.

Everywhere we go today we are surrounded by advertising. It’s on our televisions, it’s on our radios, it’s on our websites, it’s on the sides of buildings and buses, it’s even in our email. Constantly surrounded by so much ad noise, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that someone made that ad. It’s even more difficult to remember that there’s a distinct art to creating an impression of a brand or product. That’s why TIFF is presenting Packaged Goods,a new series of programmes designed to bring you the best in advertising and music videos, specifically turning an eye to the ways in which artists create purpose driven works.

‘Consumer packaged goods’ is the term used to refer to items that are consumable and are often purchased frequently. These items include food and beverage, clothing, cleaning products, and make-up and grooming supplies, just to name a few. As a result, the markets are large and competition is fierce, making advertising one of the primary methods of reaching intended consumers. Despite the high volume of advertising out there, there are some stand-out examples of those that break through the white noise and really hit home with their audiences.  Enter Rae Ann Fera, former Editor of Boards magazine, which served the advertising and commercial production community from 1999 to 2010. “I’ve spent a lot of my life looking at advertising and music videos in various capacities, and one of the things I’ve always been quite adamant about and a champion of is the art involved in that type of filmmaking,” says Fera of bringing her knowledge and experience in the industry to guest curate this programme.

Her interest in advertising as a creative medium can be summed up in one key element: the story. “Storytelling is the absolute fundamental, most important thing, so when you get a really great story told in 30 seconds it can be a little bit electric. It’s hard to articulate what does that, but when you see it you’re like, ‘Yes! There it is!’ When you see something that goes beyond what you would expect of a particular type of communication, I think that’s really excellent.”

“The other element of what’s cool about this type of work is just the craft of it. It’s an excellent demonstration of craft,” she says, “It’s a different style of creativity. It’s a different, more disciplined approach, having to do something with a directive.”  The first installment of this programme, screening on Wednesday, May 11, demonstrates exactly that, a diverse group of pieces designed to challenge the way we look at this type of short-form filmmaking. “I think the first thing that’s interesting about this format is that, specific to advertising and music videos, it’s telling a story or creating a mood or an environment with a particular directive.”

That directive is to sell you something. Whether it’s an innovative commercial for hair conditioner (pictured above and available here on Vimeo)or an impressionistic Dolce and Gabbana ad, it’s a visual representation of an association you will make when standing in front of their product, which will hopefully end in a purchase.

Describing the programme, Fera says, “It was conceived for the Cíclope [International Advertising Craft Festival] in Argentina, which was a new advertising craft festival and awards show that was in December. The organizer of that approached me to put together a new talent reel with the specific conceit that these are directors that are unsigned for representation or are available for commercial representation.

So here in this particular program some of the pieces are really, really bootstrapping and they’re showing their ability to create excellent film and tell their stories with very little. So the interesting thing about this was I was looking for work that showed promise of something greater, that had a very strong point of view of the actual narrative of the story or the visual look and feel of the piece.”

Looking a little harder at advertising and music videos need not be an academic pursuit – far from it, in fact. The programme is filled with laughs in addition to arresting visuals and wonderful use of style. In fact, the title of the programme itself is quite witty. “Not only is it a cheeky reference to the fact that packaged goods advertising is the lowest form of advertising but when done well advertising can be quite artful,” Fera says, “We also knew that with the programme there might be different elements we might want to put together, so you know, we can ‘package’ these ‘goods’ together.”

Packaged Goods begins this week but will continue for the remainder of the year. The next installment takes place on July 21, 2011 and will focus on 3D work. There are two final installments planned in October and December, but Fera will be programming those closer to the presentations to keep things current.

Don’t miss the first installment of the Packaged Goods series on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 7:00 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Visit their website for tickets and details.