Bash of Stash!   

Stash DVD Magazine (www.stashmedia.tv) is the monthly showcase for animation, VFX and motion graphics for the international design and advertising industry. Every edition is chockfull of ground-breaking commercials, broadcast design, music videos, virals, branded content, game cinematics, short animation films and background articles on software and technology. Stephen Price, chief editor of Stash Magazine, is our guide in the explosive supply. He selected two programmes featuring recent gems from Stash’s online archive, one with the best of 2012 and a theme programme on storytelling.
In the past decade, storytelling in advertising has become a formidable instrument, with the rise of so-called content-driven branding, where complete stories create the image of a brand. A good story behind a product that people can identify with inspires and sells. The story does not have to do anything with the product: ideal, dramatic, funny or thrilling – anything goes. A Cutting Edge programme shows the international state of affairs, with ingenious commercials and beautiful samples of epic rhetoric and perhaps also the Emperor’s new clothes. 

Alain Bashung: Variations Sur Marilou
Music video built on the Serge Gainsbourg track Variations sur Marilou as interpreted by the late French singer, songwriter and actor Alain Bashung.
Maxime Bruneel, France, 2011, 9:00
Audi: Vampire Party
Commercial for Audi A7. Vampires are obliterated and disappear from the strength of the Audi A7's headlights.
Matthijs van Heijningen, USA, 2012, 1:02
BBC London: 2012 Olympic Games Stadium UK
Broadcast titles for BBC’s coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games, bringing the nation together in a huge Olympic Stadium with dramatic UK locations.
Pete Candeland, United Kingdom, 2012, 2:40
Benefit Cosmetics: Corn to Run
The true and funny story of Jean and Jane Ford, the founders of Benefit Cosmetics, from their birth in Indiana to today.
Slim, France, 2012, 4:49
Bill Maher: Irritable Bowl Syndrome
Homage to US comedian and political savant Bill Maher with an unofficial infographic based on Maher's short essay: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass.
Fraser Davidson, United Kingdom, 2012, 2:13
Buey de Piraña
Six characters represent several extreme personalities of creatives and clients. The creative imagines the idea he is presenting to his client.
Felipe Zavala Muñoz, Chile, 2012, 2:14
Bulwark: 451
A paper city is burned to ashes. Branded film for Bulwark, manufacturer of flame-resistant apparel, as a reminder that their training and technical support can help save lives.
Brian Drucker, USA, 2012, 7:56
Cartier: L'Odyssee de Cartier
Spectacular branded film that conveys the legendary history and know-how of Cartier. A sort of dreamlike voyage with often surreal transitions between different worlds.
Bruno Aveillan, France, 2012, 3:31
Coca-Cola: Energising Refreshment
Promo film with Coca-Cola as an energising refreshment, playing with Coca-Cola's image and presenting it as a well-recognizable object, an exhibit in a gallery space.
Rimantas Lukavicius, Lithuania, 2011, 0:30
Converse: Doyathing
Morning ritual in a chaotic and degenerate home.
Jamie Hewlett, France, 2012, 5:05
Cypress Hill: Roll It, Light It
Music video follows intense music with distorted recordings of a show in combination with impressive landscapes and structures that collapse.
Jonathan Desbiens, USA, 2012, 3:06
D Nova: Genius Crazy
Music video with assorted materials from everyday life, such as fabrics, knitwear, colour pencils and paper, in an exuberant explosion of colour.
Rajesh Thomas, Vidya Sharma, India, 2012, 2:32
Dishonored
Online series of three films that gives gamers a firsthand glimpse into the steampunk-inspired, shadowy whaling city of Dunwall, where plague is rampant.
Jon Saunders, USA, 2012, 5:51
Flex Alert Education: Hands
Entertaining and informative commercial for the seasonal Flex Alert energy conservation campaign with a distinct colourful visual style.
USA, 2012, 0:30
The Forty Story
Corporate film for the London studio Pentagram, nowadays Pentagram is the largest independent design studio on the planet.
Christian Carlsson, United Kingdom, 2012, 3:28
Goat & Aaron
After an unexplained conflict, the two brothers Goat and Aaron decide to set out together, into the beautiful countryside. A wonderland full of glowing colours.
Gabe Askew, USA, 2011, 5:52
Good Books: Havana Heat
Branded short for charity-focused online book retailer. Steamy bodice-ripper with a pleasant and deep voice-over and a rude, juvenile sense of humour.
Matthieu (McBess) Bessudo, Simon Landrein, United Kingdom, 2012, 4:13
Good Books: Metamorphosis
Branded film and commercial for the Great Writers Series of charity-focused online book retailer. Ever-changing visuals cause a psychedelic feeling.
USA, 2011, 2:42
Gotye: Easy Way Out
Music video follows a man’s daily routine. The image rotates panoramically and abounds in animated elements, like a cat, a small fire and cockroaches.
Darcy Prendergast, Australia, 2012, 2:12
Halo 4: The Commissioning
Game trailer with a level of visual effects not commonly seen in television advertising. A realistic world with near-photorealistic imagery and wholly immersive environments.
Nicolai Fuglsig, USA, 2012, 2:22
Hauschka: Radar
Music video for Hauschka, an experimental pianist from Germany, with an improvised freestyle dance, shot at the Spiegelsaal in Berlin.
Jeff Desom, Luxembourg, 2012, 3:10
I, Pet Goat II
Surreal short about the crumbling away of the hierarchical world based on control and oppression, and the rising up of spiritual man. Packed with loaded symbols.
Louis Lefebvre, Canada, 2012, 7:28
Interview Magazine: Tensegrity
Surreal fashion clip for Interview Magazine. A model shows designer clothes from fashion houses like Acne, McQueen, Prada and Yves Saint Laurent with wing-like strips flying from them.
Jon Noorlander, Axel Lindahl, USA, 2012, 1:50
Mass Effect 3: Take Back Earth
Game intro. A girl romps innocently through a field of sunflowers. What follows is an epic battle between the citizens of Earth and an unstoppable alien threat.
Hungary, 2011, 3:02
Nihonbashi: Koukashita R Keikaku
Music video to promote a new Vocaloid IA, singing synthesizer software. Colourful anime style.
Takuya Hosogane, Japan, 2012, 1:21
Portal: No Escape
Short film set in the world of Portal video games. A woman wakes up in a room with no memory of who she is or how she got there.
Dan Trachtenberg, USA, 2011, 6:56
Real Complainers Vote
Colourful viral in stop motion, paper and cardboard urges people to go and vote. If you don’t vote, you shouldn’t complain.
R. Kyle Shoup, USA, 2012, 2:04
The Royal Castle: From Destruction To Reconstruction
Short film about the reconstruction of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. It was burned, looted, destroyed and blown up by the Nazis during World War II.
Grzegorz Nowinski, Poland, 2012, 2:28
Solipsist
Non-narrative short shows a hypnotic, dreamlike journey. . The characters in this film are constantly merging into one another.
Andrew Huang, USA, 2012, 10:09
Spectrum: Michelle
Part of a series of five films for the UK autism charity Spectrum to portray the impact the organization has had on their service users and to raise awareness of autism.
Kristian Andrews, United Kingdom, 2012, 1:12
Sucker Punch: Distant Planet
Part of four viral shorts of a campaign to promote the launch of the feature film Sucker Punch directed by Zach Snyder. Each short defines one of the fantasy worlds of the feature.
Ben Hibon, United Kingdom, 2011, 2:52
Sucker Punch: The Trenches
Part of four viral shorts of a campaign to promote the launch of the feature film Sucker Punch directed by Zach Snyder. Each short defines one of the fantasy worlds of the feature.
Ben Hibon, United Kingdom, 2011, 2:52
Syndicate
Syndicate was an isometric game that had a huge following in 1993 with a popular cyber punk graphic styling.
Rheea Aranha, John Hill, United Kingdom, 2012, 1:18
Tag Heuer: Frog
Everything can change in a second. Online commercial for TAG Heuer Swiss watches with an ambitious and stunning amount of detail to extend the successful print campaign.
Baptiste Masse, France, 2012, 0:43
Witcher 2: Game Intro
Game intro for the Xbox 360 version with very dynamic action on a sailing ship, full of special effects, steroids and spectacular slow motion shots.
Tomek Baginski, Poland, 2012, 4:10
Zombiu
Game trailer set in the London business district. A trader has been nastily bitten by a zombie. Freeze-time brings a powerful emotion to the story. Elaborate graphics.
ANDY'S, France, 2012, 2:56