When The N, Noggins brand new teen block, put out an open call for four five-second network image spots and was planning on choosing two studios to create four promos. However, after submitting style-board concepts, Cuppa Coffee was awarded the entire job and expanded to include additional promos based on the strength of Cuppa Coffees unique creative branding.
Co-directed by Warren Brown and Hector Herrera, the visually distinctive spots utilize a variety of animation mediums and styles. "The goal was to design the promos to look unique but create them with simple tools and techniques," said Brown. "We wanted The N viewers to see the promos and think to themselves, I could do that with my video camera, my computer and a little imagination.
The diverse look of the spots were designed to relate to The Ns existing hand logo in a unique way, whether the spot starred an actual hand, a hand puppet or a handmade aesthetic, according to Herrera.
In ACTION HAND (:20) a hand makes a dramatic turn as an action star. Our hero, the "good" hand is chased by the "bad" hand through a frenetic montage of malls, city streets, parks and finally into another dimension. The spot pulls reference and cliches from anime culture and action films such as THE HULK, THE MATRIX, RUN LOLA RUN and CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON.
The hand was shot using the process of pixellation, with backgrounds created from photos taken around Torontos Chinatown. The bright graphics and palette reflect Japanese animation. The spot was produced in After Effects 6.0.
This set of :10 promos, collectively called SOCK MONKEY, sees a sock monkey with attitude stepping up to become the face of The N. These handmade sock monkeys weren't traditional puppets or marionettes rather, puppeteers dressed in black manipulated them with hands intentionally left uncovered to tie in with the logo and give the spots a sense of playful irreverence.
Graphics and animation were integrated into the edits to anchor the spots in the musical genres they are spoofing.
The two DOODLES (:15) spots depict a montage of doodles that come to life on the page. Designed to look handmade, the spontaneous sketches are of the sort that might appear in the notebook of a viewer of The N.
The first takes place in a science classroom and depicts stream of consciousness doodles in a "lab-accident-gone-horribly-wrong" B-movie scenario, complete with a mutated, belching bubble gum monster. In the second spot, a simple family outing to a seafood restaurant turns into a fantastically surreal Alice in Wonderland-type adventure.
Both spots were created with found objects, using a combination of stop-motion and cel-animated elements to bring them to life.
Rather than using stock tracks enhanced by sound effects, the music was composed by Adam Goddard of Sonic Boom in Toronto, where Cuppa Coffee is headquartered (www.cuppacoffee.com). Tracks were layered to accentuate the action and mirror the diversity of the conceptual and visual style. "We brought the composer in at a very early stage in the process," said Brown. "Sound design was very integral to these spots and we didnt want it to be purely reactionary.
Tools used for this and some of the other spots include Maya 5.0, Photoshop 7.0 and Illustrator 10.
Cuppa Coffee Credits:Executive Producer: Adam ShaheenSenior Producer: Lisa HemeonCreative Directors: Warren Brown & Hector HerreraPost Production Supervisor: Nick SewellMotion Graphics Production: Larissa Ulisko, Nick FairheadGraphic Design: Tyler Burke3D Models and Animation: Vaughn JosephMusic: Adam Goddard
Noggin Credits:NOGGIN/The N Brand Comm GroupCreative Director: Matthew Duntemann
