Aussie artists sing Nick Cave for Sydney Opera House video
Three Drunk Monkeys has unveiled its long awaited long form content piece for the Sydney Opera House which features a raft of Australasian artists performing Nick Cave’s The Ship Song.
The video was launched last night and includes Neil Finn, Kev Carmody, Sarah Blasko, Angus and Julia Stone, Paul Kelly, Temper Trap, Martha Wainwright, Katie Noonan and Daniel Johns performing in different areas of the building.
It also features the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Teddy Tahu-Rhodes with Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, Bangarra Dance Company, Bell Shakespeare founder and director John Bell, Richard Tognetti and The Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Freakin’ brilliant.
Great song, beautifully shot, completely self-indulgent.
its a good music clip. im interested to see how this will be used to promote the sydney opera house (via TV, radio and print activity). only thing is that I wouldve liked to have seen a few more external shots of the opera house throughout the clip, considering that the design of the building is what people identify instantly with being the sydney opera house.
That was absolutely stunning. I love it.
I like the tagline ‘Come make a little history’. They are shifting the focus from the place as an architectural icon to its value as a performance venue. They don’t make any money from tourists taking photos!
Hopefully it will be followed up by an a varied, accessible and affordable event program.
Lots of love for this!
Outstanding – congrats to all involved!
kudos. great piece. seriously great piece.
beautiful. just beautiful.
I love this! Fantastic!
Amazing piece of work. Hope the connection strategy gets people to experience much of it.
Similar? It looks identical to the BBC stuff.
Naughty Monkeys.
This is pretty epic. Amazing collection of artists performing an amazing song that ties in with the Opera House well in its lyrics. I tend to agree with @a.a.a that more external shots could’ve been used, but as a whole package, this is beautifully shot!
God that’s beautiful – the song, the pictures & the idea.
I disagree with annoying anonymous above – thanks so much for the restraint of saving the money shot ’til the end – it was a glorious build & I never tire of having my breath taken away by the sight of that building.
Wow. ” We feel we’ve created something every Australian can be proud of and share and the world can appreciate.” This is a horrible self indugent mess. The emotion is so forced. It would appeal to the over 40 Mum and Dad types only, your first problem is those people won’t even know 75% of the people featured. God. Way to kill music and creativity. Horrible. Mixed message mess.
My favourite song of all time, but for some reason this makes me cringe. Maybe it’s the skipping private school girls in boater hats that tipped me over the edge.
Brilliant! Would love to see this on the big screen.
Its way better than that BBC spot. Maybe its a context thing (ie. I’m not British and its not 1997).
This is awesome. Well done to all involved!
Just beautiful.
I think it’s excellent. That song…. makes me tear up a little!
Bold, big ad. Wonderfully executed. If any one of us get a chance to do something like that in our careers then we should be so lucky.
Love it, even got some goosebumps!
Was just as inspiring in 1998 for the BBC
surely the monkeys should have credited the original idea – as it looks almost identical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJpQJWpVJds
Excellent but where’s Nick?
As a Pom, I have no idea who most of these folk are. As a Pom, I like it better than the Perfect Day BBC promo. Only because Perfect Day wasn’t exactly (or even slightly) a British song.
I don’t know this Nick Cave song. But I have a feeling I soon will.
There’s a reason the Monkeys have (and keep) their reputation. What a great film.
And importantly, what a great tag line. This film reminds us that history doesn’t have to be historical.
First Cadel’s win, now this. It’s a brilliant week to be Australian! If I were in the credits for this campaign I would die professionally fulfilled. Great job Monkeys. Got me off my butt to write my first ever campaign blog.
@another annoying anom [sic] – I think the internal locations are what makes it, the beauty of the internal elements is where they want you to come and experience art within. The point is to be as familiar with the inside as the outside, i’d have thought.
BUT:
Why are not _all_ the artists Australian? Last time I checked, Martha Wainright has an American dad and a Canadian mother.
It certainly is self indulgent, but I think it works a treat. The selection of personalities, barring a few odd selections (martha??) was spot on, I wonder what Nick Cave thinks. Interested to hear how it has killed music & creativity?
wow….this is amazing! well done to everyone involved!!
Good stuff, but I’m going to say something that everybody else is thinking……wish I had that sort of budget for something so expensive with questionable measurable objectives!
WOW
Im not evening bothering about the negitive comments here, they clearly have another agenda.
This is amazing and has brilliant wow factor. I watched the BBC version and there is no comparrision this one sh%ts all over it.
Agree with the money shot at the end, thats the kicker!
Well done to all involved loved it
Goose bumps
Nothing is sacred.
The song: This wonderful, timeless song about shagging has now been appropriated for patriotic purposes, and lost its magic, distinctiveness and edge. Way to go, mainstream.
The artists: they lose a little integrity everytime they come into frame.
I know it was a love job by the agency. But, it just makes me feel a little sad.
A blatant, unashamed rip off of perfect day, monkeys should be embarassed and making formal apology
LOVE IT!
Like
Nicely shot, always liked that idea. No agenda @ Sim.
Love it – brilliant
To Marketing GM – what ‘measurable objectives’ would you be thinking of? If its anything to do with positive attitudes towards the Opera House, this nails it.
And its way better than the BBC spot.
Love it love it, love it, but will be interesting to see how it’s distributed. Its a beautiful piece of branding and the social media sites will lap it up, but interested to see where they place it to reach the most likely audience who have the money to spend on opera house performances
Will Farquhar has recently arrived in Sydney – sure he’ll be interested in how the Monkeys have paid homage to his Perfect Day work.
Beautifully executed and just seen first ‘earned media’ on Channel 7 news.
Fantastic, I think it’s different to the perfect day thing as the perfect day thing is different to we are the world. Well done.
Wow that is simply amazing.
Yip – I like it…..What was it shot on ?
Come on 3 drunk magpies, stop feathering your nest with others ideas
Nooooicccceeeeeeeee !!!!!!
Great song and amazing execution just a pity they couldn’t of came up with an original idea as the budget was clearly there for some fresh ideas.
Its a bit harsh to compare the production of something that was created 14 years ago, have a look at some adverts that were made in Australia at the same time as the BBC video and compare those.
I love that it doesn’t focus on the external imagery of the opera house as it gives it more substance and avoids it being another tourism australia yawn.
Great work monkeys.
A Perfect Day to be a monkey
There’s two ways to look at this:
Firstly, you can marvel at the brilliant execution. And brilliantly executed it is. Secondly, you can despair at the fact it’s a straight lift from BBC’s Perfect Day… one of the most famous advertising films ever made.
And I don’t think those sentiments are mutually exclusive, because I’m certainly doing both.
There will be those who would argue that it doesn’t matter, as long as the target audience is both unaware, or uncaring. Fair enough. But agencies don’t work on love jobs for a year just to put a warm smile on people’s faces… they do so to create landmark work that will win awards.
Very interesting that an agency then, would put a year’s work into a recycled idea.
Disregarding this, it’s a fabulous film. Although I think lifting the strapline straight from the lyrics is a wee bit lazy.
Nick Cave not available?
@Dave
Nick avoids direct commercial enterprises, but not against his song being used for cultural edification.
It’s very good. But it is exactly the same idea as the Perfect Day spot, no one could argue it’s not. It’s much nicer and possibly better executed, but that’s really only because the original was done 13 years ago. It is good though….
One small gripe, too much back of house… no one wants to see the loading dock of a building like this.
As a cynical bastard who posts anonymously (and is proud of that) , all I can say is WIN for Three Drunk Monkeys.
meh.
did nick cave approve this?
OMG… Am I to believe that everyone in here who thinks 3 Monkeys have ‘lifted’ this creative have never ‘borrowed’ from another concept before?? I think its time to get over it and celebrate this seriously good work!
It’s a very good ‘commercial’. It’s also a copy of the BBC spot; but as long as The Monkeys and the Opera House are happy with that – who cares?
Speaking as a client, efficacy matters more to us than originality, and this ad delivers. it’s a beautifully produced piece of what is essentially branded content, culminating in a superb money shot. I have to say though, that as a swelled-chest patriot watching the closing frames i felt somewhat deflated by the trite tagline – “Come make” anything is pretty cliched. While the execution is excellent and should be lauded, i’m not sure whether praise should be any wider in scope than that. With this stunning asset and a borrowed idea, it would have almost written itself.
Beautifully shot, a big ad no doubt. But no fan of the tagline, and in all honest, what’s the point?
Thanks for all of your interest in the Ship Song Project. Here are a few facts and points to consider:
The brief that we received for the pitch April 2010 was to open up ‘The House’ for all to enjoy. Everybody is familiar with the stunning exterior of the building (it’s a masterpiece) but they should also come inside and experience the diverse range of talented artists who perform there. That’s a brief summary.
The idea we presented was to take viewers on a voyeuristic journey through The House to experience what an employee might see if they walked past the various rehearsal rooms, concert halls, corridors and stages.
This idea won the pitch.
The idea was inspired by a 2002 film called the Russian Ark – an extraordinary one-take film completed as a tribute to Russian history and the Hermitage Museum. Have a look at the trailer here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J–TDEHizVA
Initially, we were hoping to capture the story in one shot but, as you can imagine, it would be an almost impossible logistical nightmare to orchestrate this with the calibre of artists we had in mind and their limited availability.
Noah’s idea to use Nick Cave’s immortal ballad as the audio narrative that also acts as both a tribute and an invite to all was a masterstroke.
When Nick Cave said he liked the idea and gave us permission to have other artists reinterpret his song, the entire team were thankful, stoked, and relieved.
We all know, and love, the BBC spot but we think the story of our protagonist and the way she takes you on a tour of her workplace is a different story. An ensemble of artists singing one song has been done before on several occasions. BBC, I Still Call Australia Home, We Are The World, Feed The World and Let Them know it’s Christmas time, etc etc. This is an execution device that we’ve used, not the idea itself.
The backstage or workplace tour thing has been done a few times before too, but not the way we did it. Here’s just one example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_dYUH5ji0w&feature=related
July 2011.
Nick Cave approved, and apparently loves, the execution.
In the first 24 hours after launch the Ship Song Project was shared by 1.3 million Facebook users alone.
The song is currently no. 34 on the itunes pop chart.
It has been trending on Twitter and Youtube.
The project has been covered by almost every major news channel in the country.
The entire team at The Opera House, the artists involved, the production team, and and the agency are happy with and proud of the project.
At the agency we’ve been moved and are thankful for the kind words coming in from around the world and we all feel privileged to have been able to work with such a talented and inspiring bunch of people.
It was called a ‘project’ because it includes a song arrangement, a short film/music video/ad, posters, a making of documentary featuring interviews with the artists and there are more components to come. You can watch the doco here. http://play.sydneyoperahouse.c.....ntary.html
Hope that clarifies a few things.
Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, but anonymous opinions and pseudonyms are meaningless.
Finally, here’s an interesting take on originality from a truly original director.
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”
— Jim Jarmusch
Cheers, J
Justin, I do not know you but I think your answer is as good as the work. It is a reflection of the clients you have and the work you produce. It is first class and everyone can be very proud of the result. The results speak for themselves.
Beautifully said justin
It made my Friday just that little bit better. Thanks Three Drunk Monkeys!!
A film of middle aged middle class white people (with 3 exceptions I could see), made by middle aged middle class white people, for middle aged middle class white people. I guess most bloggers here are middle aged middle class white people… lets compare the BBC’s Perfect Day on racial lines as well. This copy is a whitewash.
Good film made great through song choice.Thank you Justin for sharing and educating us all on a project in relation to which you have every right to be proud. It’s worth noting though that, as is the case with our national brand, any new tvc for the opera house is sufficiently newsworthy to be covered by all national tv networks, almost irrespective of idea and execution.
To me this hasn’t been a massive success, with less than 100,000 views, considering the production budget which must have been huge.
It feels like a Qantas ad, no emotional connexion, too staged and controlled.
I want to love it but I just don’t. To me it’s a missed opportunity because it’s too deliberate, lacks energy and spontaneity. You know what’s going to happen from the very beginning, and there are no surprises.
Hello Australia….this is the BBC calling…well not quite..it’s Will Farquhar here, the writer on the BBC Perfect Day spot.
Well, for my money and speaking as a quietly inebriated Gibbon, I think the Three Drunk Monkeys, the director and the client, should be thoroughly congratulated.
I totally understand the Australian pride that this piece of work stirs up. But is it a rip-off? I don’t think so. Is it a first cousin twice removed of Perfect Day? Yes, probably. And I’d be very happy if people thought it was too!
You see, the similarity occurs in the brief. The Perfect Day spot was conceived to stir up a similar kind of pride in British craftsmanship. More foreigners at the time, praised the BBC than any Pom!
Which is why we didn’t just have a bunch of Brits belting out the song. It wasn’t about jingoism it was about internationalism. The BBC was the envy of the world but the fee paying, man in the street just didn’t realise it.
Incidentally, the most pride I took in the whole project was that the song got to Number 1 in the British Charts for 3 weeks (with all profits going to the BBC charity, ‘Children in Need’).
It eventually got knocked off the Number 1 spot by Teletubbies. Fickle lot us Brits.
In fact, the only gripe I’ve got with the Sydney Opera House is this. The acoustics are terrible.x
How about the ‘3 light fingered Monkeys’?
Christ I’m so sick of anonymous cretinous wankers slagging off other people’s work.
Whether you like it or not, have the integrity to stand by your comment – if you don’t have the guts to put your real name up, then it’s probably best you shut the fuck up.
There is a home for those who love to wallow in anonymous vindictive bile, and it’s unfortunately it’s spread like herpes to mUmBRELLA.
‘Call you Nigel’?
“Coward” would be more accurate.
Christ I’m so sick of anonymous cretinous wankers slagging off other people’s work.
Whether you like it or not, have the integrity to stand by your comment – if you don’t have the guts to put your real name up, then it’s probably best you shut the fuck up.
There is a home for those who love to wallow in anonymous vindictive bile, and unfortunately it’s spread like herpes to mUmBRELLA.
‘Call you Nigel’?
“Coward” would be more accurate.
Calm down dear Adam, you’ll do yourself a damage, if you keep this up. Have a nice herbal tea and a lie down. It’s a very nice film but not alas in the least bit original. Not unlike the ‘Monkeys’ new work for Ikea. Is this OK by you or not? Which is the whole point of forums like this. Anyway try not to blow a gasket about people hiding behind false names, there’s a good fellow. Yours sincerely – Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden
People in advertising who get in a lather about originality are revealing the great delusion in our industry. In 14 years as an agency copywriter I have never met an original creative genius in advertising. They can’t work in advertising. This is an industry. Great artists all the way from Picasso to our own Bret Whiteley borrowed freely and freely admitted it. You really think we’re in their league with our corporation sponsored headlines, visual puns and content? We attempt originality in advertising to make the ads more compelling and effective. Which originality does. The great ad agencies have been the one’s who knew how to trigger emotion in their times. And people are more likely to buy into an emotion that isn’t expressed with a cliche. But the BBC thing was 14 years ago people! Who in the target market – other than ad people and expat poms – even knows about it? Demanding that it be original is particularly ironic in that no-one has touched on Nick Cave’s considerable debt to the great Mr Cohen.
Nice one Peter, what an example you are to budding creatives. ‘Don’t
worry guys and gals, as long as you rip off work that’s at least 10 years
old and created on another continent, you’ll be right’. And with your vast
14 years of experience, you’ve never met an original genius in advertising.
Well maybe you were looking in the wrong country. Australia has no
chance of being world class if it applauds such navel gazing, unless of
course, you pull out a diamond, instead this true blue piece of fluffy
nothingness.
just back from marketing week Tim. great to see the legend in teh flesh. You called it right. I watched 30 secs and thought ‘perfect day’. The originality debate rages on, but if the people love gaga then who cares if madonna did it first? keep up the top work!