SWAY studio brings liveliness and precision to the newest Subaru Impreza commercial titled PEEL OUT, currently airing nationwide. SWAY's team of vfx artists utilized a series of high-end animation and photorealistic techniques to bring life to cars, living room spaces, magazine pages and people.
A Russian fishing trawler trudges through a foggy, mill-pond flat sea. A work-stained fisherman on a break takes a last swig of his drink and reflexively crushes the can and hurls it into the sea. He turns and starts to walk away when the can flies back out of the water, hitting him. He peers into a now roiling ocean, and sees mysterious objects glittering and moving beneath the surface.
To help promote the Aug. 21 street date of the highly anticipated BIOSHOCK videogame, EyeballNYC crafted a :60 spot in collaboration with ad agency RDA International on behalf of their client 2K Games. Challenged to distill Bioshock's visual and graphic complexity, Eyeball set out to create a commercial that would entertain general viewers, tantalize fans and do justice to "the ground-breaking nature of the game."
Legendary toon Speedy Gonzales, "the fastest mouse in all of Mexico," has joined Latin sensations Kumbia All-Starz in a music video for their song SPEEDY GONZALES, featured on the band's newest album, AYER FUE KUMBIA KINGS HOY ES KUMBIA ALLSTARZ. The Warner Bros. Consumer Products character was inaugurated as the newest member of the Kumbia All-Starz at a press conference in Mexico City, after record label EMI/Televisa Music leaked to the media that an unnamed Hollywood star was set to join the band.
Asylum VFX and director Michael Mann take us on the football field for a tension filled spot, THE PLAN, for Nike with San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, airing in August. Surveying the defensive alignment, LT closes his eyes, mentally planning his attack. The action happens on the field, yet we remain in LT's head at the line of scrimmage. Up field, LT cripples the opponent with speed, agility and tenacity working his way to the goal line. Avoiding the last defender and into the end zone, LT does his signature celebratory move...
Massive Software and Vicon House of Moves contributed to the work of Method Studios on the new Miller Lite spot, BREAK FROM THE CROWD, helmed by 300 director Zack Snyder.
SWAY studio used NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics boards to create hundreds of CG cereal flakes for a recent General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch television commercial.
Making CG cereal appetizing, however, is no small feat. Once the creative team at SWAY convinced client General Mills that photorealistic CG would be the best way to depict the cereal, the project was underway. But making the commercial proved to be far more challenging than simply developing a tasty product shot.
The three worlds of acclaimed film and spot director Michel Gondry are explored in this latest spot for the HP Pavilion Ent. PC laptop via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Directed with affection and wit by his brother, Olivier Gondry, MICHEL GONDRY combines film, animation and vfx.
S4 Studios has designed and produced a :45 fully-animated 3D promo for NBC Universal HD's 22-hour broadcast of Al Gore's LIVE EARTH, dubbed "the concert for a climate in crisis."
Created by the S4 team of director Geoffrey Kater, producer Larry Le Francis and creative director Thomas Helmintoller, the promo, titled 7.7.07, takes viewers on a grand tour through seven venues of the worldwide concert event on July 7, 2007.
Directing duo Smith & Foulkes of Nexus Prods. helmed the title sequence for the debut PLATFORM International Animation Festival.
The title sequence tells the story of a little white cubes epic journey to join the PLATFORM box party. The sequence was blocked out as 3D animation with camera moves and every frame of animation planned out. The moves were then taken on to the shoot to act as reference.
AvatarLabs, a full-service motion graphics and online design studio, has been retained to design, create and deliver the MySpace advertising campaign promoting the upcoming Disney-Pixar animated feature film, RATATOUILLE, which will be released June 29, 2007. AvatarLabs' RATATOUILLE MySpace page can be viewed at: www.myspace.com/ratatouille.
Cuppa Coffee Studios extended their services to Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman to animate a PSA to offer support. Chapman currently faces charges in Mexico due to the capture of Andrew Luster, an American felon who fled to Mexico to avoid prison. The PSA features a stop-motion Dog the Bounty Hunter encouraging viewers to lend their support by signing an online petition. A PSA endorsing a celebrity is a first for Cuppa Coffee, an outfit better known for stop-motion programming such as MTV's CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH, E!
Exopolis was recently tapped by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) to breath new life into the much-loved "Sunny Side of Life" promo that first aired on the network 13 years ago. Using modern-day animation techniques, Exopolis brought viewers into a moody Edward Hopper-esque cityscape. The :30 animated piece entitled "TCM Now Showing" introduces films on the classic movie channel.
While none of Hopper's actual paintings were used in the promo, Exopolis referenced several of his most well known works, including 1942's
McCann Erickson and Bitfilm have started a strategic partnership called PITCH!, which set out to tap into the viral market. By August 1, 2007, creative people from all over the world may submit a film with the topic "Coke Zero: A man's life as it should be" for McCann's customer Coca-Cola in the Bitfilm Club (www.bitfilm.com/club). This is not about classical advertising films, but free works especially made for the Internet.
Traktor has directed MAIL ON SUNDAY'S new theatrical commercial for the weekly newspaper supplements YOU/LIVE MAGAZINE. The ad agency was BBH London and the post work was carried out at MPC. The comical ad, titled "Battle," centers around a GLADIATOR style battle scene appropriately set in the same location as the field seen in the opening sequence of the movie. The fight takes place between an army of men on one side and women on the other.
Entertainment and design company Imaginary Forces (IF) was recently called upon by Walt Disney Pictures to create a teaser for its upcoming feature, NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS. The teaser breaks today (May 25, 2007) with the premiere of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END.
In the NATIONAL TREASURE sequel, treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) looks to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by uncovering the 18 missing pages from assassin John Wilkes Booth's diary, and embarks on an adventure with many surprising twists.
In the latest spot for Honda Motorcycles, a frustrated driver punches through the roof of his car in bumper-to-bumper traffic, sprouts wings and flies to open road heaven with help from memorable 3D and effects work by the Brickyard VFX CG team. This spot marks the latest in a series of collaborations between the artist-owned-and-operated bicoastal effects boutique and director Kinka Usher of House of Usher.
VFX studios Engine Room in Hollywood and Fusion CI Studios in Santa Monica pooled talents recently to create innovative CG ocean for the season launch of Discovery Channel's Emmy nominated series, DEADLIEST CATCH.
The Syndicate has completed production on the first of a multi-spot commercial and branding package, "You Are Here," for Six Flags, the world's largest theme park company. The ad campaign broadens Six Flags' brand focus on family entertainment.
In a creative partnership with The Zimmerman Agency, The Syndicate's managing director Kenny Solomon and The Syndicate's director Ben Grossmann, developed the concept of an ordinary suburban neighborhood transformed into a theme park in an eruption of roller coasters, thrill rides, superheroes and costumed performers.
Newly returned from their feature debut, ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2, The Brothers Strause, Colin and Greg, have created a striking ad for the 2008 Mercury Mariner in which a car is built by sound waves.
SOUND WAVES, part of a larger campaign helmed by the Brothers and created by Y&R Team Detroit and produced by Tight Films, employs the latest 3D animation technology to create visually captivating images of the 2008 Mercury Mariner that focus on the vehicle's design features and its available hybrid powertrain.
Not so long ago, auto insurance company Geico and ad agency The Martin Agency approached animation and effects company Framestore NY to draw on the 3D talents behind such projects as WALKING WITH DINOSAURS, DINOTOPIA and HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE and "reinterpret" the already-beloved Geico Gecko mascot.
Visual Resource announced the launch of "A World of Barriers," a Web tour created for Adobe Systems Inc., highlighting the features of their new Acrobat 8 Professional product, specific to marketing professionals.
Raketu Communications Inc. -- the global Internet communications, information and entertainment company -- announced it has partnered with Emmy-nominated animator John K., co-creator of THE REN & STIMPY SHOW, to develop the Raketu family. Based around a futuristic cartoon character called Raketeena, John K. worked with the marketing team to develop a cartoon sitcom family that showcases and explains the benefits of Raketu's products and services, including voice over IP (VoIP) calling, IPTV, mobile VoIP, and IM/SMS.
Direct-to-consumer personal auto insurance company Esurance has teamed with its ongoing animation and creative partner, W!LDBRAIN, on a new short promo, CARBON COPY, a three-minute tale of clones, robotized plants and mad scientists. The short will be shown at film festivals and other events sponsored by Esurance throughout 2007.
Brickyard VFX of Santa Monica, California, provided extensive beauty and split screen work on a :30 spot for The Gap titled "Boyfriend Trouser," directed by the Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE). The spot stars actors Claire Danes (SHOPGIRL, MY SO-CALLED LIFE) and Patrick Wilson (RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, LITTLE CHILDREN).
