Blur Studio channeled their inner disco in a new commercial for Pringles Stix via advertising agency Grey New York. The spot features a lively dance number performed by digital characters, in an entirely CG environment evoking the sparkly discos of the 1970s. The campaign includes :30 and :15 versions airing in the U.S. and later in Canada.
Grey New York tapped Blur for its award winning character animation and ability to breathe life into whimsical animated sequences. "We have been a big fan of Blur's work across commercials, games and films over the years. What grabbed our interest for this project was their meticulous attention to character, especially since we were building on an established icon such as Mr. Pringles. They took the project head on and delivered a spot that speaks to the feel-good energy that is associated with the Pringles brand. Not only was it a pleasure to working with the collaborative staff at Blur, but they took the spot to the next level and beyond."
The spot opens to reveal a stylized dance floor as a figure with the face of Mr. Pringles and a body made up of new Pringles Stix slides in on his knees. An updated cover of Earth Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland" plays in the background as a deep voice describes Pringles' new crispy cracker sticks. Mr. Pringles is then joined by a female counterpart, and they enter into an energized dance routine for two. The duo looks up towards the ceiling as an elaborate disco ball made up of Pringles Stix disassembles into the individual snack packets as the closing VO booms, "everything pops with Pringles."
"Working with Grey New York on this project was such a pleasure; they were very collaborative partners and were open to pushing the creative further as the character designs progressed," explained Norn Jordan, Director, Blur Studio. "It was important to nail the proportions and textures of these characters to introduce these new crispy cracker sticks to the market. But their real fun came in establishing their personality through subtle facial animations and groovy dance moves."
Blur initially developed an animatic of the spot concept, defining the layout and style frames. A team of five animators spent a total of two months completing the commercial using a toolset that included Softimage XSI for all of the character animation, Maxon's Cinema 4D for the disco ball, with all scene assembly, environments and rendering completed in Autodesk's 3ds Max. The spot was composited in Adobe's After Effects.
Project credits:Advertising Agency: Grey New YorkCreative Director: Rob BaioccoArt Directors: Gigi Khemlani & Greg NanceCopywriter: Ben HuserProducer: Todd Scheifele
Production Company: Blur StudioDirector: Norn JordanCG Supervisor: Adam SwaabExec Producer: Jennifer MillerProducer: Beth ElderCharacter Animation: Jeff FowlerAnimation: Colin James, Chris Kelley, Bryan Hillestad Modeling: Alessandro BaldasseroniRigging: Enoch Ihde, Ben DurkinLive-Action DP: Tom Camarda
Music Production Company: Pulse MusicComposer: Dan KubyMixing: Vision Post
Blur Studio is an Oscar and Emmy nominated production studio based in Venice, California. Founded in 1995, the company provides award-winning animation, effects and design for a wide range of media -- short films, large format films, commercials, concept art, feature effects, music videos, game cinematics and broadcast design. Notable clients include ABC, Disney, Universal Pictures, CBS, Microsoft, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Sega, Activision, Nickelodeon, FOX Sports, and THQ, among others. For more information, visit www.blur.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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