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''Mountain'' is a 2003 television and cinema advertisement launched by
Sony Corporation , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
to promote the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...
. The budget for production and advertising space purchases for the 60-second piece amounted to £5m across all markets. The commercial depicts a
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian crowd congregating to form a mountain of human bodies, all competing to reach the top of the pile. The campaign surrounding ''Mountain'' was handled by
advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
TBWA London. The commercial was directed by
Frank Budgen Frank Spencer Curtis Budgen (1 March 1882 – 26 April 1971) was an English painter, writer and socialist activist acquainted with the author James Joyce. Life Born in Crowhurst, Surrey, Budgen spent six years at sea before working in London ...
. Production was contracted to Gorgeous Enterprises, with
post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...
by The Mill. ''Mountain'' premiered in 30 countries on 13 November 2003. ''Mountain'' is part of the larger "Fun, Anyone?" series, launched earlier in 2003, which aimed to increase
market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those units would have a ...
for the PlayStation 2 in the family demographic. The advertisement and its associated campaign were a critical and financial success. ''Mountain'' was nominated for over 40 awards from professional organisations in the advertising and television industries, including the Film Grand Prix at the
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...
, considered the most prestigious award in the advertising community. Due in large part to the buzz generated by ''Mountain'', sales for the 2003 Christmas period exceeded expectations, and the PlayStation 2's share of the console market increased from 74 to 77 percent.


Sequence

The piece opens with a man perched on the edge of a
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
looking out over an urban landscape.
Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...
's "De Gospel Train" (from the film ''
Dimples A dimple, also called a gelasin (, ) is a small natural indentation in the flesh on a part of the human body, most notably in the cheek. Numerous cultures believe that cheek dimples are a good luck charm that entices people who perceive them as ...
'') begins to play, and the view switches to show a crowd running through the streets, towards a heaving pile of people which forms a ramp up the side of a building. Everyone clambers over each other in an attempt to reach the top of the slope where, after a brief celebration, each is thrown back down by the others so a new person can take the top spot. The camera zooms out to a wide shot of the "mountain", and the campaign's
strapline Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand. Etym ...
"Fun Anyone?" appears, followed by "PlayStation 2: Play the world online".


Production

The PlayStation 2 was released in 2000, backed by "dark and mysterious" advertisements designed to appeal primarily to the 18–24-year-old male
demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...
.Mancini, Candice; "Case Study: "Fun, Anyone?" Campaign for Sony Corporation", ''Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns, Vol 2.'', Thomson Gale, 2007. Page 1524 The marketing campaign surrounding the release proved highly successful. Over the following three years, sales of the PlayStation 2 accounted for 74% of the console market.Mancini, Candice; "Case Study: "Fun, Anyone?" Campaign for Sony Corporation", ''Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns, Vol 2.'', Thomson Gale, 2007. Page 1523 In 2003, the advertising agency behind the PlayStation 2 campaign, TBWA Worldwide, began looking into ways to expand sales of the console into other markets, in particular, families with young children. To this end, a new set of advertisements were commissioned using the strapline "Fun, Anyone?". The premise of the campaign was to showcase more gender-neutral, family-friendly advertisements. Many of the television spots were
animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
to appeal to younger children, including ''Dancing Robot'', ''Laughing Mouths'', ''Winners and Losers'', and ''Wobble''. A new television spot was concepted for the 2003 Christmas period. The brief to the creative team was that the ad had to show people competing to be the best, to showcase the worldwide community of friendly competition surrounding the PlayStation 2. After discarding several ideas, the team eventually settled on the idea of a "King of the Mountain" game featuring a huge crowd of competitors. This concept would eventually evolve into ''Mountain''.Playstation 2 on the Mountain
, ''The Inspiration Room Daily'', November 30, 2005. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
With a script written out, the creative team began looking for a director for the project. Eventually chosen was
Frank Budgen Frank Spencer Curtis Budgen (1 March 1882 – 26 April 1971) was an English painter, writer and socialist activist acquainted with the author James Joyce. Life Born in Crowhurst, Surrey, Budgen spent six years at sea before working in London ...
, whose work with
production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...
Gorgeous Enterprises had won a number of awards, including the 2001 Film Grand Prix at the
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...
for
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
's '' Tag'', considered the most prestigious award in the advertising industry. ''Mountain'' was shot in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.Mancini, Candice; "Case Study: "Fun, Anyone?" Campaign for Sony Corporation", ''Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns, Vol 2.'', Thomson Gale, 2007. Page 1525 Over 1500 extras were recruited by a local production service company, Zohar International, for the six-day shoot, though no more than 500 were on set on any particular day. The Mill;
The Mill Builds a People Mountain for Playstation
" (
press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...
), ''CGSociety'', May 20, 2004. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
The extras included 50 stuntmen, gymnasts, and circus performers. Five carefully placed cameras were used to capture the early crowd scenes, buildings, and backgrounds. The final shot was taken by a helicopter-mounted camera, of the 50 trained extras running and climbing up a 20 ft cone fitted to the top of the Rio Sul Center.
Post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...
work was done by The Mill. Since the majority of the buildings and backgrounds were captured in-camera, the bulk of the work consisted of crowd replication,
set extension Mattes are used in photography and special effects filmmaking to combine two or more image elements into a single, final image. Usually, mattes are used to combine a foreground image (e.g. actors on a set) with a background image (e.g. a scenic ...
s, and limited CGI work on extreme
wide shot In photography, filmmaking and video production, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is a shot that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surro ...
s. Crowd replication was achieved using MASSIVE software. At the time, The Mill was the only production company, other than its
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
-based creators Weta, licensed to use the software. ''Mountain'' was The Mill's first project to use the software. In all, Mill 3D artist Jordi Bares created 146,000 digital characters were created with individual behaviour patterns.


Release and reception


Schedule

''Mountain'' first appeared as a 60-second television and cinema spot in 30 countries throughout Europe and Asia on November 13, 2003. These appearances were backed by a poster campaign running from November 13 to December 24. The posters were widely distributed. In Germany alone, TBWA purchased space for 315 posters inside cinemas, with a further 36 outdoors and 38 oversized (3.49m2) posters, as well as appearing as inserts on 323 foyer screens. A 42-second version of the commercial screened in 36 cinemas across Germany. The overall spend for the "Fun, Anyone?" campaign over the 2003 Christmas period amounted to £5m. ''Mountain'' continued to air on television throughout 2004 in 10-, 30-, and 60-second versions. Despite its origins in the United Kingdom, it had not been aired in mainland Britain as of July 2004.


Awards

''Mountain'' was a critical success, garnering more than 40 awards and nominations within the advertising and television industries. It was the second-most-awarded commercial of 2004, after '' Cog'' for the
Honda Accord The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of cars manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States since 1989. ...
. At the BTAA Craft Awards, ''Mountain'' was shortlisted for ten out of twenty categories, winning in six. In the run-up to the largest advertising awards ceremony of the year, the
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...
, ''Mountain'' was tipped as a frontrunner for the festival's Grand Prix. The chief competition for the prize was believed to be '' Mr. Giant Taco Salad Inventor'' for
Bud Light Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in othe ...
and ''
Prison Visitor A prison visitor is a person who visits prisons to befriend and monitor the welfare of prisoners in general, as distinct from a person who visits a specific prisoner to whom they have a prior connection. Prisons may also have a visiting committee. ...
'' for Vim Bleach.Visual wizardry wins at Cannes
", ''
Boards Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a t ...
'', June 29, 2004. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
The 22 members of the awards jury spent six days deliberating over the decision, before ultimately awarding the prize to ''Mountain''. Jury president
Piyush Pandey Piyush Pandey is an advertising professional and the Chief Creative Officer Worldwide (2019) and Executive Chairman India of Ogilvy (agency). He is the recipient of the Padma Shri award (2016). Pandey is also credited with shaping a distinct ind ...
commented: "it was the simplicity of the idea and the magnitude of execution that helped ''Mountain'' stand out." The ad also received a Gold award in the Excellence in Music category, for the use of Shirley Temple's "De Gospel Train". ''Campaign'' magazine remarked: "Shirley Temple's sweet, innocent vocals contrast splendidly with the frenzy of activity onscreen." Despite the acclaim received by ''Mountain'', several critics expressed concerns over the loose connection between the ad and its subject matter. Greg Popp of AMV BBDO said of the piece: "I have admiration for its impeccable execution and that it was a brave ad, but it makes no connection with the gaming industry; I thought it was crafted to win awards", while Bob Garfield of ''Advertising Age'' remarked: "''Mountain'' is more of an ad for the director than for the client, and thus a definitive example of production values utterly displacing advertising's raison d'etre: selling goods and services to people in exchange for money."


Legacy

In addition to critical success, ''Mountain'' succeeded in achieving TBWA's goal of widening the consumer base from 18-39 males to the larger family demographic. Due in large part to the increased interest generated by ''Mountain'' and the "Fun, Anyone?" campaign, sales of the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
exceeded the targets set by Sony, and the console's share of the US$13b video game market increased from 74 to 77% over the period in which ''Mountain'' was aired. The ad resonated with many the public, and was described as "art" by a number of viewers. TBWA continued to run the "Fun, anyone?" campaign throughout 2004, and as of 2009 continues to act as Sony's advertising agency for the successor to the PlayStation 2, the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
. Director Frank Budgen went on to direct ''Water Balloons'' in 2006, promoting the competing
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
console system. As one of the only people outside of New Zealand to have used the MASSIVE crowd multiplication software, animator Jordi Bares of The Mill was invited to give a keynote masterclass on artificial intelligence for crowd animation at UK CGI Festival in 2004.Desowitz, Bill;
Final Speakers Confirmed for UK CGI Festival
, ''Animation World Network'', October 18, 2004. Retrieved November 13, 2009.


References


External links


''Mountain''
at the Computer Graphics Society website (
QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...
required) {{PlayStation 2003 works 2000s television commercials PlayStation 2 Winners of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival Film Grand Prix British television commercials 2003 in British television Video game marketing