Director Arvind Palep and exec producer Serge Patzak have launched 1st Avenue Machine, a new CG boutique in New York City that will integrate what it perceives as a fresh live action and animation hybrid to its design work.
The new look is most evident in 1ST AVE MACHINE, the companys latest short that can be viewed online (www.1stavemachine.com/machine). Palep takes a winking look at todays cultural phenomenon of everyone having their own personal electronic assistant iPODs, PDAs and extrapolates that to a future Manhattan, where the Citys pedestrians are served by their own personal robot. 1st Avenue Machine employed the tools of CGI, visual effects and animation to create each robot, and tailored the robots design to its owners personal style.
No piece on our reel looks 3D and that is our intention everything feels very organic and real, commented Patzak. Our goal is to create looks that no one has ever seen before. In particular, we want to use 3D to push the organic and mechanical aesthetic seen in our work, in new and groundbreaking ways. Currently we are working on a new music video that makes good on that promise.
1st Avenue Machine serves the broadcast, music video and feature film industries, with a specific new focus on the advertising industry. 1st Avenue Machines look is organic and real and sometimes mechanical, driven by the companys deep understanding of technology tools, particularly 3D.
The company recently tapped renowned commercial industry rep Patricia Claire to fuel 1st Avenue Machines foray into the advertising business.
Patzak and Palep met while working with director Darren Aronofskys (THE FOUNTAIN) visual effects company Amoeba Proteus. At Amoeba Proteus, Serge was associate visual effects producer on the Julie Taymor-directed feature film FRIDA. Serges professional background includes time as a Rolling Stone magazine multimedia producer.
As seen in the 1st Ave Machine film, Paleps skills combine an unusual finesse for combining live action lensing with animation, a skill increasingly sought after by agencies. He honed his artistic expertise working with animation studios, including Tronic Studio, Blue Sky Studios, Eyeball NYC. His specific client experience includes project work for Disney, MTV, Nike and Sprint.
1st Avenue Machine (www.1stavemachine.com) is a design company with strong capabilities in live action and 3D animation integration.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
