14 years on...

As of April, Seal Films is 14 years old. Proper teenager now!

We've been going through the archives and found some corkers from when we first started as fresh faced young Seals and hit the big time with the local press...

  

We've loads more lurking in the Seal Archives - keep your eyes on our Facebook and Twitter pages for some more gems!

We've been nominated for an award!

We were really excited to find out that we've been nominated for a Roses Creative Award for our Sandtex 'Lighthouse Keeper' idents.

They've been such a success that Crown Paints are running them again for the third time on Sky Sports News from Monday 13th April. Watch them here.



We'll find out the results at the awards ceremony on the 14th May so we'll keep you posted!


UPDATE

We were pipped to the post for the award but had lots of fun (perhaps a little too much) at the awards night!

6 of the most creative Vines of 2014

We've not really explored Vine that much this year, but love seeing what creative things people have produced. Here are a selection of our favourites from 2014...

1. This paper animation from Bruno Bergallo.




2. Simple stop motion from animator Dylan Blau.





3. This time lapse of professional 'Viner' Ian Padgham's pregnant wife.





4. Pumpkin pie by Zach King who uses camera trickery to produce great vines.





5. This from Maris Jones is clever and amusing. Her vines are weird, in a good way.




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30 Years of The Terminator

A month ago we paid tribute to one of our favourite films, Ghostbusters, as it turned 30. 1984 was a great year for films as it turns out as one of the best action thrillers of all time was released as well, The Terminator.  

The film started a franchise which let's face it has had its ups and downs but The Terminator remains a bench mark in film special effects.  After doing a bit of digging we stumbled upon this little gem of a behind the scenes film.  Stan Winston chats about his special effect creations but a notable highlight is listening to Arnie talk about the difficulties of playing a robot ;)  

We wont be holding our breath for Terminator "Genesys" but The Terminator and its first awesome sequel, Judgement Day will always have a special place in our VHS collection.

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YouTube adverts, you've got 5 seconds...

These days, adverts are pretty standard on YouTube. They last approximately 15 - 30 seconds, which in advertising terms is pretty short anyway, but on top of that, the option to skip the advert appears after 5 seconds! It's important when thinking about creating this kind of advert that you grab the viewers attention within those first few seconds, to ensure they keep watching until the end.

Here are our top 5 ways to grab attention in the first 5 seconds:

1. A celebrity: People will keep watching to see what their favourite celebrity is about to do

2. A question: Something like 'are you ready for what happens next?' encourages the viewer to answer the question in their head and can make them keep watching

3. Something totally bizarre: Speaks for itself!

4. A situation that you have to keep watching: Like a David Blaine style trick

5. Something controversial

Of course, many people are still likely to skip, so don't forget that the best adverts establish the brand or product in the first 5 seconds, usually with a logo or with narration.

Ads that are too self indulgent, not immediately interesting or clear are more likely to be skipped, they need to completely distract you from whatever you where originally looking at, even if it was just cat videos!

Also, this form of advertising will work best if it is targeted, so it's important to carefully choose the YouTube videos that your target audience are most likely to be watching. So a health related product could work well attached to a video about sport, food or celebrities.

Here are some successful ones that we love;

This is great and really catchy, which will encourage people to keep on watching. Although if people do click to skip it, then they've no idea what the brand is.



We laughed so much at this one, and watched it all the way through, it had us hooked from the start!



No matter what you think of Capital Radio, they've definitely ticked all the boxes. Logo in the first shot, catchy tune, MILLIONS of celebrities!

If you think that YouTube advertising is something that might work for your brand? Get in touch with us, we're happy to chat to you about it. Subscribe to our blog in the top right hand corner of this page for the latest updates and for more tips, news and advice sign up to our regular emails.

30 facts about Ghostbusters that you might not know

This week is the 30th anniversary of one of our favourite films... Ghostbusters! Originally released in 1984, it's returning to select cinemas for this week only and to help celebrate, here's 30 facts about the film that you may not know:

1. Dan Aykroyd was the initial driving force behind the film. His family, especially his grandfather, whom Aykroyd says once attempted to construct a radio that reached the spirit world, were fascinated by ghosts.

2. Aykroyd’s first treatment was 40 pages long and was written with himself and fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus John Belushi in mind. Belushi died while Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were writing the screenplay.

3. Originally, the story was set in the future and focussed on a worldwide coterie of Ghostbusters. It was director Ivan Reitman decision to concentrate on one group of Ghostbusters working out of a fire station in New York.

4. Eddie Murphy and John Candy were originally scheduled to appear. Murphy was to have played Winston Zeddemore and Candy was down to star as hapless Louis Tully. Due to a clash with filming Beverley Hills Cop, Murphy had to back out, while Candy eventually declined the role.

5. After Belushi’s death, and before Bill Murray was confirmed to appear, both Michael Keaton and Chevy Chase were linked with the part of Peter Venkman.

6. During her audition Sigourney Weaver began to imitate a dog. Such was her enthusiastic portrayal; Reitman knew she was perfect for the role of Dana Barrett immediately.

7. According to Reitman, Aykroyd and Ramis had distinct roles for the three leads, Venkman, Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler. Venkman (Murray) was to be the mouth of the group; Stantz (Aykroyd) the heart and Spengler (Ramis) the brains.

8. The original title was Ghost Smashers.

9. Columbia Pictures paid production company Filmation a licence fee to use the name Ghostbusters after it emerged Formation had made a short-lived show in 1975 called The Ghost Busters.

10. Christopher Walken, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Goldblum were all considered for the role of Dr. Egon Spengler. Having got so close to the character during writing, Ramis felt compelled to play the part, thus resurrecting his dormant acting career.

11. Danny DeVito, Chevy Chase, Terri Garr, Irene Cara, John Candy, Carly Simon, George Wendt, Jeffrey Tambor, Peter Falk and Al Franken all appear in the video to Ray Parker Jr.’s iconic title track.

12. Heavyweight broadcaster Larry King, 80s pop queen Debbie Gibson and rotund porn star Ron Jeremy all appear at some point in the film.

13. Slimer was known on set as Onion Head due to the foul stench it emitted. It was audiences that came up with the name Slimer. In the sequel and subsequent cartoon series he is credited as Slimer.

14. Aykroyd jokingly referred to Slimer as the ghost of John Belushi. Says Reitman: “He’s just a party guy looking to have a good time.”

15. Despite being perceived as a New York movie, only three weeks of filming took place in The Big Apple.

16. Shaving foam was used instead of marshmallow for the memorable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man explosion at the film’s end.

17. When it came to shooting the final scene, the ending still hadn’t been clearly sketched out. It was only when discussing what to do that the idea of ‘crossing the streams’, which was in an earlier draft of the film, was hit upon.

18. For years after the film first screened, William Atherton, the actor who plays Walter Peck, the Ghostbusters’ nemesis, was routinely abused in public, to the point that he was involved in a number of altercations in bars. He was even shouted at by a bus of tourists in downtown New York.

19. The exterior shots of the Ghostbusters firehouse were shot outside real life New York fire station Hook and Ladder #8, in Tribeca. It was the subject of a recent successful campaign to save it from the municipal axe. A Ghostbusters sign proudly hangs inside. The interior shots were filmed in Los Angeles.

20. The film opened in America on 8 June 1984, and was the highest grossing film that week. It held top spot for eight weeks in total, seven of them consecutively. It re-opened for two weeks in August 1985, breaking into the top ten both weeks.

21. One of Bill Murray’s favourite scenes is the experiment with the cards and administering electric shocks. Based upon a real case study, the Milgram Experiment, the purpose of this scene was to see how the audience would react to a hero who handed out unfair electric shocks.

22. Ivan Reitman knew the film would be a success when audience members at a screening at Colombia Studios both laughed and screamed when the first ghost made its appearance onscreen.

23. Incredibly, only one car was used for Ecto 1. It eventually gave up the, ahem, ghost midway through filming of Ghostbusters 2.

24. The romance between Egon and kooky secretary Janine, which is hinted at in the finished film, never got off the ground as most of these scenes were cut.

25. Ray Parker Jr. was the subject of a lawsuit from Huey Lewis after the release of the theme tune. Lewis claimed the song plagiarised his hit I Want A New Drug. The matter was settled out of court.

26. Sandra Bernhard (Janine), Michael McKean (Louis) and Paul Reubens (Tozer) were all considered for parts, but declined for one reason or another.

27. To give an indication of how big he was, the Stay Puft Man was meant to originally emerge from the River Hudson next to the Statue of Liberty. The plan was abandoned after it proved too difficult to shoot.

28. Reitman’s Broadway experience – he was involved in staging the musical Merlin with illusionist Doug Henning – came in handy when it came to staging the shot of Dana levitating and rotating 360 degrees. The director also provided Dana’s gravelly voice in this scene.

29. The scene in which the Ghostbusters are jailed was filmed at an actual jail – Aykroyd claimed the building was haunted.

30. Methyl Silos, Chinese food starch, was used as slime in the drawers in the opening library scene.

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The community that owns their local pub

We were recently asked to make a series of promotional films for Community Shares, an organisation that helps with the sale of shares in enterprises serving a community purpose. This type of investment has been used to finance shops, pubs, community buildings, renewable energy initiatives, local food schemes, along with a host of other community based ventures.

The first film we made was about The Bell Inn, in Bath, bought by 536 of its customers, fans and workers after the landlord put it up for sale.



We wanted to capture the community spirit and vibrancy of the place, and show that this kind of co-operative venture can really be a success.

A concept like Community Shares can be quite difficult to understand, so a case study film is often a really useful way of telling a story, one that can be shared with potential investors, funders and other people who may be interested helping to spread your message.

We're working on a few other case study films for Community Shares so keep an eye out on our Facebook and Twitter feeds to see some more interesting case studies, or enter your email to the top right of this page for regular updates.

Discover why social video is so important for brands

We saw this infographic recently on why it's important to use social video to engage people. It really shows just how important video content is in getting your brand name out there and that a video doesn't always have to go 'viral' to have a positive effect on your brand (but that's another post!)

Social Video and Brand Engagement 2014 from ContentedLONDON on Vimeo.

Have we convinced you yet? 

We're always on the lookout for ways to make interesting video content and we'd love to help you to promote your brand. Have a look at our recent work here, get in touch if you fancy a chat about how we could help.help or sign up for our emails for news, tips and advice.

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Do you remember the song at the end of Police Academy?

Not a day goes by without some talk related to 80's movies at Seal HQ. Growing up in the 80's means that films like Ghostbusters, The Goonies,  Police Academy and Planes, Trains and Automobiles and are still some of our favourite films!

When we were devising the concept for a recent advert for Blackpool and The Fylde College, Tom (half) jokingly said;

"How about using that song used in the end credits of Police Academy?!"

The more we thought about it the more we really wanted to use it, as it seemed to fit perfectly with the ideas that were being generated. We managed to get in touch with the writer of the song (Jack Mack and the Heart Attack founder and band member), Andrew Kastner. He was really chuffed that we wanted to use his song (We're sure the royalties may have helped) and emailed us after we'd finished the ad to say how much he loved hearing it;

"It is so great to hear and see my song, "I'm Gonna Be Somebody", come to life again in your TV Advert. It was along time ago, 1984 to be exact that the then lead singer of my band, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, and I wrote three songs for the movie Police Academy. At the time everyone thought that movie would be a little flash in the pan low budget film. Who knew that it would become a worldwide hit and now I think it is the most popular song I ever wrote. The fact that people still love it today is a testament to good old fashioned real music. It lives forever. Thanks for including it in your ad". Andrew Kastner, founder 'Jack Mack and the Heart Attack'

Here's the finished advert, a big thank you to Jack Mack and The Heart Attack for allowing us to use the tune!



Check out our website to see more of the TV work we've done...

Join Deone on the behind the scenes photoshoot for Jack's Girl 2014

Our recent edit for Jack Links Meat Snacks is popping up all over the web. We can't think why...!


Jack Links Girl 2014 from seal films on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes videos can be a great way to show people the personality of your brand or to show the ideas behind your campaign. Get in touch with us if you think this is something that your brand could benefit from.

What can you do with a snow machine, a distress flare, a leaf blower and some smoke grenades?

Phantom Harriet from seal films on Vimeo.

Here's a little edit of some test footage we took with the Phantom Flex camera. It's capable of shooting at over 2000 frames per second, resulting in some super slow motion loveliness. So we spent an afternoon in the woods with a Snow Machine, a Distress Flare, a Leaf Blower & some Smoke Grenades!

Look what KFC have done now

KFC London Store Walk Through from seal films on Vimeo.

KFC are currently undergoing a makeover and we were asked to film a short video in one of their London stores to highlight some of the new features.

Alpes d'huex Megavalanche race

Here's a Feature we shot for ITV4's The Cycle Show, produced by Century TV, it's the first series of the show designed for cycling enthusiasts! For this feature, we were sent to Alpes d'huez in France to film the annual Megavalanche race with presenter Anna Glowinski.

Sandtex retro ad gets a lick of paint

Early this year, we were asked to update a classic TV commercial for Sandtex masonry paint. The brief was to replace the lighthouse (that features in the 1990 original), with the iconic Happisburgh lighthouse. This meant a trip to Norfolk to film the new lighthouse so that we could begin the long and painful process of digitally replacing it in the ad. In addition to this, we also replaced all the original sound f/x, recorded a new voiceover and even wrote and recorded a new song!

Challenging stereotypes of disability in the workplace

We recently produced a mockumentary style training film in the style of 'The Office' for Bolton Council. The idea of the production was to challenge stereotypes of disability in the workplace.

The film was produced in association with a group of young people and professional actors from the Bolton Octagon Theatre. A large scale launch event and the premiere of the film will be taking place at the Vue Cinema adjacent to the Reebok Stadium in Horwich next week.

You can read more about the project on the Bolton Octagon's website here - http://www.octagonbolton.co.uk/page/3349/The-Bolton-Branch

Here's a short trailer for the film and cover art for the DVD

Music video for a Moby song

We recently squeezed some time out of our busy schedule to take part in an online music video competition run through the video sharing website vimeo. The idea of the competition was to create a music video for one of three tracks from Moby's recent album 'Destroyed' and themed around 'Hello Future'.

We chose the track 'The Day' and made the whole video in one weekend, devising the idea on the Friday, shooting it on Saturday and Sunday and then editing it overnight in time to be submitted for the competition deadline on Monday!

Our idea for the video was centred around disillusionment with modern life/technology.

We shot the video using a Canon 7D DSLR camera and a variety of prime lenses as well as the Sony EX-3 for some of the slo-mo shots.

The video also stars a close friend of ours - Graham Baldwin a.k.a the silver fox.

Enjoy!

New Viral Venture for Seal Films

This year Seal Films are excited to have teamed up with Custard Media to produce viral videos. This is a collaboration of artists using our combined skills to not only produce Viral Videos, but also to make sure they get the exposure they deserve! Viral advertising is huge now, but producing the video is only the first step and by teaming up with Custard media, we can offer all the services for a successful online marketing campaign. The pictures above show us working with Viral Videos Producer Stephanie on a shoot for a promo for Custard Media earlier this year. And here's the finished M&S spoof...

We can advise you on the best approach to make a video for your brand or product. Just get in touch to have a chat or sign up to our emails for news, tips and advice.

The World of 3D

Last month Dave & Nick joined the 'Decode' crew for the 'World Street Dance Championship 2010' in lovely Blackpool!!! It was a 3D shoot for a DVD that is to be released alongside the 'Street Dance 3D' Film.

Tour Of Britain 2009

After the hard slog that was last year, Nick went cross country on a week where the sun thankfully shone to follow the cyclists and their teams on this years Tour of Britain cycling race which was broadcast at night on ITV4 after each race. Nick shot all the presenter links with ITV's Ned Boulting and covered interviews with the cyclists as well as getting shots during the actual race. Here are some snapshots of him in action..!

Grattan online promo

As well as producing the short promo for Freemans, we were also asked to produce this online marketing promo for Grattans 'flex it' credit scheme, again in conjunction with the guys at RED-C, the ad agency who devised the idea