Hot Spots Showcase 7: The Best in Animated & VFX Commercials

AWN's Hot Spots Showcase is now seven years old. We take submissions from our readers and bring the best to you... our readers. His collection of spots and music videos represents the cutting-edge in the field. Stay tuned and enjoy.

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Travelers Drifters [1]

a52
"Beginning with the shoot and continuing throughout the entire process, Scott O'Leary, Kate Talbott and I were fortunate to have such a talented and committed group of people working on the spot." -- Ryan Peck, creative director/copywriter, Fallon

Techniques
To address the agency's creative brief, director Frank Budgen planned to capture all the umbrellas in-camera, just as they were meant to appear within each of the finished scenes. Toward that end, special mobile rigs capable of suspending a dozen or more umbrellas were built and used on each location over the five-day shoot in and around Los Angeles, where Budgen and Kuras filmed on Fuji F-64D and Reala 500D stocks using the ARRIFLEX 235 camera package.

As a result of the diligent production approach, Angus Wall was able to assemble the scenes featuring practical umbrellas right away upon receiving the transfers of the live-action footage. By viewing the offline edit, Murphy was then able to assess which of the practical umbrellas appeared natural, and began coordinating efforts with the CG team to create umbrellas that could be layered in organically. Final CG sequences created in Autodesk Maya were composited into many scenes by Murphy and 2D VFX artist Stefan Gaillot, while 2D artist Mike Bliss removed mobile rigs and suspension wires from the live-action plates.

Credits for Travelers Drifters
Visual Effects Company: a52
VFX Supervisor: Patrick Murphy
Colorist: Angus Wall
Flame Artists: Patrick Murphy, Stefan Gaillot, Mike Bliss
CGI Supervisor: Kirk Shintani
CGI Artists: Andy Hall, Paulo de Almada, Joe Chiechi, Adam Newman, Ian Ruhfass, Terry Shigemitsu
VFX Producer: Jenny Bright
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall
Agency: Fallon
Creative Directors:  Scott O'Leary, Ryan Peck
Art Director:  Scott O'Leary
Copywriter:  Ryan Peck
Director of Integrated Production:  Vic Palumbo
Executive Producer:  Kate Talbott
Production Company:  Gorgeous Enterprises
Director:  Frank Budgen
Director of Photography: Ellen Kuras/Frank Budgen
Executive Producer: Cassie Hulen
Producer: Alicia Richards
Production Manager: Judy Vermeulen
Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall
Executive Producer: Linda Carlson, Carol Lynn Weaver
Producer: Kim Colen
Editorial Assistant: Grant Surmi  
Mix Company:  Eleven Sound
Mix Engineer:  Jeff Fuller
Music Track: "Worries" Langhorne Slim

 

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Acme Filmworks
"Good Vibrations may be our best Responsibility Project film. It teaches us about doing the right thing, but the film and animation that Jérémy Clapin created is original and engaging regardless of that it¹s just a special film to watch."

"For Responsibility Project we created short films to encourage people to talk about what it means to do the right thing. In the past, we used live-action and it worked well but something was missing. I think it was Jérémy Clapin. His imagination and inventiveness created one of our most engaging films. We¹ve heard from lots of teachers around the U.S. that they¹re using the film to create discussions in their classrooms." -- Rob Rich, EVP/Creative Director, Hill Holliday

Credits for Liberty Mutual's Good Vibations
Production Company: Acme Filmworks
Writer, Director, Desiger: Jérémy Clapin
Producer: Ron Diamond
Executive Producers: Kevin Moehlenkamp, Rob Rich, Ernie Schenck, Bryan Sweeney, Scott Hainline
Vanilla Seed
CG Supervisor: Jean-Francois Sarazin
CG Artists: Alex Artaud, Helene Emain, Forent Magnat, Laurent Boucher, Fabien Bougas, Charlene Girodet, Roman Musso
Music: Nicolas Martin
Sound Design: Eric Lonni -- Digital Salade

ATTIK
"With this Brand Manifesto campaign, we've found some fun and exciting ways to invite even more trendleading, creative individuals to participate in the brand's unique philosophy of 'vehicle as self-expression.' For the new TV spots, our creative focused on finding dynamic ways to convey each vehicle's personality, and connecting those with individuality.  With Scion, their goal is to communicate with young people, and we feel that the brand has been phenomenal at recognizing the need to communicate in a credible manner with that audience in order to remain accepted by them." -- Simon Needham, ATTIK's creative director, co-director

Techniques
For this project, ATTIK provided Shilo with in-depth campaign positioning information, a detailed script, and moodboards conveying specific Scion xD 'manifestos' along with suggestions on photographic and graphical styles, colors, textures, and typography. Moving forward in bringing the spot to life, Shilo's artists first created an animatic.  After locking the edit, the teams then moved forward in refining the animation in the action taking place, as well as the camera moves, and presented a motion test showcasing the spot's final look and feel. From there, all the rendering, compositing, and color came from Method. Key tools include Adobe Creative Suite, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Flame and Nuke.

Credits for Scion xD Explosion
Ad Agency: ATTIK
Creative Director, Broadcast Spot Co-Director: Simon Needham
Associate Creative Directors: Ron Lim, Stan Zienka
Production Company: Shilo
Director: Simon Needham (ATTIK) and Shilo
Creative Director: Jose Gomez  
Associate Creative Director: Evan Dennis
Lead Designers: Evan Dennis, Jose Gomez
3D Animation: Cody Smith, Jesse Franklin, Henning Koczy, Gene Arvan
Editor: Adam Bluming  
Production Coordinator: Katlin Bradley
Producer: Jake Hibler
Executive Producer: Santino Sladavic  
VFX and Finishing: Method Studios
Senior Executive Producer: Gabby Gourier
Producer: Leighton Greer
Visual Effects Supervisor: Chris Nichols
Compositing Supervisor / Lead Compositor: Chris Bankoff
Flame Artist: Marguerite Cargill
Lighting Supervisor: Daniel Buck
CG Artists: Scott Metzger, Felix Urquiza, Alexander Lee, Didier Levy, Dave Carlson, Erik Lee
Nuke Compositors: Ryan Raith, Jake Maymudes
Coordinator: Lauren Haggard
Music and Sound Design: Face The Music
Executive Producer: Adam Joseph  
Composer/Sound Designer: Matthew Kratz  
Additional Sound Designer: Michael Schmidt
Mixer: David Carden

 

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Bent Image Lab
This animation was a lot of fun to make. Deutsch’s script was excellent and called for nuanced performances by all of the characters in the spot. Bent aimed to create a believable cast and Ken Lidster and the team did a fantastic job making that happen through skilled, subtle character animation. Even though the spot is only 30 seconds long, the performances really allow you to get to know each character.

Credits for Diet Dr. Pepper I Exist
Production Company: Bent Image Lab
Director: Ken Lidster
Executive Producer: Ray Di Carlo
Senior Producer: Tsui Ling Toomer
Producer: Kara Place
Coordinator: Ryan Shanholtzer
Director of Photography: Mark Eifert
Product Shoot Director of Photography: Jay Wesley Jones
Stage Manager: Jim Birkett
Art Director/Set Designer: Curt Enderle
Art Department Director: Solomon Burbridge
Art Department: Greg Fosmire, Marty Easterday, Kimi Kaplowitz, Mary Blankenburg, Daniel Miller, Huy Vu, Jayme Hansen, Kate Fenker, Brandi Cochrane
Storyboard Artist: Steve Hess
Character Design: Brett Superstar, Steve Hess, Monique Ligons, Colin Batty
Principal Animators: Jerold Howard, Jeff Riley
Editorial Supervisor: JD Dawson
After Effects Supervisor: Tarn Fox
Composite Artists (After Effects): Orland Nutt, Brian Kinkley, Jay Twenge, Sean Saul
Composite Artists (2D): Traci Cook
Agency: Deutsch, LA
President/Chief Creative Officer: Eric Hirshberg
SVP/Group CD: Chris Ribiero
Sr. Designer: Marius Gedgaudas
Sr. Producer: Tracy Jones
SVP, Group Account Director: Valencia Gayles
Account Director: Helen Murray
Post Production Company: Downstream
Colorist: Jim Barrett

Blind Visual Propaganda
"From the initial pitch through final delivery, Tom [Koh] and everyone at Blind were wonderful collaborators who did an incredible job of bringing our vision to life -- we couldn't be happier with the results. Tom's wonderful imagination and creativity combined with his complete understanding of the complexities of the shoot and all the post-production details made him the perfect person to handle the difficult task of visually representing the complex nature of Tara's multiple personalities in a bold, striking and visually unforgettable way. This was our first project with Blind, but hopefully just the first of many." -- Erik Friedman, Showtime Sr. Creative Director

Credits for United States of Tara -- Out of the Box
Production Company: Blind Visual Propaganda
Director: Tom Koh
DP: Bengt Jonsson
EP: David Kleinman
Line Producer: John Gomez
Prod. Supervisor: Alisa Kimble
Editor: Carsten Becker
Assistant Editor: Lin Wilde
Producer: Keith Bryant
Creative Director: Tom Koh
EP: David Kleinman
Head of Production: Amy Knerl
Producer: Keith Bryant
FX Supervisor: Greg Lukomski
Lead Designer: Tom Koh
Designers: Steve Pacheco, Matthew Encina
Lead Animator: Jason Kim
3D Animators: Matthew Encina, Penny Zee Nederlander
Compositors: Tom Koh, Matthew Encina, Jason Kim, Penny Zee Nederlander
3D Modeling: Jason Kim, Penny Zee Nederlander, Tom Koh, Nick Smith
CG Tracking: Greg Lukomski
Rotoscoping: Owen Hammer, Lin Wilde
Client: Showtime Networks
Sr. CD: Erik Friedman
Writer/Producer: Vedia Ayvaz
Art Director: Tony Castellano
Line Producer: Lorraine O'Connor
Line Producer: Diana Roach
Sound Design/Audio Post: Broadway Sound
Sound Designer/Mixer: John Crenshaw

 

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Brand New School
"Arnold had a really strong sense of where they wanted to be with these stories, where the brand's unique artwork and filigree come to life stylistically. We really enjoyed being able to work together from the early stages to bring the agency's vision to life. There's a lot of mutual respect between us and our friends at Arnold; from this trust and understanding came some great work." -- Jonathan Notaro, director

Techniques
This spot represented a fairly elaborate exploration of some sensationalized urban myths surrounding the 'No. 7' found on the Jack Daniel's label artwork, and its meaning. BNS weaved these together into a series of tangential thoughts that are visually threaded together via the brand's unique filigree and high contrast illustration style.  Creating the look and controlling it meant a heavy exploration into the way things were lit and textured. The camera moves were all fairly orthodox, so BNS spent a lot of time getting them right.  Since the spots are largely copy-driven, the camera, and animation had to be in sync with the voice over. Main tools used included Adobe Creative Suite, Autodesk Maya and Autodesk Flame.

Credits for Jack Daniel's Old No. 7
Production Company: Brand New School
Director: Jonathan Notaro
Art Directors: Mario Stipinovich, Eric Conception
Designers: Ricardo Villavicencio, Stephen Kelleher, Emmett Dzieza
CG Lead: Vadim Turchin
3D Animation: Eric Concepcion, Han Ho, Mike Garcia, Walter Lubinski, Kim Kehoe, Andre Salyer, Carmine Laietta, Adam Rosenzweig, Dave LoGiudice, John Kalagian
2D Animation: Stieg Retlin
Storyboard Artists: Will Rosado
Compositor: Eric Concepcion, Dave LoGiudice, Michal Finegold
Executive Producer: Danny Rosenbloom
Head of Production: Devin Brook
Producer: Toby Sowers, Mike Sullo
Production Coordinator: Ilona Klaver
Advertising Agency: Arnold
Chief Creative Officer: Pete Favat
Creative Directors: Wade Devers, Wade Paschall
Associate Creative Directors: Lee Walters, Chad Leitz
Executive Producer: Billy Near
Assistant Producer: Reaghan Puleo
Account Director: Chris Ferko
Business Manager: Maria Rougvie
Original Music: The Lodge
Creative Directors: Eric Hillebrecht & Colin Thibadeau
Composers "Old Number 7": Alex Weinstein
Executive Producer: Sallie Moore
Producer: Heather Weisberg
V.O. Artist:  Billy Mondy
 

 

 

Dancing Diablo
"This project pushed the limits of animation into something closer to art. We thought it could be very interesting to show not just the video, but the whole range of elements used, including photos, paintings and still frames. "Nude" is a haunting dream-like song, filled with provocative abstract references, and ambiguities. It lyrics and tenor inspired us to deviate from the conventional music video approach, and create a piece of art that captures its complexity with a textural and organic visual stream of consciousness true to the emotional spirit of the song." -- Beatriz Helena Ramos, director

Techniques
Dancing Diablo created all of the art for the video by hand, combining a variety of natural and manmade objects, while experimenting with the four natural elements: earth, fire, water and air. Remaining true to this organic approach, they opted for traditional stop-motion animation, keeping the use of After Effects to a minimum.

Credits for Radiohead Nude
Production Company: Dancing Diablo
Directors: Beatriz Helena Ramos, Jose Antonio Ojea

 

 

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Digital Domain
"The original creative brief was that the entire car would be diced up as if it had been put through a giant bread slicer. As the cube solved we would see the jumbled car sections become more and more recognizable until the entire car was formed. In discussions with Carl [Erik Rinsch], it was decided to not cut the car up in an unnatural way but rather to assemble it from real individual car   parts as realistically as possible. This meant that instead of lining   up car parts next to each other and having an entire car magically become whole, we needed to design a delivery system to move parts and subsections from cube to cube. Having everything based on gravity and inertia allowed us to facilitate parts joining by dropping or sliding together which led to entire systems coming together such as engine and transmission." -- Jay Barton, visual effects supervisor

Credits for Audi AG Intelligently Combined
Animation & Visual Effects: Digital Domain, Inc.
President of Commercials, Executive Producer: Ed Ulbrich
Executive Producer / Head of Production: Karen Anderson
Visual Effects Supervisor: Jay Barton
Visual Effects Producer: Chris Fieldhouse
CG Supervisor: Ronald D. Herbst
Visual Effects Coordinator: Stephanie Escobar
Sr. Flame Artist: David Stern
Flame Artist: Matthew J.D. Bramante
Editor: Russ Glasgow
Previs: David Rosenbaum
Animators: Simon Dunsdon, Adrian Dimond
Digital Artists: Tim Jones, Chris Norpchen, David Liu, Masa Narita
Sr. Compositor: Rafael F. Colón
Nuke Compositors: Jacqueline Cooper, Sven Dreesbach
Roto Artists:     Hilery Johnson Copeland, Karin Last
Integration Tracker: Peter Herlein
Ad Agency: kempertrautmann GmbH
Creative Direction: Gerrit Zinke, Jens Theil, Florian Weber, Tobias Ahrens, Sönke Busch
Art Direction: Florian Schimmer, Simon Jasper Philipp
Agency Producer: Ruth Jansen
Strategic Planner: Nils Wollny
Account Managers: Andrea Bison, Niklas Kruchten
Team Assistant: Jan Rütten
Production Company: Markenfilm GmbH &Co. KG
Director: Carl Erik Rinsch
Director or Photography: Martin Ruhe
Head of Production: Katie Stiebel
Assistant Producer: Ruth Perk
Production Manager: Christopher Manz
Music House: Audioforce
Composer: Thomas Süss
Audio Post/Mix House: NHB
Mixers: Wenke Kleine-Benne, Stefan Lügger

 

Elastic
"This campaign has been very collaborative between us and RPA, and I have been fortunate to develop a great relationship with the agency. They gave our design team a lot of freedom to develop ideas and were very trusting that the look and approach we developed would be something that the client and consumer would embrace." -- Andy Hall, director

Techniques
The main creative challenge was centered around our approach of taking very detailed characters and stripping them down to just their form, while not losing any emotion, warmth or mood that was captured in our initial boards.  Saul Bass's methodology of believing that there's no substitute for great design, and that you really only need to provide what's necessary to communicate story points, really helped inspire Elastic when it was pitching their first concepts. This approach embodied that way of thinking in terms of attitude, stylization of the characters and the sense of mood. In the end it was able communicate the idea through the use of polygonal information that enabled us share details with the viewer only when necessary. Key project tools were Maya and Nuke.

Credits for Honda Accord Crosstour Instruments
Production Company: Elastic
Director: Andy Hall
DP: Toby Irwin
Live Action Producer: David Wolfson
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall
Designers: An Nguyen, Henry de Leon, Eunice Kim, Max Ulichney
Ad Agency: RPA
Chief Creative Officer: David Smith
Creative Director: Pat Mendelson
Writer: Seth Prandini
Art Director: Chuck Blackwell
Executive Producer: Gary Paticoff
VFX/Finishing Company: a52
CG Lead: Max Ulichney
3D Artists: Paulo de Almada, Ian Ruhfass, Christina Lee, Rick Glenn, Kevin Culhane, Joe Chiechi
Lead Compositor: Shahana Khan
Rotoscoping: David Hochstadter
Colorist: Angus Wall
Assistant Producer: Heather Johann
Producer: Sarah Haynes
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall
Music: HUM
Arrangement by: Alex Kemp & Robert Lopez
Executive Creative Director: Jeff Koz
Creative Director: Alex Kemp
Executive Producer: Debbi Landon
Creative Director, Licensing: Tricia Halloran

 

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Framestore
"We felt that the more bits where the actor is touching and connected with real objects, the better," says Bartlett, "So the dartboard, the spokes and rim of the bike wheel, the neck of the guitar and its 'strings' -- all those were real giant models. Also shot for real were the various real world environments -- the fast food counter, the school, the parental home, the business floor. In each of those we also shot two passes, so we could create the effect of two different gravitational fields at work - one for the rooms and their inhabitants and another for the external 'reality', ie the steep surface our hero is climbing." -- William Bartlett, visual effects supervisor

Techniques
The complexity of the job -- the enormous number of assets and the dual use of Maya and Houdini -- meant that the team developed something more akin to a movie pipeline than something entailed by the average commercial. This enabled the lighting TDs to build scenes quickly and to devote their attention to making the shots look good, rather than the repetitive work of placing models and assigning shaders.

Credits for Pepsi Rising
VFX & Telecine: Framestore
VFX Supervisor: William Bartlett
3D Supervisor: Simon French
Producer: Michael Stanish
Ad Agency: BBDO
Agency Creatives: David Bertram, Leo Berne
Creative Directors: Jean-Francois Sacco, Gilles Fichteberg
Agency Producer: France Monnet
Production Company: Rattling Stick
Director: Danny Kleinman
Producer: Johnnie Frankel

 

Rhino
"We had a lot of fun with this spot. The characters are funny and the animation is really beautiful. This is a very expressive, enticing piece, with animals that are genuinely cute and whimsical. The constant brainstorming and exchange of ideas between our animators and the agency creatives was incredibly smooth and productive." -- Natasha Saenko, director.

Credits for Beeline Privet
CG Production Company: Rhino
Director: Natasha Saenko
Animator/Rigger: Goran Ognjanovic, Rob Dollase
Animator: Jaime A. Castañeda, Sean Curran
Lead Lighter: Rob Pearson
Lighter: Yuheng Chiang, Gilad Kenan
Modeler: Jagammay Himamshu, Brian Dinoto
Flame Composite Artist: Micky Gorenstein
Production Coordinator: Cynthia Angel
Head of Production/Producer: Karen Bianca Bisignano
COO/Executive Producer: Camille Geier
Managing Director: Rick Wagonheim
CEO: Zviah Eldar
Agency: Lowe Adventa
Contact: Maria Veretennikova
Production Company: Just Us
Producer: Anton Zamakhin
Creative Director: Maria Molchanova
Art Director: Olia Diyakova

 

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Shilo
"For calling on us to fulfill this script's very tall order, we were honored and we embraced the challenge with everything we had. Directing for us is so much about bringing a broad, holistic vision to the table.  Shooting the live-action, and directing the performance, as well as seamlessly integrating our poetic design and animated elements all took on equal importance.  Nothing was an afterthought. Guinness represents greatness, and for this short film powerfully representing a person's journey toward greatness, we had a goal of making sure that every frame, every nuance, felt authentic and on-brand. Looking at the finished result, we're extremely proud, and again, we express our deep appreciation to the creatives at Saatchi & Saatchi, and their clients at Guinness, for putting their faith in us." -- André Stringer, creative director

Techniques
To fulfill the high expectations for this project, under the direction of creative director Andre Stringer, Shilo's team worked very diligently to locate the perfect actor (Ainsley Burrows), to find the perfect location, and then to capture their live-action footage with director of photography Martin Ahlgren using the ARRIFLEX 435 Xtreme 35mm motion picture camera, and also the ARRICAM ST for hand-held shots. The choice of film stock was Kodak Vision2 200T 5217 color negative film. The creative also called for Shilo to create original animated content, which appears around Burrows as he speaks, to illustrate his words and thoughts. At first appearing as a flowing atmospheric trail following the artist, shapes organically materialize, symbolizing many different images of time, travel, growth, freedom and more.  For this aspect of the production, Shilo's artists used Adobe Creative Suite 3 for design, Autodesk Maya for animation and 3D, Adobe Photoshop for texturing, Adobe After Effects for compositing, and Final Cut Pro for editing. FumeFX was also used for the creation of particles, and Maya nCloth was used for cloth simulation.

Credits for Guinness Spoken Word
Production Company: Shilo at Hanrahan
Director: Shilo
Creative Director: André Stringer
Director of Photography: Martin Ahlgren
Associate Creative Director/Designer: Evan Dennis
Lead Artist: Tamir Sapir
Editors: Josh Bodnar, André Stringer, Galen Summer
Illustrator: Zach Johnsen
Animators: Henning Koczy, Craig Kohlmeyer, Stieg Retlin, Warren Heimall
Compositors: Bashir Hamid, Tamir Sapir, André Stringer
3D Artists: Warren Heimall, Craig Kohlmeyer, Christina Ku, Youngmin Kim, Chris Fung, Joji Tsuruga
Rotoscopers: Constance Conrad, Joel Voelker, Chris West, Stieg Retlin
Trackers: Chris West, Joel Voelker
Producer: Lindsay Bodanza
Line Producer: Nina Goldberg
Executive Producer: Tracy Chandler
Executive Producer for Hanrahan: Mark Hanrahan
Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Creative Director: Tim Hearn
Creative Team: Dave Govier, Levi Slavin
Executive Broadcast Director: Andy Gulliman
Regional Planning Director: Karen Johnstone
Account Director: Frederic Roger
Account Manager: Victoria Reiz
TV Producer: Laura Mueller
TV Production Assistant: Emma Wolanski
Music and Sound Design: Human
Principal Talent: Ainsley Burrows

 

Stardust Studios
"Our mandate from the agency was to keep a visual rawness to our stories, which was an interesting challenge, since we're known for giving imagery a designed, stylized look. So we had to constantly check ourselves to make sure we weren't over-refining shots. This enabled us to inject a lot of fun, innocence and playful energy into the spots, which creatively, was what the campaign is all about." -- Brad Tucker, director

Credits for RadioShack Nutcracker
Production Company: Stardust Studios
Director: Brad Tucker
Executive Producer: Paul Abatemarco
Line Producer: Rich Kaylor
Director Of Photography: Stephen McGehee
Creative Director, Director: Brad Tucker
Executive Producer: Paul Abatemarco
Producer: Alyssa Evans
Flame Artist: Ryan Yoshimoto
2D Artists: Joseph Andrade, Earl Burnley, Thomas Horne, Anastacio Gallardo, Andrew Parris
3D Artists: Joseph Andrade, Josh Delaney, Chris Eckardt, Kim Im, Kevin Ta, Brandon Thomas, Na Song  
Roto Artists: Ivy Depies, Tiffany Germann, Richard Hirst, Marvin Lee, Katia Levy, Dana
Robinson  
Designers:  Bill Bak, Earl Burnley, Ling Feng, Angela Ko, Gretchen Nash, Juliet Park, Huei Peng, Belinda Rodriguez, Ali Yazdanian, James Yi
Editor: Tony Hall, Michael Merkwan
Editorial Producer: Alyssa Evans   
Ad Agency: Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners
ECDs: John Butler, Mike Shine
ACDs: John Reid, J.P. Guiseppi
Writers: Mike Tuton, Chris Jacobs, Nick Mathisen
Jr Writer: Trey Tyler
ADs: Jay Berry, John Verrochi, Lisa Doman
Jr Interactive Designers: Andy Mindler, Sinan Dagli
Director Of Broadcast Production: Adrienne Cummins
Broadcast Producer: Kate Morrison
Group Account Director: John Sheehan
Account Director: Maureen Bitter

 

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Thornberg & Forester
Thornberg & Forester was selected to create the opening for the 2009 MI6 Conference. We were charged with developing an idea that visually illustrated the theme of this year’s conference, "Mastering the Momentum." When we began concepting, Creative Director Justin Meredith discovered the shape of the angular momentum equation graphically resembled the number six.  This realization linked the notion of the angular momentum equation with both the conference theme and the MI6 branding. Building on the intense energy of an industry whose games demand faster processors and cutting-edge, high-intensity visuals, T&F crafted the narrative for an adrenaline-charged conference open. We started by inventing a tough video game thug named "Kron". As Kron drives around a central hub, he accelerates to a blinding speed. The speed becomes so intense the chain that is anchoring him to the hub breaks, launching him forward to form the stem of the number six which transitions into the MI6 logo. This spot seamlessly integrates the theme of the conference with the logo, while staying true to its audience -- a feat not easy to accomplish.

Credits for MI6 Conference Opening
Production Company: Thornberg & Forester
Director: Justin Meredith
Creative Directors: Justin Meredith, Scott Matz
VFX Supervisor: Miah Morehead
3D Lead: Linas Jodwalis
Character Animator: Jesse Franklin
Character Designer/Modeler: Steve Talkowski
3D Graphics: Joe Russ, Morgan James
Designer: Justin Meredith
Storyboard Artist: Brian Wilcox
Editor: Josh Bodnar
Lead Compositor: Miah Morehead
Sound Design: Nylon Studios
Producers: Kimberly Abels, Bill Galusha, Pamela Rykowski
Executive Producer: Elizabeth Kiehner

 

We Are Plus
"In the end, the combination of design, animation, and the overall energy we gave the piece is something we're all very pleased with. Also, I think the original graphic design elements we came up with did a nice job of unifying a lot of disparate looks and presenting a visually cohesive, exciting story for the Shu Uemura brand and its products." -- Zu Al-Kadiri, projects director

Techniques
We Are Plus's overall challenge was to showcase the Shu Uemura brand and its product line in an interesting, visually arresting way, while also aiming to add an inspirational dimension to the presentation. After surveying the available footage and imagery, it began fleshing out the cut. Based on their research, the artists created original designs and animation. The project toolset for We Are Plus involved using Final Cut Pro for editing, Adobe Creative Suite for design, and Adobe After Effects for animation, compositing and finishing.

Credits for Shu Uemura Art of Beauty 2009
Creative Agency/Production Company: We Are Plus
Creative Directors: Jeremy Hollister & Judy Wellfare
Projects Director/Executive Producer: Zu Al-Kadiri
Editor: Judy Wellfare
Lead Designer/Animator: Laura Rieland
Animators: Danial Pernikoff, Seth Pomerantz
Music: John Napolillo

 

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Wildbrain
This piece features Ubisoft's globally recognized Rabbids characters. Wildbrain's challenge was to hit the ground running with design and animation that would be harmonious with Ubisoft's specific brand development.

Techniques
The project was done using a combination of Flash Animation and multiplane. Photoshop and After Effects were also used.

Credits for Rabbids: Episode #5 "The Big Day"
Director: c.staples
Producers: Marge Dean, c.staples

 

 

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Rick DeMott is the director of content for Animation World Network, VFXWorld and AWNtv. Additionally, he's the creator of the movie review site, Rick's Flicks Picks [17], which was recently named one of the 100 best movie blogs by The Daily Reviewer. He has written for TV series, such as Discovery Kids' Growing Up Creepie and Cartoon Network's Pet Alien, the animation history book Animation Art, and the humor, absurdist and surrealist website Unloosen [18]. Previously, he held various production and management positions in the entertainment industry.