Eye Candy Animation

“Oh. Oh, uh…” “Mr Whitlam!”

5th September, 2007

These words were uttered by Norman Gunston on the steps of ‘The Dismissal’ and set the scene for the start of the fourth highly successful television commercial for Old Parliament House by Eye Candy.

Like a friendly haunted house this ad takes a tour through the Old Parliament House (OPH) revealing all the characters, history and secrets the house has to offer. Once inside the realm of OPH as conceived and written and by Ken Buchan of ZOO Advertising, you find yourself in Kings Hall surrounded by the portraits of all the past Prime Ministers and the statue of King George, who has a slight movement, tapping his bronze toe much to the annoyance of a loitering journalist’s elbow as he tries to jot down notes on his pad and paper.

We then move towards the portrait of Bob Hawke and magically the oil painting gives a faint smile and subtle wink. Our view sweeps around from a distance to the other portraits and notice that they all have this subtle movement. You see a young Queen Elizabeth II walk past as the gaze from the portraits follows her.

On approach to the opening of the House of Reps you begin to hear passionate voices of past debates from key moments in history. Real samples of audio from the House of Reps during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were included in this scene. Creative director Rachael Johnson says “I love to create things that engage a viewer and these subtle little additions really help to do that.”

Many prominent political figures can be seen through out this commercial including the longest serving Labour PM Hawke vigorously arguing with the longest serving Liberal PM Menzies. As the camera travels through an ornate vent and races down a corridor it passes a security officer who leaps up from his seat after us, as we reach a closed door that reads Prime Minister’s Office. The commercial ends as we tantalisingly travel through a fish eye lens leading into the PM’s office.

Animator Drew Kennewell who modelled the security guards leap and chase movements said “it was great to also be able to learn so much about this iconic piece of Australian history, it really is one of those places that you just need to stand still in for awhile to take it all in.” Produced in conjunction with OPH’s graphic design provider ZOO Advertising over a period of 2 months, the commercial will go to air on 9 September 2007 and run for a period of 2 years, as part of campaign to increase awareness that OPH is open and there are continually new attractions for visitors to experience. Marketing and Communications Manager, Nicolle Keyes says staff and volunteers of OPH have embraced the brand and television commercial “Everyone loves the ad!!!! They all feel proud to be a part of OPH because of the ad. Thanks again for such a great job!!!!” For more information on OPH you can visit www.oph.gov.au