Three years ago, CHI&Partners launched telco, TalkTalk’s, YouView TV service by allowing X Factor fans to get a taste of what it’s like to be a star. It allowed everyday people to feature in their own music videos and the best of these were shown as idents on The X Factor ad breaks (so seen by millions).
CHI created 15 music videos, designed to sit together to feel like a TalkTalk branded music channel. Each music video was filmed with dancers and performers wearing TV screens on their heads. X Factor fans could fill the TV Screens with their own faces – or whatever content they liked.
Apparently, the idea was a success. CHI&Partners has brought it back for TalkTalk’s sponsorship of X Factor 2015 in the UK. This time, it’s called BopHeads and it’s a music video app.
The BopHead videos were shot by directors, Emil Nava, Courtney Phillips and Alex Southam, from London Alley, which produces videos for stars like Ed Sheeran, Calvin Harris, Jessie J and Nicki Minaj.
The BopHeads app was developed by MPC Creative. It is fully responsive across Android, iOS and desktop and can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play. It films fans as they sing along to tracks including Little Mix’s Black Magic, John Newman’s Come and Get I’ and nineties hit Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison.
The app then super-imposes fans’ bopping heads onto the bodies of choreographed characters in real-time, allowing users to watch, upload and share music videos featuring them as the stars. Users can also invite their friends and family to co-star beside them in their videos, by merging separately-shot performances.
BopHeads will launch with three interchangeable tracks and three music video styles for people at home to choose from: Onesies, which features up to four protagonists dressed in funky onesies; Fun House, a magical world of life-size toys; and Bounce, a glossy hip-hop set.
From August until The X Factor live final in December, five more fun music video styles will be released in staggered phases, along with five more of the nation’s favourite tracks, resulting in the broadcast of more than 160 user-generated spots.
Jim Bolton, deputy executive creative director at CHI&Partners, commented, “What we love about TalkTalk’s X Factor idents is how unique and inclusive they are – using clever technology to bring together the new world of user-generated content with the old world of professionally-crafted TV advertising. In advertising, we don’t always get to see people’s reactions to our work – so seeing how much fun thousands of people of all ages have with TalkTalk’s X Factor app makes it extremely gratifying to work on.”
David Parslow, head of marketing at TalkTalk, stated, “TalkTalk TV is all about bringing people the great TV that they love, and our sponsorship of The X Factor is a big part of this. Our customers love being part of the show, that’s why we are really excited about BopHeads. The music videos are great fun and by far our slickest, most entertaining yet.”
Simon Cowell even added his point of view: “I am thrilled that TalkTalk are part of The X Factor family for another year. We really value this partnership and the huge contribution they make to the show.”
Credits:
Creative agency: CHI&Partners
Executive creative director: Jonathan Burley
Creative director: Jim Bolton
Creatives: James Crosby & William Cottam
Executive producer: David Jones
Producer: Ollie Tancock and David Jones
Digital producer: Gary Serradinho
Head of Team TalkTalk: Jason Coward
Planner: Simon Ringshall
Account director: Will Oakes
Account managers: Freddie Eaves
Production Company: London Alley
Directors: Emil Nava, Courtney Phillips, Alex Southam
Executive producer: Otis Bell
Producer: Jess Bell
DoPs: Pat Meller & Ben Fordesman
Editor: Ellie Johnson & Speade
Audio: Scramble Studios
Engineer: Dave Cooper
Producer: Karen Noden
VFX Company: MPC
VFX producer: Luke Raffety
VFX supervisor: Alex Lovejoy
Colourist: Matthieu Toullet
Flame artist: Mark Stannard
Motion graphics designers: James McIver, Jessica Gaynor, Alexis Williams
Digital/App Production: MPC Creative
Executive producer: Dan Phillips
Senior digital producer: Carl Ellis-Coward
Interactive creative director: Andre Assalino
Lead android developer: Dennis Ippel
Lead iOS developer: Gareth Shapiro
Lead front-end developer: Alex Parish
Lead back-end developer: Pedro Rocha
Lead designer: Alex de Carvalho
Music Company: Platinum Rye
