Hasta La Motion!

Working with Smuggler for agency Leo Burnett Chicago, Psyop directed a lovable new spot for Norton, an anti-virus and personal data protection company. (Ah, anti-virus software. It’s been so long since I’ve even thought of you … but I digress.)

The spot is huggably fun. With a palette of subdued jewel tones and a cast of friendly folk, it draws me in (pun intended) over and over, as I look for new details and relish the ones I’ve already collected.

The spot’s co-creative director, Fletch Moules, was kind enough to chat with us over tea. Actually, it was over e-mail, but I was drinking tea at the time.

Interview with co-creative director Fletch Moules

When you started working with Leo Burnett, how fleshed out was the script and visual direction?

Leo Burnett sent us a fun script outlining the importance of our personal data. The VO was pretty much fleshed out, but there wasn’t really a visual direction set, leaving us with the challenge of how to explore the world of “Stuff,” convey its message and the branding of Norton.

We had shared a couple of visual references early on, but nothing too concrete. The aim was to keep the tone fun and light, to keep it simple and let characters move about freely without being bogged down in an information overload.

The biggest visual challenge was how to express the sense of stuff. We floated around a few different ideas on how this could work, but soon settled on the idea of the strings.

Technologically and creatively, it seems we’re at a weird crossroads: the distinction between analogue and digital matters less and less. A lot of digital stuff looks analogue and, in some cases, analogue even looks digital. I feel like “Stuff” is a good example of what I call “analogue ambiguity.” What do you think about that? Do you agree?

I guess with the ease at which we create great visuals these days digitally, there is always a tendency to revere the analogue era of our industry. We really wanted “Stuff” to have a traditional 2D feel. In order to achieve that in the timeline we relied heavily on new techniques in digital production — all the characters are 3D, the backgrounds are projected in Nuke and AE, and much of the character lighting is done with Nuke’s Relighting tools using normals passes. At the same time, we used some pretty old-school animation techniques, like when the taxi takes off and heads to the town.

I think it’s great that it’s a mixed bag of old and new techniques. It’s all about the story and the visual style that supports it.

What were some of the references you used when developing the look of this spot?

I really wanted the animation and the story to unfold as simplistic as possible. The aim was to create a handcrafted world for a software company. Though the characters are all 3D, my intention for the campaign was to have a traditional 2D feel. So of course we referenced animation classics like UPA, Fantasia, Robert McKimson and Chuck Jones, then applied their thinking to our world with a modern, whimsical touch.

Visually it had to feel hand-crafted and that’s why we really pushed the brush strokes and kept things a bit loose. The color palette was very important. We developed a base palette from Norton’s brand and this set the tone for beginning and end. However, I wanted the viewer to feel like they went on the journey with Mr. Stuff. When things got tough for him, so did the palette.

How much evolution did the character designs go through? Did they change a lot as you worked on the project?

Honestly not very much. At the pitch stage we’d loosely explored various versions of Mr. Stuff, but soon went down a path of very simple shapes for all the characters. Leo Burnett loved this approach, which was great. Our lead designer Kenesha then fleshed out Mr. Stuff’s final look (still at the pitch stage) and he went straight into production.

I really like the cel animated liquid sequence. Was that, in fact, hand-animated? If so, why did you go that route?

Our goal for the whole spot was to try keep the look as 2D as possible. I loved the work that Psyop’s 2D animators had done on the Reebok Zigtech spots, and thought this spot could really use that touch. When we came up with the water sequence, there really was no doubt how we’d approach it … get the Zigtech guys!

What was the biggest creative challenge for this project?

The biggest challenge of the whole job was trying not to say the word “stuff” in meetings!

Seriously, Leo Burnett and the client were fantastic to work with. Together we quickly nailed the visual style, branding and narrative. So the biggest challenge was just the deadline. We had six weeks to deliver the 60” from award.

What about the biggest technical challenge?

Again, really it was the timeline. We had to make creative and technical decisions quickly, with no time for going back. So things had to be flexible.

One thing we did to help this was to implement Nuke’s relighting tools into our work flow by using normals passes. This let the compers get to work a lot earlier in the process than usual … and let me make lighting calls up until the last day of production.

As the subway takes off, we see a character in the background running to catch up with the train. I love that detail and the character on the left edge of screen turning to see him. Where did that idea come from? Did you have to fight to keep it in the spot?

That’s also one of my favorite moments. All credit goes to Dan [Vislocky], our animation lead for that. Those extra human touches really sell the moment and make for a few extra viewings.

A Little More on Fletch

If you’ve been paying close attention to Motionographer, you’ve seen Fletch’s name pop up more than once. Before joining Psyop’s LA office, Fletch worked up quite a résumé for himself.

He worked as a model maker and sculptor on features including Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Moulin Rouge and Red Planet. Also of interest to our readers: Moules worked in London as head of 2D at Nexus Productions, where he worked closely with Nexus directors Smith & Foulkes to bring their short film, This Way Up to life.

Credits

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, Chicago
Global Creative Director: Mark Tutssel
Executive Creative Director: Susan Credle
Creative Directors: Dave Loew, Jon Wyville
Art Director: Rainer Schmidt
Copywriter: Tohru Oyasu
Executive Producer: David Moore
Producers: Christopher Cochrane, Stephen Clark

Director: Psyop
Production Company: Psyop/Smuggler
Psyop Creative Directors: Fletch Moules, Laurent Ledru
Psyop Executive Producer: Neysa Horsburgh
Psyop Producer: Amanda Miller
Psyop Associate Producer: Hillary Thomas
Smuggler Executive Producer/Partner: Patrick Milling Smith
Smuggler Executive Producer/Partner: Brian Carmody
Smuggler Executive Producer/COO: Lisa Rich
Smuggler Executive Producers: Allison Kunzman, Laura Thoel

Models and Textures: Rie Ito, Brianne Meyers, George Longo, Matt Berenty
Riggers: Sean Kealey, Alon Gibli
Animation Lead: Dan Vislocky
Animators: Sam Ortiz, Minor Gaytan, Blake Guest, Kevin Koch, Jacob Frey, Chris Meek
Designer: Kenesha Sneed
Lighters: Hao Cui, Sarah Bockett, Stephen Delalla
2D animators: Taik Lee, Regis Carmago, Shervin Etaat, Jooyong Kim
Compositing: Fletch Moules, Michael Garrett, Miguel Bautista,
Flame: Kim Stevenson
Editor: Brett Nicoletti
Typography: Siggi Eggertson

Music: Human

Posted on Motionographer

It’s not live yet for you Americans (you gotta wait till Tuesday, September 6, 2011), but here in Australia, we are already singing along! More info on the video can be found here and here.

Posted on Motionographer

Ari Gibson and Jason Pamment (Director and Art Director of The Cat Piano–read also our post on that award-winning film here.) teamed up again, this time to bring us this gorgeous music video for the title track of The Audreys’ new album ‘Sometimes The Stars’. The storyline and art direction is simple (you won’t find any glossy eye-popping CG here) which in my opinion makes the end result even more effective, poignant and memorable. According to Ari and Jason, ‘at a basic level it’s about someone suffering from a loss and their journey towards making a connection.’

I caught up with them to find out a few questions about the project, you can read all about it after the jump. But for now, sit back, turn up the volume, dim the lights, and enjoy…

Thanks for the tip, Jayden!

(Click on each image to see a larger version)

1. Tell us a little bit about yourselves, and how did you end up working together on this piece?

Jason: I’m a freelance Art Director and Illustrator based in Adelaide. I’ve been in animation and VFX for around 6 years, having begun my career as a designer and 3D artist in film and television, before being given more Directorial opportunities.

Ari: I’m an Animator and Illustrator also based in Adelaide. I’ve been working in the animation industry for about 7 years now. I served as Art Director at The Peoples Republic of Animation (PRA) for several years working on countless film, television and video game projects, eventually transitioned into taking on Directing roles. Since then I’ve moved from the PRA to become independent and further develop my own style and voice in the industry.

Studying at the same art school between 2000-2003, it wasn’t until 2006 and The People’s Republic of Animation’s short film Sweet & Sour that we first worked together. From that time we’ve been involved in a number of commercial and film projects, including the PRA’s 2009 short The Cat Piano, which Ari Co-Directed with Eddie White and Jason Art Directed. Although we’ve collaborated on numerous commercial and film projects, this music video is the first time we’ve teamed  up independently on a production.

2. How did the project come about? What was the initial brief like?

The clip began with Producer Luke Jurevicius and The Audreys’ lead singer Tasha Coates. They had been friends for many years and had wanted to collaborate for some time. The Audreys’ single Sometimes the Stars became that chance. Luke approached us having seen our work on The Cat Piano. The clip seemed the perfect opportunity to pursue our goals of creating mature emotive animation.

When we joined the project, a simple and evocative idea already existed. The concept, by Luke, of a girl journeying towards a fading star through a sky filled with monstrous creatures, was our starting point. Included with the concept were some excellent sketches by  Shane Devries. At the time the clip was intended to be done in 3D and the design reflected that, with more form and detail to the characters and the world.

3. How did you arrive at this final solution, narrative wise, and design wise?

Our first task was to flesh out the narrative and instilling atmosphere and a mature tone to match that of the song. We built acts and structure around the idea, conceived scenes and transformed the fantastical environment into a dreamscape. The once disparate elements within the world become allegory for the Lost Girl’s memory and emotion. For the conclusion of the clip the fading star became a character and the moment of connection: an intimate union of lost souls.

The design of the clip evolved both out of necessity and as a natural extension of our narrative development. Despite being initially envisaged as a 3D production, we chose a 2D approach, feeling the warmth and artistry would marry well with the song’s soft melancholy. Our narrative adaptations, to a more subtle suggestive story, played out in these visuals: the world became more vague and mysterious; silhouettes and mist became prevalent, with simple shapes emphasised over detailed forms. To pronounce this graphic approach we emulated stage lighting techniques and used simple theatrical compositions, working in monochrome with only a subtle grade at the end. Working only with monochrome values created greater consistency throughout the piece and helped us finish shots more quickly. With only the two of us for the bulk of production these stylistic decisions aided us immensely in outputting shots with efficiency and made the clip achievable on the tight schedule.

4. Hardware used? Software ? What was your production process/pipeline like?

We use Photoshop for all the 2D animation and background art, as well as most of the effects animation. Photoshop’s animation timeline transitions nicely into After Effects, which we use for compositing. In a typical shot, Ari will produce line animation that will go on to be coloured, while Jason paints the layered background art. We’ll import those Photoshop files directly into After Effects retaining all the background layers, which can be animated and used to create camera moves. A compositor will then add effects plates, animate layers, grade elements and generally fine tune a shot until we’re happy with it.

5. Timeframe? Budget ? Crew size? Credit list?

We worked on the clip over about 4 months, finishing in December of 2010. Hours were long with six day working weeks and regular days ending between 9pm and 1am. We were lucky enough to have Ryan Kirby compositing for a month and a half. Illustrator Jarrod Prince and Animator Joshua Bowman also helped out, colouring the 2D animation. As is the case with most projects of this nature the budget was tight.

(For full credit list please see below)

6. Biggest challenges technically ? Creatively? Any unexpected stumbling blocks?

Having worked on similar 2D projects before, the pipeline was fairly familiar to us. Challenges tended to be more creative than technical. Obviously with such a small crew we needed to work in an achievable style. Building the clip in monochrome suited the song and made shot consistency much easier to manage. We could marry the character to the
background far more cohesively and quickly than we could working in full colour.

Another creative challenge was in keeping the style appropriately simple. We wanted something that felt quite
traditional and organic, however when working digitally the easiest solution isn’t always the right one stylistically. For instance there were times in which we had to resort to 3D software for tricky perspective animation. While these methods save time, we had to carefully integrate them so that all the visuals match the intended style.

7. What’s on the agenda next? what can we expect from you guys ?

We’re currently mid-way through our next music video, again in 2D. In some ways its similar: a mature approach with a strong narrative; in some different: a more classic style with a semblance of watercolour. We won’t mention to much more for fear of ruining the surprise. Suffice to say it’s going well.

As artists and animators we want to promote the Australian animation community and its immensely talented people by  continuing to tell stories with emotion, through relatable characters and to the highest standards of which we are capable.

Thanks Ari and Jason, we wish you all the best for your future projects!

Credits

Music by The Audreys

Produced by Luke Jurevicius

Directed by Ari Gibson & Jason Pamment

Production Designers
Luke Jurevicius, Shane Devries, Jason Pamment, Ari Gibson

Story by
Luke Jurevicius, Ari Gibson & Jason Pamment

Executive Producers
Tasha Coates, Tristan Goodall & Stu McCullogh

2D Animation Ari Gibson

Background Art Jason Pamment

Compositing
Ryan Kirby & Jason Pamment

Colouring
Jarrod Prince & Joshua Bowman

Special Thanks
Sarah Macdonald, Makoto Koji, Jeremy Hill-Brooks

Posted on Motionographer

New Zealand-based Director Jonny Kofoed recently put out a series of über sweet animated spots for PAMS for the NZ-market.

Meticulously designed and animated, the spots are an ode to Pams’ food products. Filled with simple, food-shaped characters they live in a vintage, yet contemporary world. The combination and contrast of analog/digital textures and simple 3D characters that seamlessly blend into 2D make for a friendly, home-cooked food aesthetic, reminiscent of the friendliness of your local greengrocer. (Make sure to begin from “For The Love of Food” and continue on to the other two shorter spots.)

Jonny was kind enough to answer a few questions about the project. Read the Q&A here.

Make sure to check out the behind the scenes and pre-production material on Jonny’s site, loads of amazing stuff there!

Big thanks to fellow author Lilian Darmono for the extra help with the post!

Posted on Motionographer