11.28.2008

Mysteries!

sometime last week i started noticing some strange things popping up around on the net. if you are reading this blog i'm sure you have realized by now that i am watching the evolution of coraline's marketing campaign pretty closely. in one of my standard coraline searches i came up with this link. over the next couple of days more boxes were showing up elsewhere, and there seems to be a steady stream of them showing up every day or two now. it goes like this: random internet guy gets an email from "the coraline team" asking for a mailing address. if internet guy complies he gets a mysterious parcel a few days later. he opens up the box to discover a varied assortment of detritus from the movie: stills printed on aged paper, props, bits of puppets, or costumes, a personalized letter, henry selick's autograph, and a key with a password to unlock hidden content on coraline.com. they are each numbered in an edition of 50, so there are still potentially lots of cool bits yet to be delivered. i knew something like this was in the works, but i am quite impressed by the execution of this campaign, not to mention pretty damn envious of the people who are designing and assembling these packages.

since i've been digging around looking for more of these packages online i figured i'd just keep a list of them here for you lot. hopefully all 50 will surface before all is said and done. maybe i'll copy this list to the section on the right for better access in the future. have fun looking at this stuff, it's pretty cool.

::1::2::3::4::5::6::7::8::9::10::
:::11::12::13::14::15::16::17:::
:::18::19::20::21::22::23::24:::
:::25::26::27::28::29::30::31:::
:::32::33::34::35::36::37::38:::
:::39::40::41::42::43::44::45:::
:::46::47::48::49::50:::::::::::::

as for the passwords to coraline.com, these are the ones that are known at this time. i'm pretty sure there are at least a couple more that have yet to surface. most of the content you will see was shot during the last few weeks of shooting. the crew that was hired to shoot these spots did an amazing job. not only did they document what is already inherently cool, (stop motion, duh!) they added a whole other dimension of coolness with how they photographed and edited the footage. i got to help them out with props, and build some little rigs and stuff for some of the shots and it was a real pleasure to help out. my hands are in there somewhere.

stopmotion
an overview of "stuff". the point is its a "handmade" film.
buttoneyes
an introduction to the cast of the film. that's my sketchbook in the beginning!
puppetlove
henry talks about what a puppet's inner life might be like. includes a great piece of animation/pixilation/time lapse by, and featuring phil beglan.
armpithair
suzanne moultin talks about hair. she and jess were miracle workers. mad props!
moustachio
bo henry was the set construction supervisor. i guess people think his mustache is funny. we wired it up. there's an interesting story that goes with this one.
sweaterxxs
this lady knitted some crazy tiny sweaters for coraline, working from her home. its a shame there is no mention of deborah, margaret, paloma, elodie, heidi, fiona, or any of the other foxy costume gals working with us at the studio.

11 comments:

dex said...

I'm diggin' your blog, bro.

Stephen Worth said...

Number 23 just surfaced at toysrevil.com...

http://toysrevil.multiply.com/photos/album/332#

Here's my current list...

http://www.animationarchive.org/2008/11/more-on-our-coraline-suitcase.html

I'm working on our unboxing video right now.

Stephen Worth
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
Box Number 37

j.spake said...

thanks, both of you!

Stephen Worth said...

Several more surfaced this morning...

Coraline Mystery Box Jump Page

mefull said...

Hey Jeremy

Great idea this mystery box thing - nothing like viral marketing to get things kick started.

You guys must have had a blast putting them all together.

Didn't know you had a blog - fun reading!

Mark

j.spake said...

yeah, i WISH i had something to do with putting these mystery boxes together... that would mean i was still working! all of that stuff is being done by others, which i might find annoying if they weren't doing such an absolutely incredible job. instead i'm just jealous.

R.S.Cole said...

This is an outstanding tribute and honor extended from a production co. to it's most devoted fans. My compliments and thanks to whomever came up with this idea!

Unknown said...

Neatorama has box 27

Anonymous said...

payola

j.spake said...

i guess someone needs to look a little deeper into what payola is...

Anonymous said...

here are some more if you want to update your list mate

http://www.notcot.com/archives/2009/01/coraline_50_box.php