Taylor James has been a key part of the explosion of digital creativity in the UK, at the heart of the Shoreditch creativity hub and the rise of tech city bringing a multitude of new, innovative ways to create digital imagery. Now we’re continuing in the same vein across the pond in our NYC office too. Throughout this time, we’d like to think we’ve become pretty good at recognizing brilliant digital art. So it is with our pleasure to announce, that Glen Taylor, founder of Taylor James and overall head honcho is on the panel of judges for Lurzer’s 200 Best Digital Artists Special! Soon to be released, you’ll get to see the cream of the crop from across the globe. Upon viewing the mighty array of imaginative, extraordinarily creative work, Glen muses;

“Year on year the quality of digital submissions just keeps getting better. It’s so inspiring to see our industry grow and grow, as individuals and companies like ours just keep pushing the boundaries of the way we are using mixed media.”

This is a competition that focuses on digital creativity, who can create the most stunning pieces of digital art. It isn’t about who can airbrush out the permanent frown on Ann Widdecombe’s face or make Kim Kardashians bum look anymore enormous, it’s about creating a visual treat to the eyes. We’re really excited to see what hidden gems are going to be unearthed this year. To see the most talented people in the industry blossoming and getting quality recognition is what it’s all about!

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The shots Awards are behind us for another year and we saw some fantastic work yet again by everyone involved.  There were some very well deserved winners and of course some undeserved losers as well!

Creating work that will ultimately win awards is rarely the goal of agencies and production companies. Here at Taylor James we feel passionately about how awards shape creativity in the advertising world today and want to support this whenever possible.

For example, the previously mentioned Shots Awards! We particularly LOVE this award ceremony, an event that caters specifically to London based studios. Our nearest and dearest, the people and studios around us that really help sculpt our own work.

For the event we created our own bespoke photo booth designed to snap up your own drunken photos and memories of the night. Be sure to check them out here so you can see the embarrassing photos of yourself either A.) Having drunk to much B.) Sloppily getting with your co-worker C.) Slamming blue crystal meth in private D.) All of the above.

But we didn’t just sponsor the event so we could procure dubious photos of our competitors for blackmail purposes. We truly believe that awards help bolster everybody’s creativity as well.  Friendly competition between studios drives us as individuals to strive for better results.  A little competition never hurts anyone! Furthermore, going to these awards serves as great inspiration for the next season of Ads as well.

With all the talk about account planning, and integrated marketing, and flying under the radar, and “The New Media” it’s sometimes easy to forget what this business is about — exciting ads. We can’t forget that. And it’s why we’ll always need advertising award shows.

We live in a time where Ads are intrinsically interwoven with British culture. The John Lewis ads for example are becoming as much a staple of Christmas time as Turkey, Tinsel and re runs of Elf on channel 5.  The industry has evolved into contemporary storytellers rather than just selling people objects. Taylor James is really at the forefront of this massive metamorphosis.

We are living in the era of the ideas economy, and creativity matters.

Looking past Christmas time, towards the Grand National, we teamed up with Loaf to create something that really evokes the excitement, tradition and wonder that is The Great Race.  The film can be viewed here, which proves we’re not just all mouth and no trousers.  We’re making things that affect peoples base emotions. Of course, none of this would be possible without award ceremonies! The inspiration, competition and collaboration from others around us really boost our own work as well. Which of course brings us back to why we helped sponsor the Shots Awards.

With plenty of award ceremonies around the corner, don’t be afraid to come up to us for a chat. We’re always willing to collaborate, inspire and be inspired by the creative world around us. We’re really excited to show how we’ve been evolving, growing and blossoming and would love to share it with others. So keep an eye out for us, and watch this space!

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Taylor James last weekend helped direct, produce and shoot a new live action music video for the up and coming band; Amber Run.  The video itself revolved around the most brutish of blood sports, Bare Knuckle Fighting, and after looking at some of the raw footage the result is going to be as badass. It was such an energetic experience that had to be shared.

This was my first experience at being on a proper hands on full shoot. The commotion, noise and activity were contagious. Everyone was racing around, manically preparing the set.  When the extras and professional fighters finally arrived, these guys looked like they’d been lifted straight off a council estate in the not so trendy parts of the East End. They looked like they could down a fair few pints of Stellas; kick their staffie about before groping your girlfriend in front of you. They definitely looked the part.

It was a long day, with plenty of retakes. But nobody minded. The shots were beautiful and well composed, which was in stark opposition to the action within the shots. The quick animalistic movements, and the intensely loud noises really reinforced how bloody thirsty the competitors were.

This is the type of work you can be proud to be in. Something exciting, brash and to be honest, quite edgy.

It’s a thrilling time to be part of Taylor James, seeming them take on these more artistic and experimental briefs as they dare to take on briefs that many other established production companies are too scared to take.

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The calibre of commercials, animation, editing and direction presented gets better every year. We also noticed how well represented London is, the city is well deserving of the accolade of one of the world’s creative hubs.

Check out the shortlist and winners at www.shotsawards.com. Bravo all! We’re loved schmoozing and donning our finest amongst the well deserved and talented winners this year. Here’s to another year of the shots awards!

P.S  We’ll share some pics from the photo booth once they are published on Facebook. Watch out party goers!

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The reason why I find it so compelling is simple. It reminds me in the most cliche but sincere way  of my youth. Those thirty fences spaced over two circuits at Aintree were when I felt incredibly close to my father. The week before the race, year upon year I would speak to him about it exclusively. We really connected over the magic and thrill that anything could happen in the race.  Something about The Grand National separated itself from the generally negative views of gambling and horse racing. The Grand National had a sense of regality and legend.

We would pour over the back pages of the newspapers, looking at the colourfully weird jerseys reminiscent of medieval coats of arms where we would pick our knights for battle. I would invariably pick the most colourful jockeys, regardless of the odds. My father meticulously studying the stats, the backgrounds, consulting my grandfather if the the horse he picked matched his ‘system of success’ (an algorithm he had spent many years constructing to always predict the winner).

Jockey jerseys or a coat rack in a bar in Shoreditch?

Once we had chosen, we’d rush to the high street betting shop. Normally filled with odd balls and the hopeless, on the day of The Grand National the betting shop was buzzing with life. The video really touches on this. The nation becomes electrified by The National. From the jockeys to the £1 punters, the whole world is watching, 600 million in 140 countries across the globe in fact.

The video really shows the unpredictability of the race, the underdog or even the unheard of stand a chance of winning. Whether we won or lost, it was something me and my father enjoyed incredibly.

Moreover, the campaign wants to show how The Grand National isn’t just one day. You have The Grand Opening, Ladies Day and The Grand National. This isn’t just a few minutes shouting at a TV in William Hill, it’s a part of British culture, history and traditional. An event that isn’t just a piece of many of my own happy memories but probably yours as well.

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My first foray into the wonderful world of ‘networking’ with the delightfully interesting talk; Demystifying VFX at The Foundry, with Paul Simpson and Shervin Shogian. It  went exactly as I thought it would. Rife with anxiety and awkwardness on my side, fascinating knowledge on the other. But on the plus side, free canapés and beer, so it wasn’t all bad…

I was tasked earlier that day to go to The Foundry to listen to VFX experts Paul Simpson and Shervin Shoghian. It was my first day as the new intern and  I was to listen, learn, and importantly, network. I tried to do all three, mostly unsuccessfully, but I tried.

How I envisioned ‘Networking’

My first hurdle was the reception. Something that should, in theory, be pretty easy. But in practise was not. My name wasn’t on the list. Bollocks.  I thought the well kept receptionist behind the desk  would have demanded for me to leave, to get out, to stop trying to free load the ‘artisan’ fish and chips on a stick (which coincidently were quite tasty) but all she uttered was “oh, maybe you RSVP’d late, go in.”  Funnily enough it wasn’t such a big deal. Who knew. Most people probably.

Opening the big double doors I was greeted by a boy similar in age as me, but was better dressed/groomed asking me if “Sir wanted a drink?”. Having just finished university and taking a string of internships it’s safe to say I am dirt poor. Actually dirt has value. So poorer than that. I’d have accepted a free anything. Which I did. All night.

Having digested various deconstructed traditionally working class meals on a stick (Fish and chips, burgers, pie and mash all skewered through the middle) and countless Italian beers (to the point where the waiters stopped asking me if I wanted a top up and just assumed I did) in the dark corner of the room I was ready to ‘network’.

Scattered across the room were the uber cool and stylish 30 something professionals chatting with each other about how their first child Damascus was learning Final Cut 7  and not X like those other plebs even though he was only 6, or how well their VFX company was doing in the current financial climate in comparison to those arrogant ad agencies . I was a little intimated by the situation.  All I had to talk about professionally was how I managed a tough liaison with a client in a corporate setting. AKA getting into the VFX talk. But spurred on by Dutch courage I was ready.

I wandered around the room feeling like one of those kids that ate glue and had suspicious looking yoghurt stains on his woollen jumper, desperately wanting to hang out with the cool kids at lunch time. It didn’t really work. I stayed on the peripheries of the groups, laughed at the jokes I didn’t quite get, spilled beer onto my trainers and quickly got bored. Networking wasn’t for me at the moment. Especially when there’s all this free food and drink about. Seriously. I think I ate my weight in pretentiously presented food on a stick. I’m sure I ate a scotch egg on a skewer at one point. A scotch egg is designed to be eaten with no cutlery, skewer or otherwise.

How I felt

Finally settling down into my seat, despite all my melodramatic and frankly stupid ramblings I listened to an incredibly interesting talk about VFX.

Paul Simpson was particularly engrossing. Creator of Simon The Ogre an advert for Thompson Holidays he talked about how “The story was king!” and the best way to convey stories is through emotion. Using various techniques, he’s made the audience care about cheap and disappointing holidays to Alicante, which too me is amazing. Furthermore, he went on to talk about how CGI is just a very small process of the story, stating that “Prosthetics are supreme”. They created a beautifully complex prosthetic suit that took hours of sweaty labour to take on and off just to create a more realistic image. He also made sure to not cover the actors eyes in anyway just so that the real human emotions conveyed in the eyes couldn’t be ignored. This ad really was a piece of art. He hired a classically trained sculptor to help create the look of simon, moulding his features into soft clay, a man used to crafting objects society views as high art.

Shervin Shoghian also showed some extremely interesting work, even if at this point the large amounts of canapés were making my stomach tumble and the beers making it grumble. He showed extracts of his own film ‘shhh’ a short film that really explores the parameters of CGI and how it’s not confined to big budget hollywood companies but rather it can now be utilised by smaller companies as CGI is becoming more and more cost effective. He also stressed the importance that CGI is a tool not a crutch, use it when you need to, to help the storyline along rather than the main focus point. He created a terrifying monster,  made out of physical work and adorned it with visual effects. The result was pretty unsettling.

Shervin Shoghian’s Monster

The whole talk was immensely interesting. It was genuinely engaging and I felt I learnt a lot from some real experts in the industry. I also realised that networking is tricky and free food and drink is always a no brainer.

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Creative, CGI, Post and VFX- we create fully integrated campaigns and furthering our ability to help agencies and brands realise their creative vision.
Heading up the division is LJ Hopkinson. Having worked closely with TJ as a photographer, producer, director and cinematographer for many years, LJ Hopkinson’s experience enables us to take your vision further across any media. From animation to digital content and commercials, our intelligent production approach offers efficiencies and consistency, helping to save you time and money by:

Maximising the budgets available by overseeing multiple areas of media – print / motion / CGI.
Continuity and quality is upheld across all media – print through to motion and digital.
Efficient and intelligent solutions are implemented by dedicated creative and production teams.

Every step of the way we collaborate with you to build a bespoke production solution, and we ensure the complete solution is top notch and runs smoothly, with in-house or commissioned artists. Combing production services such as:

Storyboarding / Concept Development / Pre-vis
Budgeting / Planning and Scheduling / Line production
Art Buying / TJ Stock library
Creative and Art Direction
Studio and Location Photography and Direction
Location scouting
Crew booking and management
Casting and talent management
Styling, hair and make-up
Set building, model making and props – physical or 3D
Camera and Lighting equipment
Logistics – Accommodation, travel and transport
HDRi Capture
Behind the Scenes

We also offer all elements of Post-Production including CGI Integration, VFX, Matte Painting / Retouching, Colour Grading, Edit and output for multiple media.

Read more here.

Creating global campaigns since 1999 in London and now also NYC-
Sincerely yours!

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