Arts. We believe strongly in nurturing new talent and equipping them with the tools and knowledge to start their career on the best possible footing.
To find out more about the school, their offering and if you can help, do get in touch with the team there
With a brief from Aston Martin detailing ‘the birth of ultimate ferocity. Beautifully crafted and imbued with a powerful ferocity itching to get free. We see the cinematic unveiling of an invisible car through a ferocious fervent liquid’ we knew it was a brief we couldn’t wait to get dive in to.
Our challenge, making a cinematic fluid simulation-based reveal of the DBS that felt organic and ferocious. Time was of the essence; our team chose the industry disruptive Blender for its super-fast GPU based Cycles render engine. We realised early on that a full computationally heavy sim would not allow us to produce the film in time. Our intrepid team of 3D wizards decided to use Blender’s cutting-edge geometry nodes and math based procedural materials to sell the look of ferrous like fluids, whilst giving us full control over the art directable visuals and feel. The procedural approach allowed our team to go from previz to final renders within a month with many iterations the creative team could examine in near real-time. The final touches were done using Adobe After Effects and Black Magic’s Fusion.
Growing the Curious family is something we’re always looking to do, and the start of 2022 has been no exception as we welcome four new hires to the already talented Curious team. As always, we think our new joiners are worth shouting about. Here’s why…
First up is Thao, who joins the shoot production team as our new Production Assistant. Along with the vital industry experience she gained from several production placements alongside her degree in Media & Sociology, she brings her natural ability to multitask and meticulous planning to keep all of our shoots running smoothly.
Another recent graduate is Milly, our new Photo & Video Assistant. She brings a valuable creative eye to the team, with a multitude of experience shooting for theatre companies, small businesses and other young creatives. Putting her degree in Editorial and Advertising Photography to good use, she’s already assisted on shoots for a number of big brands such as Dr Marten’s, Gordon’s and Zapp.
Next up it’s Sam. He joins our Post-Production team as our new CG Artist. Previously an Ice Sculptor, Sam worked on a variety of projects, including the annual ‘Magical Ice Kingdom’ at the renowned Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. To work in the digital industry has always been a passion of Sam’s, leading him to self-teach on numerous CG software programmes. This of course caught our eye, and we’re so excited for his first CG artist role to be with us as he develops his skills whilst learning more about the industry.
And finally – welcome to Josh! Joining us as our new Editor/MGFX, Josh is originally from South Africa and moved to the UK a year ago. Whilst he may still be navigating his way around London, he’s slotted into the Curious family seamlessly and has been key in many important projects for high profile clients including BT, Happy Eggs, Pimm’s, Wall Street Journal and more.
We’re so pleased to welcome them all to the Curious family.
Morgan Hutchins is an extremely talented director who
has worked at some of London’s top advertising production companies.
Whether appearing in stories as a child, or bringing
them to life for some of the biggest brands as a director, we find out about
his loves and what kept him going through lockdown.
Currently he is up to his eyes in writing; developing a feature film script & editing his mother’s last children’s book. In between all of this, we had 5 Curious minutes with Morgan Hutchins…
Who or what inspired you to be a director?
My
dad. He was an advertising director in the late 70’s and 80’s, probably the golden age of UK TV
advertising. A time when British director’s were world renowned for finely
crafted TV and cinema commercials. I learnt a lot running on my dad’s jobs.
His work was always very human, about the person, the character. My favourite advert of his is the Milton Keynes red ballon commercial. A trip around Milton Keynes seen through the eyes of a shy young kid. When I worked at his office I had to check showreels and I’ve seen this film countless times. I know every cut, every reaction, every track back and crane up, it was the start of my film education.
Another major inspiration was Gerard Du Thame, especially his music videos (Black – It’s a Wonderful Life’ & Tanita Tikaram ‘Twist In My Sobriety’). The ground breaking photography took my breath away when I first saw them.
I was lucky enough to work for him as a runner on a
couple of shoots. He was a tough director but his films are beautifully
choreographed and perfectly timed. He mastered the art of slow motion and black
and white photography to create emotion.
Tim Pope was also a big inspiration. He has brilliant ideas and his work is always fun, exciting and full of life. His video for The Cure ‘Close To Me’ was all shot in a cupboard, a stunning, simple film where song and film fit perfectly together.
Your work is all about telling stories, what is your favourite book and why?
I took up reading later in life, even though my mum was a children’s book writer. It might have been because of that that I started late. She used to read me her stories which often featured me or my brother as the heroes. Out of all her books, ‘The House That Sailed Away’ is my favourite. In the book I help my dad, mum and grandma defeat pirates and save the crown jewels (how modest of me to choose this). My dad illustrated it and I love his intricate line drawings, they are very funny, full of great characters (like his adverts). Now whenever I miss my parents and feel nostalgic, I’ll have a read and smile.
However, my favourite adult novel is, ‘Wasp-Factory’, by Ian Banks. The greatest twist to an ending ever! I also like anything by Magnus Mills, magical surreal stuff.
What is your most memorable moment on set?
There have been many memorable moments, some nutty: like standing in the middle of a runway directing an AH64 attack helicopter whilst being tracked by it’s gun. Asking Frank Bruno to do another take when he really didn’t want to, and nearly dropping a camera and dolly on a young Alan Shearer’s legs. But the most memorable moments for me are the ones where something magical happens that you didn’t expect. I recently worked with babies for the first time and this one baby, who had never used a spoon before, realised that’s what we wanted him to do. He then did it. He was as chuffed as we were when he grabbed it…It was lovely watching him learn and enjoy performing for us.
What ad do you look back on and wish you had directed?
I wish I had directed Sony Playstation ‘Conquer Worlds’ directed by Frank Budgen, a Genius. It knocked me for six when I first saw it and still does. It is poetic and intriguing; powerful and as groundbreaking today as it was the day it was shot. Perfectly lit, edited and a master class in direction, not one wasted frame.
Have you seen a big change from traditional advertising to digital filmmaking?
Digital has broken down the walls of traditional advertising, now we all have cameras and the medium is not so important as the message. There has been a huge change, but I find it exciting. We will always need storytellers and creative people. I like the way at the moment directors get to work closer with the creatives and the client. We can help shape the ideas from an earlier stage. It’s also exciting that the internet has opened up the world of advertising, different formats and lengths: advertising that entertains, sponsored content, all throwing up new challenges for directors and new experiences. In a world that is changing massively, advertising needs to keep up and I am sure it will.
After a busy day on set, what do you do to unwind?
It used to be a beer with the cast and crew, discussing the shoot or reflecting with the producer or creatives on what worked or didn’t, now it’s probably going home & cooking something or a controlled dose of the latest Netflix series (watching episode after episode until it’s finished).
Did you take up baking, zoom quizzes or learn anything new during lockdown?
Initially lockdown allowed me to write. I jumped into a script I have been trying to finish for years. The first couple of weeks I couldn’t stop, the initial buzz has receded, now its harder but I still enjoy it. The trick is knowing when to stop tinkering and share it (maybe tomorrow or the day after …).
Who is your hero?
My mum. A creative inspiration as well as a top mum. She had a tough start in life in a small village in Yorkshire, she grew up on an army camp without a dad, bullied and picked on. She worked hard and did very well, especially in the US where they think she is an American author. Even though she was a superstar in her field she was very modest and always kind. Her work was honest (like she was.) She had a childlike fascination for people and life that was reflected in all her work. My Mum is actually the inspiration behind my feature film, ‘Rosie’s War’, and her early life.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
‘If you can’t take a joke you shouldn’t have joined’ – My dad’s motto.
To support the launch the AEG’s Mastery kitchen range we created a series of films that highlight the sensory nature of the appliances. Working closely with creative agency Anomaly, Curious designed the kitchen set, storyboarded the script and produced a stills/film shoot. All offline & online post production was carried out by us too. This campaign touched through all our services we offer.
We delivered two 20” films in 3 languages, 10” cut downs, 6” gifs & full range of master print assets. Check out the work here.
