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Monday, 16 October 2006 | Levent OZLER
Quiet Man and Big Foote Stand Up Against Poverty
 QM UN30QM mov 1 640x48.mov ( 5MB ) - Viewed 281 times
Ad agency Young & Rubicam (Y&R) and New York-based entertainment companies Quiet Man and Big Foote Music donated their considerable talents to a variety of short animations. Scheduled for October 15 and 16, STAND UP is an ambitious attempt initiated by the United Nations Millenium Campaign to set a world record for the largest number of people to stand up against poverty.
"We were initially contacted by Jeremy Fox at Y&R NY," explains Amy Taylor, Executive Producer at Quiet Man. "They asked us, together with a handful of other companies, to come up with a 7 second animation of someone or something physically standing up. They then planned to string together the various animations into 15, 30, and 60 second spots to be released in a variety of ways and across various media. We knew it was a great cause, and we got to work."
Opening with the crossed legs of a figure rendered in striking black and white against a steely gray background, Quiet Man's contribution also benefits greatly from the arresting, almost eerie sound design accomplished by Big Foote Music. What begins as an isolated, yet determined whisper of "Stand up!" quickly rises to a soul-stirring chant as more and more monochromatic figures rise up from various states of repost. Shot mostly from the waist down, the unidentified figures form into lines, then into rows, then into columns, the chant growing stronger and more varied as they do. As the piece closes, a small child is visible near the center of the assemblage, a reminder of them most profoundly affected by poverty.
The Quiet Man / Big Foote collaboration proved so compelling that Y & R and the U.N. team immediately asked that they increase the length of the spot from 7 to 25 seconds, allowing it to be used as a standalone spot as well as part of the compilation.
STAND UP is also designed to coincide with Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) month of global mobilizations around the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Every voice will be needed to ensure that governments listen up and take action.
Quiet Man and Big Foote have already lent their unique talents to the cause. How about you?
Find out how you can join an existing event in your area or organize your own STAND UP events by visiting http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/
About Quiet Man
Don't let the name fool you. Quiet Man may appear to be a low-key company, but they enjoy a booming reputation in the advertising industry, where they're known for the high level of aesthetic and technical finesse they bring to their seamless visual effects work. Founded by Johnnie Semerad and Amy Taylor, the award-winning company has created some of the most memorable spots with industry giants like Joe Pytka for clients such as HBO, Fox, Pepsi, and GE.
Additional information can be found at http://www.quietman.com
About Big Foote Music
New York City-based music house Big Foote Music was founded in 1994 by brothers Ray and Sherman Foote. Fostering a creative environment, the collective of musicians continually pushes the boundaries of music and sound design in advertising and beyond.
The company creates award-winning work for top brands including American Express, BMW, Cingular Wireless, Fedex, Mastercard and Pepsi, and continues to work with premier agencies including BBDO, McCann, Ogilvy and TBWA Chiat Day.
Big Foote continues to explore new frontiers with their move beyond traditional television advertising to feature films for the "silver screen." Their most recent claim to fame was completing music for "Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room," which was nominated for an Oscar.
Big Foote garnered an award at the 2005 AICP show for their work on a NYC2012 Olympics piece.
More information on Big Foote Music may be found at http://www.bigfoote.com
Credits
Quiet Man
Director - Johnnie Semerad
Head Of Production - Gray Hirshfield
Business Director - Seth Tabor
Cinematographer - Karen Heston
Flame Artists - Karen Heston, Kim Harvey, Ryan Baier
Music - Big Foote Music
And a special credit & thank you to all of our many volunteers who STOOD UP for our shoot and for the fight against hunger & poverty.
Y&R
Gary Goldsmith CCO
Brian McDermott -Creative Director
Robert Dufour- Creative Director
Kleber Menenez- Art Director
Corey Rakowsky -Copywriter
Dante Piacenza - Head of Production
Jeremy Fox - Producer
Jason Moyer-Account Director
Robert Jacques-Assistand Account Executive
Sound Design - Big Foote Music
Executive Producer - Ray Foote
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