Allesandro Novelli (of n9ve) directs a “developmental spelling” of the alphabet – an experimental typography video “where each character visually represents the meaning of the word itself.” Also, check out version one here.
Minivegas has taken many forms throughout their existence. Live-action, animation and VFX-driven work was their strength for years. However, they have recently been putting a lot of their creative energy in developing new technologies in the site-specific, interactive space.
Although F5 was almost six months ago, we felt this project definitely deserved some sharing. For F5, they created an interactive installation that visualized images and text from the F5 twitter feed and converted them into abstract shapes. They also made a sound-responsive version that played during the Tanya Morgan performance.
It’s an exciting time to continue to see traditional directors moving into these new spaces. People like Radical Friend, Champagne Valentine and LEGS (just to name a few) have showed an ability to seamlessly transition into this experiential type work as their studio-based predecessors like Imaginary Forces, Digital Kitchen, etc.
That go and Brite Futures’ “Too Young to Kill,” a music video sure to make you look more than twice. The number of scene/wardrobe/makeup changes would make any assistant director cringe!
There are certain moments where the video begins to feel repetitive, but that’s the trick that director Noel Paul used. Just as you begin feel a loop similar to three frames, he adds a twist at the end of each shot. The match cuts are a simple, nice touch that makes this music video interesting from beginning to end.
Adrien Merigeau (last seen here with his short film Old Fangs) directs a music video for “Cecelia & Her Selfhood” by the band Villagers.
What’s more illicit than bottling water and shipping it across state lines? Just about everything.
But that didn’t stop Elastic and director Andy Hall from casting cuddly woodland creatures as nature’s outlaws in a new campaign for Nestle and agency McCann Worldgroup.
These worlds feel like a perfect blend between Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Traffic. (And now I think we all know why Rudolph’s nose is so red.) Props to New Deal Studios for superb set construction.
Client: Nestle Waters
Agency: McCann Erickson NY
ECD: Craig Markus
Associate Creative Director/AD: David Waraska
Copywriter: Don Wilhelmi
Art Director Banners: Joseph Carreno
Producer: Andrea Kaye
Director Integrated Production: Jonathan Shipman
Business Partner: Emily Giordano
Project Manager: Christiane Basagoiti
Design + Animation
Production Company: Elastic
Director: Andy Hall
Set Construction + Photography: New Deal Studios
Designer(s): Chris Sanchez, Max Ulichney
Producer: Heather Johann, Meredith Tomasulo
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall
CG Lead: Max Ulichney
2D Lead Compositor: Shahana Khan
2D Compositors: Maciek Sokalski, Ned Wilson
3D Artists: Joe Paniagua, Andy Lewis, Erin Clark, Tom Nemeth, Joe Chiechi, Tim Donlevy, Martin Furness, Paulo De Almada, Chris Janney, Adam Carter, Amy Gohal, Ryan McDougal,
3D Animators: Frantz Vidal, Abel Salazar, Matt Ornstein, Lindsey Butterworth, Pablo Smith, John Tumlin
Assistant Editor: Anton Capaldo-Smith
Colorist: Shahana Khan
Conform: Brendan Crockett
Countdown is a short movie/music video based on the music of Apparat. Directed, designed, animated and composed by Céline Desrumaux.
Editor’s note: Countdown was originally posted as a Quickie, but it has been upgraded to a full post.
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.
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.
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.
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
“About last night… I am sorry.” In Matthew Walker‘s short film, John & Karen, we’re dropped in the midst of a very awkward moment between an earnest polar bear and (justifiably?) aggravated she-penguin. While this film isn’t brand spanking new, or as glossy as our usual content, it is a great example of creating a story with its own small universe through good timing, body language, and just the right bit of dialogue.
And for those of you who also had a rough Friday night, there’s always hope of patching things up.
Scott Benson can’t seem to stop putting out creative work, whether it’s light-hearted (Opposites, Future Trends in Motion Graphics) or helping himself and others ponder more serious themes (Rebranding, On the Subject of Depression). His music video for Rendezvous’ “The Murf” pairs a cosmic story with beautiful, stylized design that will both make you make you smile and wonder about the future.
Read on for production stills, storyboards and a Q&A with Scott here.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A. during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
