May 26

Buenos Aires Better By Bike

Posted in: Animation

The City of Buenos Aires has been encouraging the use of bicycles to solve complex problems associated with traffic, health and pollution. A new print advertising campaign, developed at La Comunidad, encourages the use of bicycles even more by promoting the benefits that riding a bike grants to the different parts of our body. The “Eco Bici” (Eco Bike) sustainable mobility campaign launched in 2010 includes a network of 800 public bicycles, 32 stations and more than 62 miles of cycle paths. Use of bicycles has increased by six times as a mean of urban transport, reaching over two million rides. All this progress is making the city become better with each passing day, as well as the people living in it. Five posters, “Lungs”, “Knees”, “Heart”, “Head” and “Stomach”, each include the tag line, “Better By Bike”.

Buenos Aires Better By Bike - Lungs

Don’t lose your breath. When speaking to a hundred people you don’t know or someone who knows you too well.

Buenos Aires Better By Bike - Legs

Tell everyone you have nice legs without being the guy that tells everyone you have nice legs.

Buenos Aires Better By Bike - Heart

A heart so strong only love can break it.

Buenos Aires Better By Bike - Head

Get problems out of your head without putting them in other parts of your body.

Buenos Aires Better By Bike - Stomach

Get in shape without eating the stuff that people who get in shape eat.

Credits

The Better By Bike campaign was developed at La comunidad by chief creative officer Joaquín Molla, executive creative director/copywriter Ramiro Raposo, executive creative director/art director Fernando Sosa, art director Dante Zamboni, copywriters Nicolas Larroquet, Adrian Rey and Aaron Zimroth, illustrator Guillermo Muñoz, group account director Sebastian Diaz, account executive Lucas Saenz, head of graphic production Ramiro Capisto, working with City of Buenos Aires marketing director Fanny Peña.

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May 26

Milestone Interactive Group launches ‘Modi Tsu’namo’ for Android

Posted in: Animation

With BJP’s recent win and Narendra Modi all geared up to take charge of India, Milestone Interactive Group – one of India’s leading game publishing, marketing, retail and distribution organisation – has launched the Modi Tsu’namo’ mobile game.

Commenting on the launch of the game, Milestone Interactive Group chairman and CEO Jayont R Sharma said in a statement: “The win for BJP and Narendra Modi in the recent Loksabha elections, has encouraged us to launch theModi Tsu’namo’ mobile game. The game is part of our celebration of this momentous occasion. We are certain that with all the support Shri Narendra Modi has garnered, the players will have a good time playing this mobile game.”

The game is available on the Google Play Store and celebrates the spirit of elections in a fun and casual manner whereby the player has to match at least three or more faces of popular Indian election candidates including Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Mamta Banerjee in a single swipe of each leader in any continuous motion combination and earn points. Combinations containing Modi will fetch more points than those containing any other leader.

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May 26

Uncensored episodes of anime classic ‘Sailor Moon’ now on Hulu Plus

Posted in: Animation

One of the most memorable Japanese anime series of the 90s – Sailor Moon – recently started airing on Hulu Plus beginning Monday.

The series about teen girls, who use their superpowers to save the world from evil, began airing uncensored episodes and the users of the service can choose from the library of over 200 plus episodes.

Hulu will be making an entirely new Sailor Moon series starting this fall as it looks to bolster its anime offerings.

When the series first ran in US, several changes were famously made to remove the program’s gay and lesbian characters and other content Cartoon Network deemed questionable for US viewers. Characters who were women in the Japanese version were depicted as men, and entire seasons didn’t air because of its ‘questionable’ content. But the series being run on Hulu will contain all those characters.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWPyM9afQ-w]

Viz Media is making four re-mastered, subtitled episodes available, with two episodes released each Monday starting 26 May. A DVD/Blu-ray box set will be available in late 2014, around the time the new series is set to launch.

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May 26

Mattel ropes in Richard Dickson to lead its global brand team

Posted in: Animation

The Mattel group in an effort to really give a facelift to its catalogue of brands has got in the former president and CEO of branded businesses, Richard Dickson, of The Jones Group to oversee the company’s new unified global brand strategy.

Dickson will work under Mattel CEO Bryan Stockton, and is expected to build the company’s catalogue of brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price and Thomas & Friends. He will manage marketing strategy, creative execution, product development and content creation for both new and existing properties.

“Given the growth and diversity of our world-class portfolio of best-selling iconic brands, it’s more critical than ever to ensure that we tightly align our marketing and creative strategies across the company and around the world,” said Stockton in a statement. “With his unique blend of management and strategic marketing experience, his deep passion for Mattel and its brands, and his distinct creative point-of-view, Richard is ideally suited to lead the effort.”

Prior to joining The Jones Group, Dickson served as the general manager and senior VP for Barbie at Mattel. Earlier in his career, he held senior executive roles for such brands as Bloomingdales, Estée Lauder and Gloss.com.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Mattel in this newly-created role, particularly at such an exciting time in the company’s history,” added Dickson. “Mattel’s timeless and legendary brands are woven into the fabric of countless lives, and I look forward to finding new ways to ensure our incredible range of engaging products continue to be a memorable element in the lives of children around the world.”

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May 26

DreamWorks Animation moves up ‘Penguins Of Madagascar’ release to end 2014

Posted in: Animation

Just a few weeks away from the release of the sequel to its major hit How To Train Your Dragon 2, DreamWorks has announced that its pushing back the releases of two of its movies.

Madagascar spinoff The Penguins Of Madagascar is moving up from 27 March, 2015, to a Thanksgiving week bow of 26 November, 2014. It’s switching places with Home, the aliens-hiding-on-Earth tale, featuring the voices of Jim Parsons, Jennifer Lopez, Steve Martin and Rihanna.

The move comes days after DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg’s high-profile day in the Cannes spotlight, when Dragon 2 premiered on the Croisette and he received France’s Commander of the Order Of Arts And Letters honour.

The date switch also follows the underperformance of the company’s most recent pic, Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Although the flick generated $261 million in ticket sales at worldwide box offices, it only contributed $3 million to the company’s Q1 feature film revenues and left the studio still owing money to its distributor, Fox.

Nevertheless, the feature film unit reported a $25.4 million loss on $110.1 million in revenues. Turbo accounted for $22.3 million in sales, mostly from pay TV, while The Croods pitched in $41.7 million from pay TV and home video. Sales of library titles came to $37.9 million. The TV operation had a profit of $5.8 million on revenues of $17.9 million, while consumer products had a $6.0 million profit from $12.1 million in revenue.

In fact, three of the studio’s past four films have failed to deliver, which Katzenberg has gone on record to blame the ‘inconsistent execution’ and other factors tied to marketing and scheduling.

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May 26

‘Motu Patlu Deep Sea Adventure’: Not just a kiddie affair!

Posted in: Animation

Motu Patlu Deep Sea Adventure is a pleasure to look at and scarcely less fun as a story. I came to scoff but was left with a smile. I confess the premise did not inspire me: But the screenplay is cleverly played out and the visual style is rather distinctive and appealing.

Maya Digital Studios and Viacom18 collaborated on this production, which premiered on Nick on 18 May at 10:00 am. The near 75 minute feature takes the famous Lotpot comic characters Motu and Patlu on a different adventure this time around.

The film is set in the middle of the sea where Motu and Patlu along with their friends are carrying a few passengers across the sea under their new venture ‘Motu & Patlu Travel Company’. The feature starts off with the characters bumbling and fumbling on screen creating a few funny moments that would certainly grab the attention of the kiddies.

Soon there is an element of mystery and adventure, as the sea creatures enter the premise and stir up a magical storm to shipwreck Motu and Patlu along with their friends. Next they find themselves underwater and at the mercy of a hammerhead ‘magician’ shark.

Motu continues to come up with witty jokes and keeps you in splits; there comes a time when you feel that you are watching a Bollywood film with names like ‘Chingam’, ‘Sharkaal’ and ‘Sharkuni’.

The music adds to the fun and frolic of the kiddie flick, the dialogues too are well written and easy to understand for kids. There is also the larger message in the film focusing on how in life the bigger fish always devours the smaller fish and moves ahead in life.

With great advances having been made in the field of animation technology in recent years; computers have taken over the detail work and freed artists to realise their visions. But few Indian animations movies have been as painterly as Motu Patlu Deep Sea Adventure, which begins with good choices of faces for the characters (note the detailing of the facial hair and glasses for Motu and Patlu respectively). The landscape is convincing without being realistic, the colour palette is harmonious and the character movements include little twists, jiggles and hesitations that create personality. And the sea creatures blossom as personalities.

The artwork, the dialogue and the voice-over work by the actors; the filmmakers have all worked together to really see and love these characters, who are not “cartoon sea creatures” but as quirky and individual as human actors, and more engaging than most.

The story sneaks up on you and eventually wins you over.

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May 26

OptiTrack Motion Capture Helps VYV Reinvent Live Stage Shows for Top Entertainers

Posted in: Animation

VYV’s team of scientists and technical artists are combining real-time performer tracking, computer vision techniques and projection mapping to produce some of the most technically ambitious and visually spectacular live performances in the world. The Montreal-based company has delivered motion tracking and video projection mapping solutions for five Cirque du Soleil tours, including “Michael Jackson ONE,” as well as concert tours for Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys and Britney Spears. VYV couples proprietary technology with anywhere from 6 to 35 OptiTrack cameras, often mixing offerings to fit the specific demands of each show.

“Given the high stakes involved in live performances – especially ones of such massive scale – our installations have to be failure-proof and the tracking must be precise, both of which make OptiTrack an ideal partner,” said VYV GM Eric Plante.

Enlisted early in the creative process, VYV first determines the technical parameters of the pre-rendered content provided by the customer. The VYV team builds a virtual or small-scale version of each anticipated stage to facilitate various effects and tricks allowing show producers to see how the content will play out on stage in advance, and alter as needed. Once technical details are locked in, VYV scales up the installation accordingly. Custom infrared (IR) emitters located on projection surfaces, which range from a performer’s attire to flat panels and giant inflatables, are tracked by OptiTrack motion capture cameras generally Prime Series models. A separate set of OptiTrack cameras is used to calibrate the projection system; each camera is mounted near a group of projectors to determine its location in 3D space by referencing IR emitters embedded to stage structures. VYV runs both sets of cameras through its Photon media server.

“Projector orientation that’s off by even 0.5° is a big deal at 150′, so we have no room for error. Not only does calibration need to be spot on for every show, but touring installations need to be reassembled for each stop, and quickly. OptiTrack cameras provide the fast accuracy that we need, beautifully withstand the rigors of the road and the open SDK allows us to use them in the context that we need outside traditional motion capture,” explained Plante.

OptiTrack’s Aim Assist grayscale view makes setup simple and straightforward, a crucial necessity for touring installations where traditionally tedious setup isn’t feasible due to time constraints. Additionally, the Power over Ethernet (PoE) camera interface ensures a seamless transition to backup machines on the same network, if required, and the invisible IR illumination of the cameras eliminates performer distraction.

“OptiTrack’s support team is fantastic; they really understand what we do, take our unusual needs into consideration and are open about future plans, which in turn allows us to plan ahead,” Plante noted. “It’s great to be able to directly connect with someone responsible for the direction of products.”

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May 26

‘Burka Avenger’ bags prestigious George Foster Peabody Award

Posted in: Animation

The annual Peabody Awards luncheon Monday honored a record-breaking 46 winners for excellence in electronic media in 2013. Famous Pakistani musician Aaron Haroon Rashid picked up the George Foster Peabody Award in New York for the TV series Burka Avenger on behalf of Unicorn Black.

Burka Avenger is Pakistan’s first ever full length 3D animated series and was produced by Haroon’s production company, Unicorn Black in Islamabad, Pakistan. This is the first time a Pakistani production has won this prestigious award. The series was first aired on Geo Tez on 28 July 2013.

Speaking at the Award Ceremony in New York, Haroon said: “Thank you so much. It’s been a long journey to get here. And I mean that literally as well, it was a 20 hour flight from Pakistan. But thank you so much, this truly is a great honor to be recognised like this.”

“This award goes to my incredibly talented team at Unicorn Black in Pakistan for making this beautiful show. In the TV series, Burka Avenger fights for women empowerment and education for girls. She is a fictional character but she represents something very real in terms of the dreams, aspirations and challenges of the people of Pakistan and many around the world. Burka Avenger stands for justice, tolerance, peace and education for all. And thank you in Pakistan’s language Urdu is bauhat bauhat shukriya,” he added.

The Peabody Awards, the oldest award in broadcasting, recognises excellence in the electronic media. About 30-40 winners are selected annually from over a 1,000 entries worldwide. Other winners this year included Breaking Bad by AMC / Sony Pictures TV and House of Cards by Netflix.

“The only criterion for winning is the simplest one out there, and that’s excellence,” said host Ira Glass, the creator of a radio show that won its fifth Peabody this year for “This American Life.” “What you’re going to see today are shows that invented something new in broadcasting or storytelling, that told stories that nobody told before, that said something that needed to be said, stories made with such fantastic heart and skill that they just stick with you,” he told the audience assembled at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.

The Peabody website calls Burka Avenger, “Smart, colorful and provocative, this Pakistani-produced television program about a super-heroine sends a clear message about female empowerment that has the potential to affect an entire generation.”

The Burka Avenger series is the brainchild of Pakistani rock star and social activist Aaron Haroon Rashid (aka Haroon) who conceived of it as a way to emphasise women empowerment, the importance of girls’ education and teach children other lessons such as equality and non-discrimination. He said that the success of the wholly produced in Pakistan series is a testament to the level of Pakistani talent.

“Well it’s an incredible honour; it’s a great feeling to be recognised. This is a Pakistani show and we’re here alongside some of the big incredible shows from the US and huge budget shows and we’re a small budget show all the way from Pakistan. So it’s wonderful that Pakistani talent is being recognised. It’s a great honor,” he stated.

Burka Avenger has also received other international accolades including the Rising Star Award at the Canada International Film Festival. Time Magazine named the Burka Avenger character as one of the most influential fictional characters of 2013.

The Unicorn Black production team is based in Islamabad, Pakistan and comprises of artists, animators, musicians, writers and producers. After the amazing success of season one the company is currently working on Burka Avenger Season 2.  Upcoming productions by the company include a male superhero animated TV series with anti-drug messages to be launched in 2015.

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May 26

Mirada Transforms UCLA’s Royce Hall with Projection Mapping Spectacle

Posted in: Animation

Mirada teamed up with UCLA to create a one-of-a-kind film designed specifically for projection onto the façade of the University’s iconic Royce Hall. The 10-minute film produced at 5K+ resolution was developed from beginning to end by Mirada, and became a true passion project for the creative team; Mirada co-founder Javier Jimenez is a UCLA alum, and the company has participated in mentorship programs with UCLA students for several years.

“This project was an incredible creative collaboration; we had writers, directors, musicians, designers, and visual effects artists working closely with the marketing and a special events team at UCLA to create this live event spectacle that pays homage to the history of the University and its values,” said Jimenez. “As a UCLA alumnus, I am incredibly proud of this institution, and this project further underscores UCLA’s commitment to the future and to continued innovation across disciplines.”

The film was directed by Jesús de Francisco, art directed by Mirada’s Daryn Wakasa, concepted by David Fowler and de Francisco, led by digital effects supervisor, Andy Cochrane and written by Ryan Erke. The entire story was framed to fit visually and conceptually within the size and shape of Royce Hall’s towering facade. The larger than life imagery projected onto a 230×99 foot surface tells a story in three parts: Part I honors the visionaries that founded UCLA almost a century ago, Part II is a journey through the illustrious history of the institution and its many luminaries, and Part III is a journey of imagination presenting UCLA’s visions for the future. The film was narrated by actor John Lithgow and was scored by Atli Örvarsson.

‘The film combines archival stock imagery with original filmed content along with extensive motion graphics design and visual effects,” expounded director De Francisco. “The opportunity to direct a projection mapped film, and having the creative freedom to visually transform a building that is such a hallmark of Los Angeles was incredible. To see the project come to life, projected at 468,000 lumens is stunning, and the building and space lent themselves beautifully to the story to be told.”

Mirada had a creative and production team of over 40 working on the project for six months, and developed a custom pipeline to produce over 19,000 5K+ image frames, much of which included complex CG animation tightly choreographed to move along the dimensions of the building, timed to the accompanying score. The film debuted at a screening on Friday, 16 May; projection was facilitated by Chaos Visual Productions using D3 software and eighteen 26K Barco projectors.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnuAYZ7vSiM]

UCLA Centennial Show – ”Let There Be”

Conceived, Produced and Directed by Mirada

Director/Creative Director: Jesús de Francisco
CEO/Executive Producer: Javier Jimenez
President: John Fragomeni
Executive Producer: Patrick Nugent
Head of Special Projects: Andy Merkin
Head of Production: Sascha Flick
Producer: Jason Cohon
Production Manager: Jessica Roulston
Production Coordinator: Zack Whitley
Sr. Art Director: Daryn Wakasa
Digital Effects Supervisor: Andy Cochrane
Film Concept: Jesús de Francisco, David Fowler
Writer: Ryan Erke
Designers: Janice Ahn, Luke Belderes, Mark Brinn, Jeffrey Chang, Alex Hanson, Tae Kim, Ken Lee, Miwa Matreyek, Clara Moon, An Nguyen, My Tran, Neil Tsai, Jacklin Yoo
Animation Lead: Andrew Tan
Animators: Sarah Blank, Ivan Cruz, Kenny Ceron, Frank Lin, Isaac Park, Ken Quemel, Noah Rappaport, Gian Carlo Rondani, Yan Sedie-Ng
BTS Director: Ryan Erke
Camera Operator (Film): Andy Cochrane
Camera Operator (Show): Paul Bode
Camera Operator (Interviews): Zen Sekizawa
Camera Assistants: Marshall Rao, Jake Martin
Gaffer: Damon Casarez
Sound Recordist / Mixer: James Ridgley
Make-Up: Linda Whang
Prop Master: Rudie Schaefer
Integration: Graham Herbster
Modeling: Toshi Sakamaki
Asst. Editor: Jorge Sandoval
Post Production Manager/HR Director: Tina Van Delden
Director of Marketing: Caroline Gomez

Narration by
John Lithgow

Music by
Atli Örvarsson

Projection Team: Chaos Visual Productions
Marty Wickman: Owner
Systems Engineer: Stephan Hambsch
Project Manager: Russell Wingfield
3D Lead: Jason Davis

Sound Design & Mastering: Outlaw Sound
Sound Engineer: Steve Pierson

Live Event Audio: CLAIR/Soundworx
Project Supervisor: Nelson Walti
Front House Mix: Ron Anonsen

Special Thanks
Willem Henri Lucas, UCLA
Adam Sadowsky, founder Syyn Labs
David Wicks for the use of Drawing Water
Guvenc Ozel at Idea Labs

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May 26

Sunburn Wins Big at the WOW Awards 2014

Posted in: Animation

Sunburn Season 7 was arguably the biggest festival season on the planet. While the entire world has eyes on this homegrown Indian Intellectual Property, India is doing its part to honour its own.

On 22 May, 2014 Sunburn was awarded – not one, but two! – of the nation’s highest honours for events and experiences: the WOW Awards.  An initiative of EVENTFAQS, WOW Awards was conceptualised in 2008 as the industry benchmark for excellence in brand experience creation. The WOW Awards are the only awards in this space, and this year, they celebrated the best loved and greatest milestones of the LIVE industry.

Sunburn was the big winner of the night, winning the Gold in the two largest categories of the evening – ‘Entertainment IP of the year’ and ‘Entertainment Event of the year’. As ‘the man behind the brand’, Shailendra Singh – Jt MD of Percept and Inceptor of Sunburn – hit the stage to collect the Gold Awards, St Andrew’s Auditorium erupted in applause. The crowd went ballistic. The entire Sunburn team had showed up to celebrate the success of their brand, infusing a festival spirit in the ceremony.

An elated Singh said: “We’ve come quite a way from our small experiment on the beach in 2007, to becoming Asia’s Largest Music Festival Brand. Season 7 was completely mind-blowing, and I have to thank the Sunburn team for that. They have worked relentlessly and emotionally to create the world’s best EDM experience, right here in India. They are the hardest working team I have ever had the honour of captaining. I dedicate the ‘Entertainment IP of the Year Award’ to the Sunburn Team. We have created history with Sunburn!”

And created history, they have. After IPL, Sunburn is the first, and only, intellectual property to be exported out of India. In a country importing everything from fast food chains to clothing brands and Hollywood films, Sunburn is truly a ‘Glocal’ export – produced locally and consumed globally. Sunburn is a source of pride, not just for dance music lovers, but for th­­e entire nation.

Singh adds: “The second award, ‘Entertainment Event of the Year’, I dedicate to the real reason behind everything that we do: The Sunburn fans. Sunburners across the world are passionate about brand Sunburn and unconditional with their love. They have taken Sunburn from an experimental music festival to a movement and now, to a lifestyle. Sunburn has always been and will be: of the fans, for the fans, by the fans. Let’s never stop Living.Loving.Dancing!”

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