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A tale of two dogs: Colenso and Finch tweak storytelling technology to illustrate effects of doggy donations

Doggelganger, last year’s Pedigree Adoption Drive campaign by Colenso BBDO, used facial recognition technology to match humans with dogs and ended up winning all kinds of awards. And there’s a technological bent to this year’s campaign, too, with production company Finch developing a system that allows two entirely different films to be screened simultaneously on the same cinema screen with the use of specially designed glasses.

Youtube Video

Youtube Video

The Pedigree Adoption Drive offers support to thousands of abandoned dogs across the country. And each year, Pedigree’s agency in each market is tasked with coming up with an effective way to raise funds–and awareness. And this year the campaign is aiming to revolutionise the movie-going experience.

“Before they enter the cinema, consumers will be asked to make a choice between a free pair of glasses and a pair that require a donation. Depending on which glasses they chose, their experiences will differ accordingly,” says Pedigree marketing manager, Oliver Downs. “Two versions of the 2012 Pedigree Adoption Drive advertisement [which were filmed by director Nic Finlayson] will then play. The one showing an abandoned dog Buzz will be viewed by those wearing the free glasses, while footage of Buzz after he is rescued, re-homed, happy and healthy will be seen through the glasses of those who donated to the cause.”

The clips will air prior to selected screenings of The Avengers, which became just the 12th film to earn over US$1 billion worldwide, at Hoyts cinema in Sylvia Park and Downs says the experience will continue to bring to life the plight of abandoned dogs and actively demonstrate the difference that people can make.

Downs says a singular voiceover will connect both of the charity’s advertisements and, at the end of the film screening, viewers will be asked to drop off their glasses to encourage others to enjoy the experience and contribute to the campaign.

Finch managing director and executive producer Rob Galluzzo says the cutting-edge technology was developed when the company began pulling apart existing 3D technology for an ongoing project and identified a loophole.

“Our director of creative technology, Emad Tahtouh, discovered an ambiguity in conventional 3D technology and exploited it to create the system which we call the 37 Degree Process. It differs from 3D in several ways. It is not 3D, rather than use the polarisation technique to display a single stereoscopic 3D image to the viewer, it uses the same technology to display two discreet 2D images. Two completely separate 2D video streams are polarised, similar to the way 3D video is polarised, but those images are sent to different viewers,” Galluzo says.

An application of this technology is to give consumers glasses, which contain either two left polarised lenses or two right polarised lenses, which means half the audience could be watching Film A while the other half was watching Film B.

“Cinema is about a shared experience. With conventional film storytelling, the tears, laughter, and exhiliartion are all deliberately designed to affect the audience at the same time,” he says. “But now suddenly you may not be having the same experience as the person next to you. In this instance, the technology is actually a storytelling tool that demonstrates the plight of abandoned dogs. If you donate you see how you can help save a dog. If you don’t, you don’t help save an abandoned dog. It’s a wonderfully simple idea demonstrated beautifully, and invariably it leads to conversation amongst the audience.”

Galluzzo says that as well as being involved with the Pedigree Adoption Drive campaign locally, the company has been invited to Cannes Lions to speak at the Screen Advertising World Association seminar in June about the innovative new technology.

Since 2009, the charity has raised just over $160,000 on behalf of parent company Mars to support shelters and organisations such as the RNZSPCA, German Shepherd Rescue Trust and Paw Justice. The campaign will run from April to September 2012, but Pedigree also makes a small donation for every Pedigree pack sold throughout the year to the trust.

Credits

Agency: Colenso BBDO

Creative Chairman: Nick Worthington

Creative Director: Levi Slavin

Digital Creative Director: Aaron Turk

Art Director: Jae Morrison

Copywriter: Levi Slavin

Group Account Director: Scott Coldham

Senior Account Manager: Dave Munn

Account Executive: Courtney Herbert

Planner: Hayley Pardoe

Designer: Kate Slavin

Agency Producer: Jen Storey

Digital Agency Producer: Serena Fountain-Jones

Production Company: FINCH

Producer: Phil Liefting

Director: Nic Finlayson

Executive Producer: Rob Galluzzo

Sound Design: Franklin Road

DOP/Cinematographer: Crighton Bone

Creative Technology: Emad Tahtouh

Production Company Art Director: Ross McGarva

Editor: David Coulson

Online Editor: Puck Murphy

Post Production: Digital Sparks

Grade: Peter Richie

Music: Lullable (Donnelly) courtesy of Mushroom Records, performed by SJD, courtesy of Round Trip Mars

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