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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.02 - MAY 2000
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CommercialsSeeing Spots: Charlex founder and creative director Alex Weil has created "Casual George," a 30-second spot to introduce the new "gold dollar" coin from the U.S. Mint. Charlex brings the stoic face of the first U.S. president off the dollar bill and places it on a lean young body. George gets jiggy with friends at a club, scuba dives with the fishes and drives a classic car along the freeway. "This project was about creating the character of George," said Weil. "We wanted to give him as much humanity as possible. When he reacts to the new one dollar coin, we wanted a reaction everybody can relate to. Even though George is such a stand-up guy and is promoting the new dollar coin, you can tell he's somewhat miffed about being upstaged. There's something very human about him, even though he's really just a flat image right off the US dollar bill." The commercial was produced for Bethesda, Maryland-based ad agency, The Dan Rosenthal Co. Bob Giraldi directed the project. . . .Will Vinton Studios has delivered a new spot entitled "Choices" promoting 989 Studios’ video game Syphon Filter 2. Mike Wellins directed the CGI commercial for San Francisco-based ad agency, Butler, Shine & Stern. The spot is designed to look like a scene taken directly from the game. The ad starts with the hero running on top of a speeding train firing his machine gun at approaching enemy. When the valiant hero corners the villain, the evil foe suddenly asks whether he can be "done in" with something less painful than a gun. The hero points to a scrolling menu bar where the two decide on a more suitable weapon. Finally, the enemy is paralyzed by a taser and kicked off the train. Creative director was Barry Bruce and Leslie O’Connor produced. . . .Black Logic wins big with new visual effects commercial for the Wisconsin Lottery. The spot highlights the new FastLucky5.com, a cutting-edge on-line game from the Wisconsin Lottery. Black Logic’s Michel Suissa directed the ad. The fast paced spot begins with the declaration, "We have seen the future, and it's digital." The colorful spot bursts with floating digits and 3D animation and promises "a whole new way to play the numbers." Suissa said, "The challenge was to appeal to a younger audience, while remaining coherent and relevant. It's an exciting spot visually, as much about defining an image and attitude for the Wisconsin Lottery as it is in explaining Lucky5. We wanted to present lottery as fun and exciting. What I really liked was putting the fun back into the mix. You win, you don't win, so what? It's still fun! That's what we were trying to convey." The commercial was produced for Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based ad agency Hoffman York. . . .
J.J. Sedelmaier Productions helped Major League Baseball star Ken Griffey Jr. try new "Sportz" (crackers that is). The 30-second spot for new Nabisco "Sportz" snack crackers integrates cel animation and live-action footage. "We haven't produced many projects integrating animation with live action, but on 'Griffey' we were teamed with the creatives from the Slim Jim spots, so we knew and trusted each other," said Sedelmaier. "But this kind of spot can't be as free-wheeling because the animation occupies a very specific area and requires a very particular look. Still, because of Ward Sutton's designs, we were able to have some fun with the Griffey caricature." The live-action footage was directed by Marcus Raboy of Gas, Food and Lodging, Culver City, California and J.J. Sedelmaier helmed the animation. The animated portion features an animated Griffey gobbling up a mass of Sportz crackers. The Griffey project offered Sedelmaier an opportunity to work again with designer Ward Sutton, who created the Griffey caricature and recently illustrated the show open for Comedy Central's popular Strangers With Candy. The spot was produced for ad agency North Castle Partners, Stamford, Connecticut. . . .
SimEx returns to Toucan Sam with new Kellogs’ spot. In the 30-second "Nose Detector" commercial, SimEx artists created the 2D and 3D animation for an adventurous spot, where Toucan Sam follows his nose to Kellogs’ delicious-smelling new cereal, Froot Loops with Cherry Berry Swirls. This spot is the sixth Froot Loop commercial for SimEx and paired them with long-time creative partner Peter Lohmeier of Chicago-based ad agency Leo Burnett. The animation director was Jean Perramon and Christina Cox produced. . . .Quiet Man raps on the newest Barrons spot. The visual effects driven spot, entitled "What's Coming," was filmed almost entirely on a bluescreen, which remains visible, mimicking the colors of the Barrons' logo. The spot begins with a man standing with his face buried in a copy of Barrons. Without lifting his head, he takes out an umbrella right before rain begins to fall. After the rain stops, the man takes a step to his left just avoiding a grand piano crashing down on the spot where he was just standing. Still reading, he holds out his hand and catches a falling Venus De Milo statue, as the voice-over comments, "Ever wonder how some investors always seem to know what's coming? Barrons, it's how money becomes wealth." The commercial was directed by Jesse Dylan of Straw Dogs, Los Angeles and produced for ad agency Angotti, Thomas, Hedge, New York. |
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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