Coalition Of The Willing Launch

Posted by Mate Steinforth

Coalition of the Willing is an animated film about an online war against global warming in a post-Copenhagen world. Between the start of February and the beginning of June 2010, Coalition of the willing was released in sections, now the final film is ready for your viewing pleasure.

Headed by Knife Party aka Simon Robson, the film has been crafted by artists and filmmakers using an array of eclectic techniques.

To celebrate the launch, there will be a launch event this Wednesday, June 30th. In London hosted by Nexus and Berlin hosted by Sehsucht Berlin and Parasol Island. We have 20 tickets to give away to the London launch. tickets will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis. please send your request by 5pm on tuesday to beccym@nexusproductions.com

Feel free to just drop by the launch event in Berlin at CSA Bar, Karl Marx Allee 96, 10243 Berlin, 19:30h.

23 Comments

Ayhan Cebe

Amazing work!! I first heard about the project at F5 festival, it is great to see the complete film. Congrats to all the artists who collaborate the Coalition of The Willing..

Fletch

Congrats Simon and to everyone involved. An amazing message, truly inspiring… And on top of that, brilliant animation!

Well done!

Darren P

Well done all – amazing stuff.

For any interested folk down-under – there is going to be a screening, and an introduction by the films writer, Tim Rayner, here in Sydney, Australia next Monday, the 5th of July.
It’s at Madame Fling Flongs in Newtown, and should be fun. Please email ‘hello@mightynice.com.au’ if you’d like more info.

vushvush

I think it’s a great project, and really well executed on many levels.

That being said, I feel I just need to point out how silly the part about how commercial the world is….is. I mean, you have a bunch of commercial makers working on this piece, a few of which have actually worked on sneaker commercials which I thought was VERY ironic.

Simon Robson

I totally take your point vushvush,
But people criticising the system from within is as old as the hills. Just because we work in the commercial world, does not mean to say we can’t step outside our commercial roles and comment upon it as citizens of a wider community. If your involvement in the capitalist system excluded you from commenting upon it, then anyone with a bank account or money in their pocket would be branded hypocrite for opening their mouths. And i think that would be just about all of us…

vushvush

Hey Simon,

I don’t want to get into a huge debate over this. But to address your comment specifically, I disagree with the analogy. A more accurate one would be saying if a banking CEO calling to have bonuses reduced in the banking industry at the same time he just collect one of his biggest bonuses to date.

The other reason this is relevant is because the piece specifically calls for everyone to do their part and get involved. If you take a stand that personalized Sneaker commercials are against the common good than a simple step would be to not do Adidas commercials.

It’s still a really nice piece. As long as you take it out of context ;P

Simon Robson

Believe me there was no “big bonus” for that job, it was for online…
But that’s beside the point. The fact is i saved money from that campaign and other ones so i could work for over a year totally un-paid to be able to pull this project off. Granted, i could have driven a cab or worked in a factory or whatever to earn this money and at the same time stay un-tarred by the advertising brush, but then i would have built up the know-how to be able to put it together.

As for your banker analogy, show me a CEO using his bonus to re-dress some of the ill effects of his industry and I’ll show you a squadron of air-born pigs.

vushvush

All it said is that if the CEO taking the bonuses was advocating against them it would be improper. I felt the analogy of the anti capitalist working in a capitalist system was too broad and unfair.

Anyway my point is simple and clear. Anyone can take it for what it’s worth (or worthless… :P ).

ShootByDaylight

Just want to put things in perspective. Many, many traditional artists/painters such as Edouard Manet (who was a fierce critic of the bourgeois) also took on commissions from the royals and the rich so they could continue to live and work. There were many artists who weren’t all that religiously inclined yet painted countless images of the Madonna and Child, etc.

There is a romantic notion of an artist who must eschew everything and stand for something hardcore. While the internet has created alot more free artists (ie not tied to a corporation), and hopefully that continues, there are alot of us that must pay our bills. But will continue to speak out against the ills of society even subliminally through our projects.

vushvush

I don’t see how Edouard Manet being a hypocrite makes hypocrisy ok. Maybe I was too subtle. So I’ll just say it once clearly:

If you say commercials are bad, and you make commercials for a living then you are making a living doing a bad thing. Add on top of that a message that says everyone should contribute to a cause because big government and corporations won’t change their behavior, and it is completely ridiculous. Why expect the corporations to sacrifice their livelihood when you aren’t willing to sacrifice yours.

You can disagree and make justifications, but the above are mere facts… nothing more.

Simon Robson

We’re going round in circles here vushvush…

“If you say commercials are bad, and you make commercials for a living then you are making a living doing a bad thing. ”

“The fact is i saved money from that campaign and other ones so i could work for over a year totally un-paid to be able to pull this project off. Granted, i could have driven a cab or worked in a factory or whatever to earn this money and at the same time stay un-tarred by the advertising brush, but then i would have built up the know-how to be able to put it together.”

Without dissent and action from those working within a system, there would be no change…

rinla

YES!! I love this, there are some very powerful moments in here, this was featured in the Ideas Frequency yesterday – http://www.frequency.com/video/coalition-of/138881

BaconIsGood4You

Wow, what a monumental achievement (regardless if you dig the message). So diverse in varying aesthetics yet some how remaining very unified. Mad props. Totally beautiful. Leading up to the release I wasn’t sold that everything would mesh together but you guys pulled it off.

vushvush

Yeah, to get back on the topic of the visuals and the piece itself, I think it works well because there are so many different styles. It doesn’t start out illustrated, then go into 3D, then into live action in some rigid order, but instead bounces around all over the place. With no pattern actually set it really lets you just accept the different styles. It also helps that they are appropriate for each sections subject matter.

I think it’s a good way to bring people together from around the world to work on a single piece.

mAssimo___

Nice visuals indeed. The approach reminded me a bit of the great designs by Russian artists at the beginning of last century. Not aesthetically, just the way in which nice graphics are used as propaganda to try and sell an otherwise unpalatable idea, like communism. Or “global warming”.

I think that after Climategate it’s going to take more than nice graphics to make people believe in something that’s just an excuse for the New World Order plans of some. Thank goodness for the Internet and the free flow of information.

pinocchio2010

I wouldnt be suprised if BP would approach some kick ass studio to make this kind of viral propaganda.

i know its hard to maintain a yuppy lifestyle these days.. take it or someone else does the job.. but in the end you are just killing yourselfes.

Simon Robson

Yes, we’re just going to slap the BP logo on the end and put in the invoice, job done! :)

pinocchio2010

yea , me too :(

La Tomate

I like all differents styles in it, animation, technic’s mixes, narration is captivating, metaphores are great , surprising and smart,.. it has SENSE !

Nice and Clever ! SUPER !

pinocchio2010

..Asserting that, a universal harmony unified all things, John Whitney envisioned our future in his book Digital Harmony (1959), writing that:

“The future of Society: the way we communicate, learn and entertain ourselves lay in making pictures that move, images created by cameras and computers and displayed on a computer screen.”

– John Whitney, 1959

liliput

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Nina

Great work and concept! But I couldn’t help notice how most of the human figures you used were male.The only time obviously female figures were used was when graphically describing the en masse hypnotism of consumerism and a quick glimpse when talking about free love in the 60’s. Er… how stereotyped? Come on – you’re talking about out of the box thinking here – women should be at least 50% of the solution – let’s see that reflected in your film!

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