Commercials

Seeing Spots: Trollback & Co., a newly formed visual effects and design studio, finished a new spot for Rowecom, a start-up internet service company. The commercial features a fast-paced mix of books, maps and other layered images in conjunction with live action footage by director Elena Colombo. The spot was produced for the creative team at Boston-based McKay Communications. The spot started airing October 18 on CNBC North America and Europe (including the United Kingdom). . . .To introduce Kellogg's new Cereal & Milk Bars for Leo Burnett International-London, England, TOPIX/Mad Dog completed the 3D animated product demo and box sequences, and integrated them within 2D animation for a vibrant :30 spot. The commercial began its global run in the UK, France, and Ireland in October. The spot will make its debut in Germany, Mexico, Iceland, Belgium, and possibly Canada in the new year. . . .Industrial Light & Magic just finished up the new Will Smith video Will2K for Columbia Records and Sony Pictures. Robert Caruso directed the vid that sends mega-star Will Smith on a Millenium eve time traveling spree. The futuristic effects were created with ILM's newest motion capture software. . . .London-based production company AKA Pizazz and Internet designers Edwards Churcher have announced the arrival of the world's first fully interactive animated commercial for Compaq. Following on from AKA's recent animated TV campaign for Compaq, the interactive Web version of "Bird" was created by Neil Churcher, James Stone, and Javier Garcia Flynn of Edwards Churcher. The spot is now available on the Compaq website. The commercial features a fully interactive, realtime animation in which one's cursor movements control and direct a determined bird searching for an elusive worm hidden somewhere in a series of inter-linked landscapes and locations. . . .Director/designer Jerry van de Beek and co-designer Betsy de Fries of Little Fluffy Clouds, the San Francisco digital animation and design studio, finished an all CGI commercial for Lugz athletic shoes entitled "Annakii." The 30-second spot features a video game like scenario, replete with a hip-hop soundtrack, where the hero moves through a futuristic New York City. . . .Florida, U.S.-based AARGH! Animation, Inc., one of the largest independent cel animation houses, has produced a series of national spots for Cold-Eeze cold medicine that combine live-action with cel animation. The cel animation was directed by Mark Simon and Dave Kallaher of AARGH! Now running and continuing through the cold season, these spots, three :10 spots and two :30 spots, are running in heavy rotation on major U.S. networks. The spots feature live-action actors whose sneezes morph them into animated characters.