While the 30 second version of Psyop’s latest spot for Michelin, Evil Gas Pump, has been burning up the circuits, we at Motionographer were waiting it out for the newly released, uncut 45 second version.
Through a sweet overture, it starts with a kiss, but like so many things, takes a turn for the worse. Indeed, Evil Gas Pump is a short-story of long-form proportions, and in this spot, there’s an acute awareness of detail from the environments to character development to shot selection. In every aspect of the production, there is an aggressive push toward raising the bars of CG and commercial, short-form storytelling.
With Corin Hardy’s recent jump and jive piece for Paolo Nutini, it appears he has taken a turn toward the lighter side. A comical, life-sized clay version (created by some of the animators who worked on ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’) of Paolo dances with a live band. However, the piece makes a u-turn when the properties of this character become the source of his demise.
“My aim with this video was to set up a situation where a clay Paolo would live in a real world and behave just like a real person. Once the viewer has accepted that, I then wanted to break the rules I had devised for myself and see what goes on when a clay Paolo just pushes it a bit too far.
“I got very lucky with the animators. Fantastic Mr Fox had just wrapped and the lead animator Mark Waring, and Andy Gent – who built all the puppets for the film – were both available and agreed to do the video.
“It was shot in a TV studio previously graced by Gloria Hunniford’ chat show, and somehow this felt strangely fitting. We shot each take in two versions, one with a stand-in Paolo dancer and then one without. The animation was matched to the stand-in wherever possible and this helped us get the very real movement into the clay Paolo that I wanted.
Paolo Nutini’s Pencil Full Of Lead by Corin Hardy“The animation schedule was brutal. We had three weeks to animate and I pretty much moved into Clapham Rd Studios. Due to the animation needing to be composited into live action, it had to be 25 frames a second which gives the movement a beautiful rich feel, but is really tough work and there are no short cuts.
“The post happened as we went along, and it was inspiring to see the shots come back 24 hours later bedded into the film and actually see the laborious work coming to life.”
Credits:
Paolo Nutini
Pencil Full Of Lead (Atlantic)
Director: Corin Hardy
Producer: Liz Kessler
Prod co: Academy
DoP: Ed Wild
Styling: Hannah Glossop
Choreographer: Natricia Bernard
Art Director: Laura Johnstone
Animation: Mark Waring
Additional Animation: Tobias Fouracre (& Corin Hardy)
Animation Lighting Cameraman: Matt Day
Puppet Fabricator: Andy Gent
Puppet Design: Ben Kovar
Editor: Nick Allix at Whitehouse
Post: Amarjeet Singh at Soho Post
Colorist: Mark Horrobin at Smoke & Mirrors
Commissioner: Tim Nash
Watch: here
New music video AM Theme for the band ‘Other Lives’ directed by Justen Renyer … in regards to the animation, “The technique consisted of rotoscoping using straights lines and many anchor points, so that the anchor points would slide around the contour of the shapes from frame to frame. The footage is a mixture of […]
Hi everybody. Could anyone tell what are the techniques or some general guidelines for removing background from motion-blurred foreground element. For example if moving object was shot against a clutterd backround, I would have to rotoscope it, but in semitransparent blurred areas the original background will still be visible, so I’m wondering about how to get rid of it.
Thanks in advance.
[NEWS=”http://www.cgnews.com/wp-content/uploads/wyclefvoila_thumb.jpg”]22259[/NEWS]The Garrigan Lyman Group recently tapped Superfad to create a branding commercial that would embody the spirit and beauty of Haiti for Voila, a Haitian telecommunications company. At the heart of the campaign is Haitian-born superstar Wyclef Jean from whose hands spill the paint that creates an animated and colorful representation of the essence of Haiti.
Superfad shot the live action performance of Wyclef Jean on location in New York and returned to Seattle where the animated world was created. This imaginary realm, stylized representations of Haiti, is an homage to Haitian Folk Art style – an aesthetic previously unknown to the Superfad team and one that required copious and extensive research.
“Our brand strategy for Voila is to position them as uniquely Haitian,” said Rebecca Lyman, Principal, Garrigan Lyman Group. “This differentiates them from the competition and reinforces Voila’s strong commitment to the people of Haiti. The spot launched in time for Voila’s 10-year anniversary and is a part of a larger integrated campaign that celebrates Haiti’s rich and vibrant culture.”
“This was one of the more challenging, but also one of the most exciting projects I have been tasked with in my career,” comments Superfad Art Director Carlos Stevens. “Our main goal for this project was to use the Haitian style of artwork to drive a meaningful narrative that would support Wyclef, his actions and his words throughout the commercial. The task itself was difficult because Haitian art is done in a unique style that is unfamiliar to our artists. We all had to adapt to an illustration style we have never encountered before, which made the project all the more challenging, but also fresh and compelling.”
The goal was to integrate Wyclef into his narrative, which sparked the idea of having his actions deliver the visuals. Superfad chose to use a mix of cel animation, 2d artwork and 3d animation to create the most dynamic visual presentation possible. The result is a commercial that reads as a love letter to Haiti and its people.
VOILA “MESSAGE”
Agency: Garrigan Lyman Group
Account Director: Naomi Ruiz
Chief Creative Officer: Bryan Cummings
Creative Director: Kalie Kimball-Malone
Senior Producer: Kathleen Minnis Olson
Senior Art Director: Jim Nesbitt
Senior Writer: Darren Vance
Design Production: Superfad
Executive Creative Director: Will Hyde
Art Director: Carlos Stevens
CGI/VFX Director: Dade Orgeron
3D Artists: Phiphat Pinyosophon, Andrew Butterworth, John Cherniack, Herman Kim, Yas Koyama, Chris Hill
Compositors: Carlos Stevens, Loren Judah, Paulo Dias, David Viau Additional Compositing: David Holm, Justin Pae Cel Animation: Dave Creek
Editor: Duncan Sharp
Flame Artist: Joe Vitale
Producer: Nick Hegge
Head of Production: Chris Volckmann
Executive Producer: Rob Sanborn
Hiya, I currently working on a project that involves matte painting and 3d camera mapping, is there any tutorials for Fusion that will help with this process, struggling to find any at the moment?
My university project will be of a wizard keyed into a stormy mountain range, if you have any tips and tutorials please let me know! would be greatly appreciated!
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