'Cheryl gets her curves back!'  Pretzel is working with Rapier to promote Heat's weekly offering.  The ad offers up a series of dull images based on the weeks news stories, these are tossed aside to reveal the magazine sitting heroically on top of a mountain.

After prolonged exposure to Heat, we would have to agree that it really does 'make life worth living'.

Pretzel-d has produced a series of short docos for the new RBS recruitment website. The 90-second films show both sides of a career at RBS - work and life. Individual employees were selected to discuss their role within the various businesses in the group. And to underline the emphasis at RBS on maintaining the work/life balance, each film shows the employees enjoying their favourite out-of-work activity.

So far we have seen runners on the Forth Bridge, fly fishing in the Lake District, and wine tasting in a 17th century cellar. Watch this space for more.    

Where does that 5p go when you ask for a plastic bag? Both staff and consumer needed to know...this is the film we came up with. Well one of four films actually! Each short story was an insight into various areas the 5p bag effected...staff, charity and consumer...    

Visit the Plan A site

Style Advisor is Topshop's personal shopping experience.  The brief was to raise the profile of the service on the Topshop site by using video.  We pitched the idea of providing a video that had an interactive element: the user would be able to choose various key pieces from the collection, and Style Advisor would then put combinations together for them, highlighting the transitional quality of the collection.

This was all shot in one day, breaking down the shoot into video and interactive elements. The result is a seamless experience between video and interaction.

Pretzel-d was on baby-sitting duty last week. Working with de-construct, we created video assets for their new SCA baby site.  Shot on green screen, we managed to film 12 children and 16 adults in one day.  The purpose of the assets is to show the four stages of pregnancy, each of which then links to further advice and information for the user.

Chivas Regal

She's cool, inspiring and has the best set of rings we've ever seen...

Pretzel-d would like to introduce the iconic Barbara Hulanicki - founder of Biba, producer of gorgeous prints and recent collaborator with Topshop.

With the Topshop-Hulanicki collection about to hit the shops, Topshop were keen to give fans a glimpse of the woman behind the clothes. A crazy, hectic schedule meant spare moments with the sixties legend were scarce, but the ever-persistent Pretzel-d team grabbed enough time with Mrs H to produce a brief yet intimate overview of her impressive career. We're hooked.

 

'True Stories' is a series of films made for the RAC's refurbished website. Digital creative agency Chemistry developed the idea as part of their overall campaign, and asked us to shoot the films.

The idea was to let existing and potential customers into the (sometimes extreme) world that the RAC team inhabit and effortlessly deal with on a daily basis. James Lawes directed these very simple, beautiful stories so as to subtly show how each individual team member frequently goes above and beyond their normal job remit.    

Pretzel-d once again teamed up with Wunderman to deliver an interactive red button DiTV campaign.  The TV commercial travels through a shopping mall, revealing the motif of the new Ford KA as it goes.  Hit the red button and the user is taken to the DiTV experience, offering more detailed information about the car and allowing the user to book a test drive.

This was a steadicam shoot, shot on the Red camera. All post-production was handled in-house, with a little bit of help from Envy on the audio.

Pretzel-d worked with digital agency Skive to create blue screen assets to be incorporated into a series of banners and sky scrapers for Kit Kat's "Perfect Break" promotion. The online campaign mirrored the JWT's TV ad, working with the same creative brief and actors.

The rich media included a game that allows you to control and prod a little man on your computer screen - a task carried out by millions of women everywhere on a daily basis. Who needs to go interactive?

Twice a year, fashionistas the world over descend on London Fashion Week, and year after year, leading high-street brand Topshop calls on Pretzel-d to capture the magic.

Our multiple Sony EX1s are rigorously trained to spot "what's hot right now", as well as the excitement of the final shows, the designers, the celebs and the people wearing the oversized shades.

And while the champagne flows and the after-parties rave on, our editors work through the night to deliver podcasts and in-store films ready for the very next day.

This is fashion as it happens. 

Topshop gave Pretzel-d the arduous task of heading to Switzerland to catch the first of the winter snow, staying overnight in an alpine cabin (complete with sauna), and then filming models skiing and boarding down Bernie Ecclestone's Glacier 3000 resort.

All this was to launch their 2008/9 'Sno' range of winter sports gear. When asked to summarise the job, Paul Butterworth (the producer) replied, "Er, it was really tough. We had a terrible time". To which Jake (the director) added, "Did we? Oh, yes, terrible."

The Pretzel-d team donned their driving gloves and headed across Europe on a road trip with Nexus-h in the rather luxurious surroundings of the all-new Honda Legend.

The film was made to sit alongside the Legend brochure, and reflect a journey of discovery.

DOP Dom Bartels drove while Matt Fretwell gave directions.

This is one of a series of films we made for the Philadelphia Extra Light website entitled "Gabby's Get Ready for Summer".

But this was no ordinary website; this was an all-singing, all-dancing, interactive, blue/green screen masterpiece. Viewers could discuss health and fitness issues with Gabby (our central character) and her celebrity friends. And Dan Smith, the director, brought his experience in comedy to the table, which meant that each element of the site had a fun and friendly feel. A spoonful of sugar is exactly what's needed when exploring issues of healthy eating. 

Your ticket to the MTV Music Awards is somewhere inside you, all you have to do is let it out... By screaming. A lot.

Pretzel-d teamed up with animation experts Blac Ionica on this quirky little project for Esprit to promote a competition to win tickets for the MTV Europe Music Awards.  The 30-second promo was aired on the student network Sub TV and artfully integrated into the window displays of Esprit stores nationwide.

All you have to do is climb into a van and scream your heart out...

"Nothing at all to worry about, Officer. We're just going all-out for some tickets..."

EDC by Esprit! Coming to a university near you!

Pretzel-d approached Moose, the ‘Clean Graffiti' artist, to collaborate on a film for the Discovery Channel's season of shorts. Using soap and a brush as his tools, this modern-day Cinder-alfred cleans the grime of the city into extraordinary pieces of environmental art.

For this particular film, Moose created a completely new, intricate piece of work in the heart of London. The people at Discovery were so pleased with the result that they signed Pretzel-d and Moose up to promote their season of short films, commissioning a whole new piece of art that was used in the season's branding, from DVDs to in-house screensavers and even a life-size poster for Discovery's reception.

If you are an aspiring young filmmaker then you may have heard about Nokia's aspiring young filmmaker competition. If you haven't, then you probably should aspire harder...

We were asked to produce a series of short films made by these keen creative types. In the end, we had 18 of them slaving away over one very long weekend.

We also fashioned an animated loop to encourage other film buffs to enter their own shorts, which was placed in themed cinema booths in London, Rio and New York.

The final nominees were showcased at the Pangea Day Film Festival, a live global film jamboree. We also delivered a final highlights film of the whole event, including footage from LA, Rio, London and Africa. It was nothing really. 

Sewing used to be a treasured pastime handed down through the generations, but nowadays there are multimedia fandangos to guide your hand through every stitch.  

Not that we are complaining. Topshop teamed up with Rubbish magazine and commissioned us to make a quick-step guide to breathing new life into your old pants. "Bagsy Mine" is a real cutie with a great soundtrack.

Say goodbye to the plastic bag.

This is the second time that Pretzel-d has worked with Wunderman for Ford. On this occasion, Matt 'just-call-me-the-Ford-man' Fretwell was asked to film the all-new Ford Fiesta

As you can see, the boy did good, shooting the car on the new Arri D21 for maximum visual pleasure. This 90-second film sits behind the new Fiesta commercial for those who dare to press the red button.

To Uni or not to Uni?

Directgov's "Aim Higher" campaign is designed to help students answer this question.

Pretzel-d produced a full DVD of 12 comedy films presented by E4's Nick ‘Grimmy' Grimshaw, and a whole host of menu pages giving info on grants, bursaries and general student advice.

Research feedback has been exceptionally positive and Pretzel-d is currently updating the films for next year's intake. Lucky devils.

The 5-Point Step-by-Step guide to creating your own ‘Eco Fashion'

Step 1: Buy some fairly-traded bamboo from a sustainable source.

Step 2: Attach it to a loom.

Step 3: Spin bamboo on said loom with the help of a (fairly-treated, reputable) weaver in healthy working conditions.

Step 4: Cut the newly-created material into a highly trendy and ‘of the moment' pattern.

Step 5: Sew and fashion said material into a garment even Joseph would be jealous of.

And voila!

Well, not quite; but the guys at Topshop certainly know how to Eco it up, proving that style and sustainability can go hand in hand.

Check out their latest eco-chic look with our fun and fresh bicycle film. Yes that is sunshine you're seeing...

As part of our creative support for Momentum Worldwide on the Nokia Sponsored Pangea day, Pretzel-d (well, the jammy chosen ones anyway) flew to New York.

The brief was to film a short online and satellite broadcast commercial to promote this global event.

Directed by James ‘Bugsy' Steel, the film got up-close-and-personal with the Big Apple locals to discover the true meaning of Pangea.

The interviews were edited in-house and delivered in a range of formats, with a bit of tweaking from our post-production friends over at Envy.

Pedigree

Pretzel-d has worked with Ford/PHM to produce a series of teasers that showcase the new Kinetic design philosophy. These films have been used by Ford both internally and externally to create a buzz around this new design principle.

At the same time, we have produced bite-sized clips that have been used as part of Ford's dealer training programme all across Europe.

These visual treats were brought to life by Matt Fretwell.

Pretzel-d was approached by SOUK to make a viral for the RNID as part of their drive to highlight the importance of hearing tests for children and the potential dangers if problems go undetected.

Director James Lawes introduced the idea of shooting the film from a child's point of view, which brought out themes of innocence, imagination and, most importantly, vulnerability. Shot on the Sony EX1, MovieTube and primes, Pretzel-d was able to deliver a filmic look on a micro budget.

Meet Roddy. He's a businessman with a bitchy wife and accounts in Panama.

Afraid to speak to the taxman in case he ends up in trouble, Roddy keeps his business dealings to himself.

Our client, BDO, is no stranger to the average Bob with a prob, which is why they commissioned Pretzel-d to produce a series of light-hearted films to target this specific group.

BDO understand their concerns, so the underlying message was simple: it's better to speak to a tax advisor before they come knocking on your door.

These films were then premiered on BDO's brand new island in the internet-based virtual world, Second Life.

Twice a year, fashionistas the world over descend on London Fashion Week, and year after year, leading high-street brand Topshop calls on Pretzel-d to capture the magic.

Our multiple Sony EX1s are rigorously trained to spot "what's hot right now", as well as the excitement of the final shows, the designers, the celebs and the people wearing the oversized shades.

And while the champagne flows and the after-parties rave on, our editors work through the night to deliver podcasts and in-store films ready for the very next day.

This is fashion as it happens. 

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When not in Glasgow, he can be found filming young ladies on the ski slopes for Topshop, mixing with celebs at London Fashion Week and filming in tourist hotspots such as Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. He has also just completed a shoot for Sony Ericsson in Sweden. 

James joined Pretzel in 2006, already with an award to his name. His trophy cabinet has swollen every year since... In 2009, James's Uganda film won Gold for Best Cinematography at the New York Film Festival, and his digital short for the RNID won Silver for Best Public Relations. He has filmed documentary pieces with vulnerable communities in Uganda, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Mozambique. And he has recently shot films for Saint @ Y&R on the Lloyds digital account and for Chemistry on the new RAC online campaign.

He was recently tipped as one of the "Ten Emerging Artists to Watch" in The Times, and credited for his "wryly amusing, perfectly-formed short films" in Art World Magazine.

Giles is currently promoting his first short film having secured UK Film Council and Film London grant earlier in the year, while also preparing for his first commissioned solo exhibition, set for February 2010. He and his work also recently appeared on School Of Saatchi, a BBC2 series in which he was selected to present in the last 12 in a pool of over 3000 competing artists by the likes of Charles Saatchi, Matthew Collings and Tracey Emin.

A strange notion in the age of dial-up... but its cult following soon included some RSA directors. Matt was signed to Blackdog films to direct music videos soon afterwards.

Matt joined Pretzel in 2005 and has worked with a wide range of clients including Ford, Honda, Kit Kat, the Discovery Channel, London 2012, and the COI.  He is now responsible for developing digital projects at Pretzel-d and works closely with clients in developing online and interactive video content.

During this time he has worked with a variety of Channel 4's on-screen talent, developed his skills across a wide range of the channel's platforms and wrangled with some copulating bulldogs. Among his award-winning work are campaigns for high-profile seasons, channel stings and idents.