For the past five years, AWN has put out a call to its readers working in commercials to share their work. Each year the showcase is filled with innovative, funny and eye-popping spots. This year is no exception. It is a collection of commercials representing the best, and diverse, work these production houses are doing. These are ads you definitely don't want to skip past.

Helio Scuba Time

A52
"A52 really brought this concept to life. The work they did on the whale, the color and the environment helped us take this spot to another level." -- Nate Morley, vp/group creative director at Deutsch.

"The simple ideas always seem the hardest to pull off. A52 and the entire team made the very complex process of a whale eating a girl look so simple." -- Jennifer Parke, vp/group creative director at Deutsch.

"Jared did an amazing job directing this. It was a great cast, it was shot extremely well. From the rough-cut to the final version is truly unbelievable; A52's team absolutely brought this spot to life. From my perspective, this is one of the most extraordinary leaps from the rough-cut to the final version of a spot that I have ever worked on." -- Jen Dennis, producer at Deutsch.

A52's team, including vfx supervisor Patrick Murphy, vfx producer Sarah Haynes, 3D supervisor Andy Hall, lead Inferno artist Raul Ortego and others worked closely with the agency and production teams -- including director Jared Hess, line producer Laura Heflin and director of photography Munn Powell -- to determine what needed to be shot during the project's single day of location production, which was filmed at the Olympic Training Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Moving forward with the live-action footage of the divers, A52's post-production work began.

Under Andy Hall's supervision, A52's CGI team of Paulo de Almada and Dan Gutierrez modeled, textured, colored, animated and lit the "hero" whale, as well as a school of fish that appears throughout the spot, using Maya for the animation, and Mental Ray for rendering. From there, Raul Ortego artistically composited in the coral reef and appropriate screens for the Helio device, while also adding the CG fish and whale. His final touch was to color-grade the water to complete the spot's deep-sea illusion.

Credits for Helio Scuba Time
A52
Exec producer: Mark Tobin
Producer: Sarah Haynes
VFX supervisor: Patrick Murphy
Inferno supervisor: Raul Ortego
3D supervisor: Andrew Hall
3D artists: Dan Gutierrez, Paulo de Almada
Deutsch Inc., Los Angeles
Cco: Eric Hirshberg
Group creative directors: Nate Morley, Jennifer Parke
Art director: David Zorn
Copywriter: JD Jurentkuff
Director of broadcast production: Randy Morton
Agency exec producer: Steffi Binder
Agency producer: Jen Dennis
Live-action director: Jared Hess, Moxie Pictures
Live-action director of photography: Munn Powell
Editor: Paul Martinez, Lost Planet
End graphics: Logan
Sound design: Brian Chapman, Beacon Street Studios
Final mix: Robert Feist, Ravenswork

Powershares Escape Average

Acme Filmworks
Acme Filmworks is home to many of the world's finest animation directors and produces some of the most stylish commercials being created in the word today. Veteran Acme director and Time Squad creator Dave Wasson's latest work is representative of Acme's quality of artistic sophistication. PowerShares Escape Average combines a retro design that includes a classic action chase sequence accompanied by cool jazz that raises the bar for animated advertising. Under a tight deadline, Wasson and his team hand drew storyboards traditionally as well as in Adobe Flash. Wasson's final character designs and backgrounds were completed in Adobe Flash and Adobe After Effects was used for final composite. Euro RSCG of Chicago was the advertising agency to this fast-paced, action-adventure character piece for PowerShares that is a signature Acme FilmWorks production.

Credits for Powershares Escape Average
Acme Filmworks
Exec producer: Ron Diamond
Co-exec producer: Gwynn Adik
Director/designer: Dave Wasson
Technical director: Nicolas Mermet
Storyboard artists: Dave Wasson, David Knott
Character layout: Saharat Tantivaranyoo
Character animation: James Krenzke, Justin Murphy, Rob Lilly
Assistant animation: James Krenzke, Greg Franklin
AfterEffects artists: Nicolas Mermet, Brendan Burch, Mike Jacobson
Flame artist: Philip Ineno
Exploratory artwork: Bernie Peterson
Production managers: Eric Orner, Kerry Valentine, Brendan Burch
Production assistant: Albert Ramirez
Euro RSCG McConnaughy Tatham/Chicago
Producer: Monica Wilkins
Exec creative director: Blake Ebel
Creative director/copywriter: Elyse McGuire
Creative director/art director: Amanda Butts