MOO Studios (www.moostudios.com) recently completed a pair of projects involving onscreen transformation of the product: Asian Sensations Origami via Cannonball/ MO, and Ohio Lottery This is the Ticket via Stern Advertising. Helmed by MOO director Shaun Sewter, the Asian Sensations Origami spot features a box of Asian Sensations product package that transforms into a dragon, and becomes a star (because when you can offer interesting meal options to a hungry family, youre definitely the starfor a while, at least). According to the director, the project may have come to the company as a more effects-oriented exercise, but quickly evolved into a crash-course in the art of origami.
We knew we wanted to work with actual paper, and shoot it in stop-motion, but we knew nothing about origami, Sewter said. The team thought of bringing in an origami expert, but that was just about the time we finally figured it all out, Sewter said. Working from a product box roughly twice the size of an actual package, Sewter and his crew meticulously replicated the moves necessary to accomplish the transformation. The trouble with filming a sequence like this in stop-motion is that there are virtually no breaks in the action, so its very hard to cheat.
Serving as co-director with Sewter on This is the Ticket, Mike Mayfield had the opportunity to manipulate a ticket to illustrate the many ways the lottery benefits the state of Ohio. The directors transformed a simple piece of paper into an airplane, a new home, a public school and a host of retailers.
We looked at a number of objects, and came up with the concept of the man coming out of a house and moving through the spot in an almost narrative way, said Mayfield, who also cut the spot. As the spot progresses, each image folds into the next. Its a very active spot, not just morphing, we tried to up the creative ante.
For example, the team used an online ticket as one model, incorporating the colorful glossy ticket, and creating the impression that the colorful printed ticket is on the back as the fold comes over, which made for a nice transition. The directors also incorporated tickets into some of the other models.
The agency didnt want to highlight any single game, so we had to Frankenstein the various games to give an overall impression of the tickets, which aesthetically is quite interesting, Mayfield explained. One challenge was getting the little man to dance and throw a graduation cap in the air. Mayfield added that animating paper was a challenge, because for every frame you need to hold a position, making sure the paper doesnt flop. We had to sandwich tin foil between paper to keep it in place.
The ad was shot over two weeks on a digital still camera with a motion control rig at MOOStages in Burbank. For nearly three weeks prior, the directors and crew were designing and building models. As with any job, Mayfield pointed out, little or big surprises appeared around every corner. The little man model ended up being about as tall as the house model, so we had to shoot the house alone and then follow his tracks around the house, and then shoot him walking out of the house, and so on, the director said. Of course, if theyd kept him that size, he could have trampled the house and terrorized the state. That wouldve been fun, Mayfield mused. But it might have defeated the purpose.
Asian Sensations credits include: Agency: Cannonball/ MOCreative director: Steve HuntArt director: Monica VansaghiCopywriter: Doug OutmanAgency producer: Larry Israel
Production Company: MOO Studios/ LADirector: Shaun SewterDP: Shaun SewterEP: David LyonsProducer: Shannon KorsEditor: Seth GordonTelecine: R!ot/ LAColorist: Clark MullerVFX/Inferno Artist(s): Shaun Sewter, Mike Mayfield, Janice Lee
Audio Post: Eleven/ SMMixer: Jeff Fuller
Music: David SteeleComposer: David Steele
Ohio Lottery credits include: Agency: Stern Advertising/ OHCreative Director: Tom PapadimoulisCopywriter: Mark ThompsonAgency producer: Naci Santiago-Meyers
Production Company: Moo Studios/ LADirector: Mike Mayfield / Shaun SewterDP: Shaun SewterEP: David LyonsProducer: Shannon KorsEditor: Mike MayfieldVFX/Inferno Artist(s): Mike Mayfield, Janice LeeEP: David Lyons
Music: Horrible Music, Los AngelesComposer: Jud HaskinsProducer: Mariiella Pilusa
Audio Post: Commercial Recording/ ClevelandMixer: Ed Wolff
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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