Nicolas Ménard directs code-powered ‘Algorithms’ spot for Who Wot Why and Habito
In collaboration with Who Wot Why, Nexus Studios’ Nicolas Ménard has directed Algorithms, the first TV advertising spot for innovative online mortgage broker Habito.
It features a series of elegant sorting algorithms that turn graphical chaos into satisfying order; a metaphorical visualization of the brand’s powerful mortgage matching algorithm. The spot will air this week on Meridian and highlights how Habito combine innovative technology with human expertise in order to simplify the mortgage process.
To achieve the spot, Nicolas designed a series of instructions that were turned into versatile Web apps. These apps allowed him, and the in-house team at Nexus Studios, to play with the amount of units to sort per algorithm, and to adjust their appearance and speed. In order to most beautifully represent the technology, there was a strong emphasis on colour, shape and composition.
Nicolas integrated sound using the same approach; writing instructions for how sound would be triggered by each algorithm. Since each algorithm starts in a randomized state, this would create an infinite amount of 'melodies' to choose from. A real playground for German sound designer David Kamp, who crafted all the brilliant beeps and bloops of the first half of the film.
In 2010, Nicolas wrote Colorimetry, a book at the crossroads between graphic design and visual arts and wrote algorithms that used the data of colour spaces to generate visuals and says: “When Nexus Studios showed me the script for Habito, I was excited at the idea of jumping back into that world. It was a rare and unique opportunity to make a film using code, and to craft our very own, playful sorting algorithms”.
