Instead of churning out a typical camera advertisement, Nikon and McCann put the former’s product–the new D800 Digital SLR–to the test by producing Broken Night, a 10-minute short film capable of displaying its advanced cinematic capabilities. Don’t worry if you’re not a camera geek. The project is meant to appeal to professionals on a technical level, but the film’s story stands on its own legs. Sundance, in fact, selected it for the festival’s 2013 U.S. Narrative Short Film Competition.

Personally, I’m not a fan of horror movies, but this is more cerebral and gothic than a blood-and-guts flick. Oscar nominee Guillermo Arriaga (Babel) wrote and directed the short, and Oscar winner/Steven Spielberg‘s go-to DP Janusz Kaminski (Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan) provided the cinematography.

If you’re fed up with the crap currently playing in theaters and reeling from the post-Super Bowl ad hangover, Broken Night is for you. Credits after the jump.

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Well, there is no epic warfare or movie tie-ins (thankfully) with this latest Sony Xperia ad from McCann NY, which eschews the bombast in favor of some visual trickery. Why? Well, the agency and brand are now getting down to brass tacks and letting us know what the hell the Xperia tablet actually does. The live-action effort, which was directed this time around by Augustus Punch, shows that, yes, you can indulge your social media addiction, watch movies and engage in game play on this certain device (though doctors recommend, not all at one time). We can safely say it’s not as epic as Sony and McCann’s last tryout, but it is certainly more inviting. Credits for the campaign dubbed “Frames” along with its print assets after the jump.

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McCann NY and director Paul Hunter are behind this :60 spot that promotes Sony’s Xperia ion, which marks the electronics giant’s first attempt at launching a 4G LTE smartphone in the US. The lad above has quite the adventure, albeit a short one, in this ad called  “One Block,” which comes equipped with the obligatory Amazing Spider-Man tie-in as well as some chipper Matt & Kim music and, why not, a raging war scene. Our smartphone-loving protagonist, though, is totally impervious (sound familiar?), weathering it all and finding comfort in the safety of his home, couch and furry friend. Uh, dude, look behind you. Credits after the jump.

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We’ve been hearing from tipsters all afternoon and just received confirmation from McCann that the agency network’s New York and London creative chairman, Linus Karlsson (pictured), has been officially named CCO for global brands. Karlsson was hired by McCann 15 months ago from Mother NY.

According to a statement from McCann, “Karlsson will focus on the network’s global clients, including his creative leadership role in Commonwealth, the joint venture created to manage Chevrolet globally. Karlsson will maintain his title as Chairman of McCann New York and London.”

Of course, Karlsson’s expanded global responsibility has left a bit of a hole in McCann’s New York office. The agency is filling it by promoting Sean Bryan and Tom Murphy, previously co-ECDs for McCann’s Verizon business, to NY co-CCOs.

And, in case these weren’t enough promotions/position changes for you, we should also mention that Andreas Dahlqvist, a member of McCann’s global leadership collective, will work with Karlsson as deputy global CCO. Dahlqvist will also be maintaining his current role as vice chairman of McCann NY. Now, who wants to make a colorful infographic of all this?

…And while we’re on the topic of McCann, we’ll refrain from using the word “quirky” this time around as we’ve learned our lesson after the last Wes Anderson/spot-related post. So, we’ll just tell you that the feature-film director is once again dabbling in commercials, this time for a new Sony Xperia campaign brought to you by, yes, McCann Worldgroup.

Here, an eight-year-old named Jake Ryan offers his take on the inner workings of the brand’s smartphone, which from his perspective, operates at the whims of a leader and his three tiny robots. The whimsical (wait, can we say that?) ditty channels the spirit of Willy Wonka and takes us inside the mind of a young lad, as we’ve been told the script is based verbatim on his thoughts. Kids informing major brand campaigns is all the rage these days, isn’t it? At least we give credit to the parties involved for tapping Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi to handle the music portion.

The above TV spot, which will debut this weekend, is complemented by a print campaign that’s already launched in European markets but will soon roll out globally. Credits and print asset after the jump.

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The above web film from McCann NY (which is slightly different than the TV spot that’s been airing) is for Verizon’s FiOS network, advertised as “America’s fastest Internet” with “speeds higher than advertised,” which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but we’ll roll with it.

In “Vision,” McCann employs good comedic timing and simplicity, the latter of which being an element we don’t see much in marketing for the latest, fastest technology products. For comparison, look at it next to TV spots for Verizon competitor, AT&T. AT&T’s been pushing their 4G mobile broadband service in TV spots for about a year now, and each spot depicts someone’s lagging Internet speed preventing them from sharing in their peers’ revelry on a similar time frame. The slice-o-life spots portray scenarios that could potentially happen to someone, but only in an extreme circumstance.

With “Vision,” on the other hand, the viewer doesn’t realize it’s a slice-o-life ad until the punchline, which in this case depicts an event that is an actual regular occurrence for most Internet users. And, it’s here that Verizon’s insight bests AT&T. The most frustrating problem with slow Internet is not the “fear of missing out” due to a slight network delay, it’s being forced to play the waiting game. Credits after the jump.

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From McCann Worldgroup and prodco Caviar LA comes a new round of spots for Sony Ericsson’s Xperia PLAY gaming platform. In March, we saw comedian Kristen Schaal debut as Xperia PLAY’s new emotionally unstable spokesperson, and, as evidenced above, her gaming-obsessed character doesn’t seem to be toning the crazy down any time soon.

The latest campaign for Xperia PLAY focuses on Minecraft, a game that allows players to build pretty much anything using pixels as though they were digital LEGOs. In a contest running through November 7, players can enter on Sony Ericsson’s Facebook page to compete for the opportunity of meeting Schaal in person by constructing the most impressive Minecraft creation. For the nerd who considers crushing on Zooey Deschanel or Lizzy Caplan “too mainstream,” it’s an opportunity that might be too good to pass up.

The spot is a bit of a departure from the series that debuted in March, leaning more toward Schaal’s uncomfortably creepy Flight of the Conchords character and away from the over-the-top gun-loving Satanic spokesperson that we were introduced to seven months ago. But, for those jonesing for some profane bloodlust from Schaal, see another new spot below. Credits after the jump.

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We’ve seen a lot of ads in the recent past dedicated to a variety of company’s latest smartphones. Yeah, technology is cool and all, but props to Sony Ericsson for injecting some humor into ads for their latest product, Xperia PLAY.

Debuting today on YouTube are five spots from Sony and McCann starring comedian Kristen Schaal of Flight of the Conchords and The Daily Show fame. Helmed by SNL and Portlandia director Jonathan Krisel, the spots highlight the phones unique gaming abilities above all else. In a press release, Peter Farmer, head of marketing for North America, Sony Ericsson says, “With the Kristen Schaal videos, we’re showing everyone that we are ready to PLAY, by having a little fun first.”

What other kind of phone would you expect from the company behind the PlayStation 3? Credits, and Schaal ready to “blow the heads off her mother f&$%#*g enemies” after the jump.

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