Director Tim Burton tapped Ring of Fire for the visual effects on two Timex spots. The first spot, "Kung Fu," features a hero jumping from roof-tops in pursuit of the villains. However, the villains corner the hero. In the midst of a battle, the hero sets the alarms on the villains’ watches. Once the alarms sound the hero is given just enough time to defeat his advisories. Airing in the U.S. in the fall, "Mannequin" features a cat-suit-wearing heroine running from a devious villain.

Composer and sound designer Andy Bloch tuned in the newest KeyCorp commercial for JSM. The 30-second spot, "Airplane," features special effects by Digital Domain and highlights KeyCorp’s retirement planning services. The airy tune follows the flight of a paper airplane on its journey from a New York office building to a sunny beach, where a man unfolds the plane and reads the message, "I’m on my way!" Andy Bloch said of the project, "The picture demanded a lyrical approach, a feeling of lightness since we are following the flight of a paper airplane.

J.J. Sedelmaier Productions brings the green world of Pete the Gardner to life again for Ortho. The spot entitled, "Bookworm Pete," starts off with Pete reading a book about the hungry hordes of bugs nibbling on his lawn. Finally, in frustration Pete throws down the book and grabs Ortho’s Bug-B-Gon. "The concept underwent some development during production," said director J.J. Sedelmaier. "The client wanted the bugs to appear more threatening than they did in the initial boards.

iXL Digital Video Group has finished promos for Nickelodeon’s mock presidential election for kids. Anastasia Kedroe, Nickelodeon’s director, producer and writer, said, "We started with the idea of doing something with the American flag, something complex and unique. We wanted to avoid being too cutsey but have kids be a key part of the spot. Going in we had no idea how complex it would be." Flame artist Frank Nemis and Smoke artist Chris Kreynus molded kids interviews about their hopes for the next president into a tile puzzle game design.

New York-based digital studio Spontaneous Combustion has created a 3D sequence for the seven and a half-minute Xerox promo entitled, "A Storm of Innovation." The sequence was created for Philadelphia-based interactive event and communications agency PGI, Inc. The promo debuted at drupa 2000, the world’s largest full service trade show and exhibition, on May 31, 2000 in Düsseldorf, Germany. The film was projected on nine screens in a round theater. "Opening in the midst of a thunderstorm, the viewer shoots through clouds, and makes a sudden descent.

Duck Soup Studios recently produced both the 3D animation and live-action for the 30-second Wal-Mart spot entitled "Sunny Skies." The mixed media spot features Wal-Mart´s friendly mascot, Smiley, who appears this time as the bright sun behind dark stormy clouds and then flies down to a Wal-Mart store to rollback prices once again. The animation was created by using Alias Wavefront´s Maya and was directed by Lane Nakamura with the live-action directed by Gale Tattersall and produced by Jon Derovan. Executive producer for the spot was Mark Medernach.

Toronto-based TOPIX/Mad Dog has created the visual effects for three 30-second spots for Visa´s latest campaign. The "Penguins" ad, which promotes the Visa Gold card, is currently airing in Canada. The commercial follows a family outing to the beach where a seemingly passive penguin pilfers the family´s Visa card. Likewise, the other two spots "Monkey 2" and "Cat Burglar," feature a Machiavellian monkey and crafty cat who walk away with unknowing victims´ Visa cards. TOPIX/Mad Dog Inferno artists had to replace the live-action animals with puppets.

Keeping the look "clean and simple," animation director J.J. Sedelmaier of J.J. Sedelmaier Productions transformed the popular print campaign for Connecticut´s People´s Bank to a 15-second TV spot. In the spot, which highlights the People´s Bank on-line services, an animated male hand and computer mouse quickly perform a multitude of tasks on-line, including paying the mortgage, depositing checks and checking on investments, all at his unseen wife´s request. "People´s Bank has an ongoing outdoor campaign and they wanted a spot that was very similar.

Acme Filmworks director Peter Chung (AEON FLUX) has finished his fourth spot for Rally´s and Checker´s hamburger stands. The anime style spots all feature the fast-driving femme fatale, Holly. In the newest commercial "Johnny Law," a cop clocks Holly doing 243 mph in her car. The sly seductress races through a Rally´s/Checker´s drive-thru nabbing two Bacon Cheese Champs. Once cornered by the copper, the cunning character hands over her license conveniently placed between the buns of a burger.

Interface Media Group, a Washington D.C.-based film and video production house, created the 3D animated end tag for "Choose Your Cover," a campaign for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 60, 30 and 15-second spots stress the importance of using sun protection to avoid skin cancer. Utilizing 3D animated icons created for last year´s campaign by Interface, art director/3D animator Carol Hilliard and designer/Flint artist John Bennett created a 4-second end tag, which mimics the project´s print campaign.