Apr 21

Buck brings color (swatches) to Sherwin-Williams’ world

Posted in: General

Update: Buck kindly created a making of video for Motionographer to break it down for yall. Also, I sat down with creative leads Orion Tait, Benjamin Langsfeld & Joshua Harvey and asked them a few questions about the project. Watch and learn.

Buck’s latest animation explores a world created by color swatches for paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams. The first part of a bigger campaign, Buck plans to release two more spots to follow this, which according to creative director Orion Tait, has allowed “a bit more story-telling, which is a natural evolution for the campaign and has officially made this job an office favorite. We love working in the space where storytelling, design and animation meet.”

One of the things I dig the most about this animation is a technique they utilized to pull the spot off within the considerable time constraints they had. I asked Orion if the color grading for the spot was a nightmare since Sherwin-Williams would be considerably more picky then most client on the accuracy of their color choices (imagine color comments along the lines of, “this looks more like Husky Orange than Rave Red”..real names by the way). Orion told me that in order to relieve some of that pressure on the 3d end of the pipeline, Buck decided to render their scenes in grayscale and handle all the color and paint names completely in comp. Making for a much more interactive and controllable color correction experience for Buck.

This technique also accidentally lead to a more unique, illustrative look to the entire spot. A happy accident that creates a gray under-painting to the entire spot leaving it looking..well, more painted then most cg spots would otherwise.

Watch Paint Chips


Directed By: Buck
Production House: Buck NY
Creative Director: Orion Tait
Executive Producer: Kate Treacy
Producer: Kevin Hall
Lead Art Director: Ben Langsfeld
Art Director: Joshua Harvey
Design: Ben Langsfeld, Joshua Harvey
Storyboards: Pete McDonald
CG Supervisor: Joshua Harvey
3D Modeling: Arvid Volz, David Soto
3D Animation: Joshua Harvey, Pete Hamilton, Chris Hendryx, Arvid Volz
3D Character Animation: Jordan Blit
3D Rigging: Lee Wolland
3D Lighting/Shading: Kevin Couture, Lars Holmgren, Chris Hendryx, Hanwei Wu
Composite: Daniel Oeffinger, Conrad Ostwald, Joshua Harvey
Additional Design: Jon Gorman

Agency: McKinney
Producer: Josh Eggleston
GCD: Ellen Steinberg
Copywriter: Jenny Nicholson
Art Director: John Hagerty

Color Grade: Company 3
Colorist: Tim Masick

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Apr 21

Christen Bach’s “Bear Untitled”, An Hommage to David O’Reilley

Posted in: General

Berlin-based, Christen Bach, has tapped into the aesthetic and vernacular of David O’Reilly’s smash-hit “Please Say Something” to bring us another dark tale of love and loss between animals.

As Christen puts it in his blog post: “David figured out quite early…that there is something amazing about emotional conversations acted out in ice cold monotone voices. He has been able to get under the skin and display true emotions on very synthetic characters in very synthetic universes.”

Enjoy this fitting tribute and my second attempt to start your Monday with tears.

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Apr 20

Oscar Ewan

Posted in: General

news_offshore
Oscar & Ewan is a design studio based in East London. Their work is a blend of graphic design, creative direction and idea generation.

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Apr 19

Seagulls Fly for Adobe CS5 Production Premium

Posted in: adobe, car crash, cg, CS5, fake set, General, samurai, seagulls fly, space ships, ufo cow abduction

Start off the week right with UFO cow abduction, samurai swords, and wild car chases, courtesy of Brazil-based Seagulls Fly and Adobe CS5 Production Premium. It’s a fun ride that takes you from flip books to nostalgic home-grown filmmaking to big budget space ships.

FlavioMac and Seagulls Fly were kind enough to answer some questions about the spot. Check out the interview and some behind-the-scenes videos and production stills after the jump.

Q&A with Seagulls Fly

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Apr 15

Jonathan Zawada

Posted in: General

mc-cover
Jonathan Zawada updates with some work on his website.

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Apr 15

Reach Out

Posted in: ddb, General, Guru, hornet, Inc. Santamaria, mirrorshade, Nexus, pandapanther, psa, Reach Out, Who-Fu

Reach Out is an interesting new PSA campaign by the Ad Council through DDB New York that attempts to raise awareness of teen suicide prevention with short films based on the stories of teens themselves. These four spots also showcase the work of several directors working in very distinct styles of film-making and animation. Who-Fu and Mirrorshade working with Guru Studios, both use their own takes on stylized animation; while Santamaria and Pandapanther explore live-action in new methods that aren’t typical of their commercial work. It’s great for us to see the wide range of expression in this campaign as well as compare the various approaches to the material by the different teams. Nice work, all!

Update: So we just got sent all 11 films in this campaign, and the rest are just as worthy of a look: including great cel animation from Steve May, marionettes from Boolab, graphic illustrations from Lesley Barnes and more from Adam Pierce, Jo Lawrence and Cal Brunker. Great to see all these different styles of work, done for a great cause as well.

Take a look at all 11 films here.

Posted on Motionographer

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Apr 14

More Data from Motion Theory

Posted in: General

Here are two new gorgeous spots from Motion Theory for IBM. Data Energy visualizes a holographic field of data around real-world objects, envisioning a near-future of clean and efficient energy managed through intelligent data gathering and processing. Data Transportation presents an abstract view of a city’s transportation network with different shapes and symbols representing the traffic flow – a slick and trippy version of a subway map, overlaid with bicyclists, and every taxi and car and bus moving through a city at once. Motion Theory’s knack for visualizating data through code and Processing-type graphics really shines though in these. Utopian? Yes, undoubtedly. We can dream, though, right?


Credits:
IBM “Smarter Planet” Campaign
“Data Energy”

AGENCY
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Executive Producer: Lee Weiss
Associate Producer: Rich Fiset
Sr. Partner/Worldwide ECD: Susan Westre
Sr. Partner/ECD: Tom Godici
Sr. Partner/ECD: Greg Ketchum
Creative Director: Rob Jamieson
Creative Director: Chris Van Oosterhout
Executive Music Producer: Karl Westman

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Motion Theory
Director: Mathew Cullen
Executive Producer: Javier Jimenez
Line Producer: John Marx
Director of Photography: Guillermo Navarro, Eric Schmidt

POST PRODUCTION
VFX Company: Motion Theory
Creative Director: Mathew Cullen
Producer: Patrick Nugent
VFX Supervisor: John Fragomeni
Art Director: Angela Zhu
Design Lead: Satomi Nagata
Lead Code Artist: CJ Cenizal
Code Artists: Jeremy Rotsztain, Tim Stutts
Onset FX Supervision: Sean Looper, Trevor Tuttle
3D Model: Brandon Lester, Gil Hacco, Nick Loizides
3D Layout: Marion Spates
3D Lighting/Generalist: Trevor Tuttle
3D FX Artists/Animators: Tom Allen, Casey Hupke, Andrew Kinsler, John Robson
Tracking/Match move: Joe Cullen, Gil Hacco, Trevor Tuttle
Comp Lead: Danny Koenig
Compositors: Andrew Ashton, Rachel Dunn, John Robson, John Stanch
Finishing: Danny Yoon
Rotoscope Artists: Megan Gaffney, Gil Hacco, Jackie Shibles
Production Manager/HR Director: Tina Van Delden
Production Coordinator: Paul Pianezza
Production Assistant: Sarah Smith

EDITORIAL
Editorial Company: String
Editor: Jeff Consiglio
Assistant Editors: Jeff Aquino, Jeff Johnston

– – – – –

IBM “Smarter Planet” Campaign
“Data Transportation”

AGENCY
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Executive Producer: Lee Weiss
Associate Producer: Rich Fiset
Sr. Partner/Worldwide ECD: Susan Westre
Sr. Partner/ECD: Tom Godici
Sr. Partner/ECD: Greg Ketchum
Creative Director: Rob Jamieson
Creative Director: Chris Van Oosterhout
Executive Music Producer: Karl Westman

POST/PRODUCTION
Production Company: Motion Theory
Directors: Mathew Cullen, Mark Kudsi
Executive Producer: Javier Jimenez
VFX Company: Motion Theory
Creative Director: Mathew Cullen
Associate Creative Director: Mark Kudsi
Producer: Patrick Nugent
Art Director: Chris Riehl
CG Supervisor: Danny Zobrist
Designers: Leanne Dare, Kenneth Lee, Satomi Nagata
Code Artists: Ryan Alexander, Elise Co, Josh Nimoy, Keith Pasko, Jeremy Rotsztain, Tim Stutts
Previs/Layout: Scott Cullen, Parker Sellers
3D Artists/Animators: Brian Broussard, John Cherniak, Scott Cullen, Casey Hupke, Matt Johnson, Andrew Kinsler, Oded Raz, Bryan Repka, Klaus Seitschek
Compositors: Mathew Cullen, Matt Lavoy, Ash Wagers
Finishing: Danny Yoon
Production Manager/HR Director: Tina Van Delden
Production Coordinator: Paul Pianezza
Production Assistant: Sarah Smith

EDITORIAL
Editorial Company: String
Editor: Doron Dor
Assistant Editors: Jeff Aquino, Jeff Johnston

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Apr 14

Not To Scale/Ubik: LateRooms.com “Bubbles”

Posted in: bubbles, cg, Commercial, Cute, General, not to scale, travel, ubik

London-based production company Not To Scale and director Ubik mustered their talents for agency BMB and discount hotel booking service LateRooms.com in “Bubbles.” The :30 advert presents the world’s vacation destinations as microcosmic scenes contained in bubbles that drift lazily through a sun-drenched kitchen.

The soft lighting, stylized modeling and texturing of the CG elements and cheery soundtrack all combine for a subtly nostalgic effect, channeling just the right mixture of whimsy and wonder.

We caught up with Not To Scale for a little behind-the-scenes info and backstory on the project. Check it out here.

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Apr 13

Pixels QA with Patrick Jean

Posted in: 3d animation, gaming, General, One More Production, Patrick Jean, pixels, self-inititated, videogame, visual effects

With over 2,026,435 views of the official film on Dailymotion in the six days since its release, Pixels has really spread far and wide very quickly. We wanted to find out more about the film and had a chance to ask the creator Patrick Jean a few questions. Now working as a 2D and 3D artist at One More Production, where this film was made, Patrick is a 2002 graduate of Supinfocom and has also previously worked at the French VFX powerhouse BUF. Patrick’s original storyboards for the film are also below. Take a look!


What was your main inspiration for the concept for this piece?
I played all these games when I was young ! Most of them were on Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC or Arcade machines. Another aspect was to mix these two different universes: pixel art and reality. Two universes with different laws of physic. I was curious to see what would come out from this: would one of them eat the other ? I also got my main inspiration from late 80’s blockbusters, like Roger Rabbit or Ghostbusters. I think this aesthetic choice contributes a lot to the nostalgic feeling of it, and nicely fits the retro gaming theme.

This is a self-initiated project for you, right? Why did you choose to make it?
This is indeed a personal project, but I received a lot of help from french VFX studio OneMoreProd. To be perfectly honest it should have been a music video in the very beginning, but with the huge amount of CG work it represented I wasn’t sure to meet the deadline. That’s why we choosed to make a short movie of it.

Did you come to New York and shoot scenes specifically for previously storyboarded shots? Or was there a bunch of footage that was shot and then edited together, figuring out what to animate in each shot as the piece came together? And what camera gear was this shot on?
Everything was storyboarded and conceived before shooting. Then we went to NYC and shot on location in two days. I have to say my friend and Director of Photography Matias Boucard helped me a lot to get everything I needed. We used a Canon 5D Mark II. (I had a lot of “rolling shutter” troubles so I had to re-do almost all the camera movements in CG and camera mapping…)

How big was the team that did the visual effects and animation? Can you tell us a little bit about how you worked and what tools you used?
I did almost all the VFX in the movie. However I received help from the VFX company where I work (Flame artist and sound design for example). When I had all the footage in hand, I began by developping a tool for Maya to generate animated voxels. It’s C++ written and works nicely. Then everything was tracked in Maya Live and rendered in Mental Ray. The editing was made in Final Cut.

What other projects do you have coming up? Anything you’re excited about?
Well, I have been contacted by several major feature studios to develop the project further. Beside this, I have another short movie on tracks and lot of contacts with video and ad companies.

Thanks Patrick! Good luck with everything, and thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

Credits:
Directed by: Patrick Jean
DOP: Matias Boucard
Line Producer: Benjamin Darras
Location Manager: Kris Arthur Gray Cedras
3D and SFX : Patrick Jean with some help from Pedro Gomes, Grégory Lanfranchi, Philippe Palmieri
Color grading : Hervé Thouement
Sound design: Benoit Cauet, Nicolas Vitte
Music: Nicolas Vitte
Produced by: Benjamin Darras & Johnny Alves
Production assistant : Christ Zotokas

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Apr 12

ILOVEDUST Launches

Posted in: 2d, 3d, Animation, General, ilovedust, launch, london, nike, uk

News of  a Motion Design studio launch are always exciting, more so when the studio has already possessed a considerable repertoire and strong reputation in Graphic Design.

Originally a Graphic Design / Illustration studio with a clientele ranging from Pepsi to Microsoft and Sony, ilovedust had been flirting with Motion Design for a while, but it wasn’t until recently  that they finally decided to launch a Motion department.

With four new projects for clients such as Nike and Mtv , ilovedust showcases their range of styles and technique, from traditional animation to 3D, as well as some great storytelling skills, particularly in the “Nike Chase” project – done in collaboration with Curious Pictures and Director Ro Rao.

We were fortunate enough to get a first glance at the new ilovedust site – which launches today, by the way – and catch up with CD Ingi Erlingsson for an exclusive and very interesting interview.

Make sure to spend some time on their new site and check out the work, motion or static, bombastic stuff!

Looks like they are here to stay. Welcome!

  • How did ilovedust come to be and when did you first become a part of the team?
    ilovedust was started back in 2003 by Mark Graham and Ben Beach. They were both working for a fashion label and decided their time would be better spent on their own ventures. They set up shop in a dusty studio space in Southsea, UK and went to work building a portfolio of initially local clients, but were soon working for some of the biggest companies in the world like coke, Bloomingdales and T-mobile. I joined them in early 2006 after graduating and a short stint in New York working for a motion design company called Surround.

  • Originally a Illustration / Graphic Design shop, what made ilovedust wander into Motion Design?
    Back when I joined the major bulk of work was made up of illustration, with the occasional web site or logo thrown into the mix. Because of my animation background we were always experimenting and playing around with animation work and one day we were working on a print campaign for Pepsi and the opportunity to direct and produce a TV ad came up. We jumped on it head first and the next day we were on a plane headed for New York to cast and shoot the ad. At the time we didn’t have too much of a clue about what we were getting ourselves into, but we surrounded ourselves with some great, talented people that helped guide us through it all. Being in at the deep end has always been a big part of our ethos, we feel we learn the most when we bite off just a little more than we can chew. After that we gathered momentum and started to pick up more and more motion work, which led us to the decision to start up a dedicated department.Illustration and design are still a big part of what we do, but I feel we’ve found a great partner in motion design and animation. Our designers find inspiration in the animation work and the animators get the same from the designers. It helps us evolve and keeps things exciting and interesting, so it’s a great combination for us.

  • Was there any specific challenges involving the setup of the department, and how do you balance things during the setup of the London branch?
    We recognised early on in the process that in order to make the most of our opportunities it would be essential to be situated in London. Here we have access to some of the best freelancers, facilities and creative minds around, so it was a no brainer to set up here. So in early 2009 we started off by renting a small space (which we soon outgrew), hiring a few key people and then went to work. We’re lucky enough to have found and hired some incredibly talented people who have helped us develop a style and approach and also fit right into the family.

    It was important to us to get the motion work up to the same standard as our print and illustration work so it took a lot of trial, error, swearing and experimenting. We were lucky enough to be able to balance the personal, experimental work with enough paid work to keep us afloat until we were ready to show what we could do.

  • Regarding the Nike project: how did the project first begin? Can you take us through the main evolution stages/process of the project? For example: did ilovedust pitch on this directorially?Was there a specific element that the agency was looking for which would determine who won the pitch? I.e. was it the character design mainly, or other things?
    Initially when the project started AKQA asked us to pitch treatments and style frames. I think we pitched about 10 ideas to them, all of which we felt pretty strongly about, which I think helped us win the pitch. The final script turned out a little different to our treatments as we’d based them on the lead character being a runner, but in the end she was a dancer. The main stages of the project played out pretty quickly after the script was signed off, we built our characters, designed the environments, shot the motion capture and then got to work putting all the pieces together. The last piece of the puzzle was the sound design which was done by our friend Wevie in Brighton. The director’s cut version we decided to put on the site is a lot closer to our original direction, mixed with a bit of angry robot and mayhem.

  • How did you guys end up collaborating with Curious Pictures and Ro Rao as live action director?
    Ro and the guys at Curious were already working with AKQA on the campaign, producing and directing the other 4 spots of the 5 spot campaign. They shot the footage in LA under the watchful eye of the AKQA creative team, with us keeping tabs on the progress remotely from the UK. It was great to work with Ro and the guys on the live action as it came out really great and helped all 5 spots work as a series.

  • How do you see yourself in comparison to other studios in the industry, both locally in the UK/Europe and internationally? Do you see a certain advantage or disadvantage having grown from an illustration and graphic design company?
    I think we have a definite advantage having evolved out of a design and illustration environment. The more animation we do the less we need to worry about the technical challenges which allows us to really let our design experience take the lead. We also have a team of 12 full time designers/illustrators so when it comes to pitches and work we have a huge resource to pull ideas and design from. We have the advantage of being able to do full campaigns in-house, from the print ads to the tv ads and websites.

    In terms of our positioning in comparison to other studios I’d say we were somewhere in between the small 3-4 person shops and the big production companies. We’re still young and fresh to the game, but there are over 20 of us in all across two studios so we have a lot of aggregated experience behind us.

  • What lies in the future for the ilovedust motion department ? And for the company as a whole?
    For the motion department it’s all about growth. We’re looking to take on a few new key people and expand and build on our expertise to really take our work to the next level, along with continuing build new relationships with designers, animators sound designers and creative types around the world that we can collaborate with. We’re also constantly working on self initiated studio work so there will be plenty more of that coming from us in the next year. In terms of things we haven’t done yet, we’d love to do some music videos. For the company as a whole I think it’s a similar goal. We want to build on our previous experience and use it to do bigger and better work. We have some great existing clients like Nike, Sony, Microsoft and Dunkin Donuts that we will be continuing to build our relationship with, as well as making new relationships in the future.

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