Hasta La Motion!

Peppermelon updates! My favourite in this batch is the MTV ‘Los Premios 3009′ (MTV Awards 2009). It features eye-popping futuristic imagining of the 3 main cities: Bogota (top section), Mexico City (middle), and Buenos Aires (bottom). I recommend playing the HD teaser for the most satisfying viewing experience. Also, don’t miss the design rationale here.

Two other favourites of mine : Fox’s Retro Classifica (left, below) and Zilveren Kruis (right, below). Both features very well-considered character and environment designs, yet each is very different from the other.

Without a doubt, Peppermelon has sealed their reputation as one of the best and most versatile studios in the industry.

Posted on Motionographer

Another response to the issues that the VFX Townhall have brought up, Scott Squires writes a long post on what he sees as the big picture of the visual effects industry. This is required reading, folks, there will be a test.

When I think of a service I think of a dentist, a car shop where they work on your car or a plumber that comes to your house. In these cases they do work but don’t tend to produce anything. The costs are based on time and materials.

Custom manufacturing?
Should vfx be considered as custom manufacturing? We actually create something when we finish our work, whether it’s from scratch or a montage of material provided. That’s what the studios want, not the actual service part.

Here is where things get crazier. Each shot is unique like a snowflake. It’s own little world of issues, handwork and tweaks. You try like anything to make shots as consistent as possible and to be able to run them through the exact same process but it’s never full automated. For all the talk about computers in our business it’s still a very labor-intensive process. The number of people and the time required to do a shot from start to finish would astound most outsiders.

If you go to most manufactures and request custom work you will be required to make specific requirements in writing. (I.e. you want cabinet style 32 but in this specific color of blue. You want a custom cake that says Happy Birthday. It will be yellow cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate frosting.) And that is what you will get. They seldom show you the work in progress or have your input at every single stage. The other thing is a custom manufacture will tell you when it will be done. They dictate the schedule. In the film business it’s the opposite of all of this. The studio specifies when the delivery will be. It’s almost always less than the time that would have been arrived at by a normal scheduling process for the facility.

Scott wrote another article tonight which is equally worth your attention: Unions

I know some people are concerned a union will cause studios to leave the area and go elsewhere. Hey, it’s already happening without being a union and if you’re working under poor conditions or getting substandard pay it does it really matter if they leave?

Posted on Motionographer

Today we can finally reveal that the rumors that have been floating around the mograph and design forums are all true. As of Monday 3rd May 2010 Motionographer Studios will be open for business. Headed up by founder and executive director Justin Cone, Motionographer Studios will simultaneously open bi-costal offices in the US; in Santa Monica and New York, as well as their European office in Soho, London. “We’re thrilled and excited that all our plans are finally going live”, says Cone, “Our creative team, compromising the combined talent of our Motionographer authors are already in production on several exciting projects. As everyone can see from our talent’s bios, we can offer the best creative and execution, no matter what the technical demands of the job”.

Obviously we’ll keep you all up to date with Motionographer Studios here on our very own blog. We’re also planning launch parties for all three studios, dates to be confirmed. But true to form, Cone promises the studio launches will certainly be something to remember. “We can confirm that Vampire Weekend are slated to play at our Santa Monica launch and it looks like Florence and the Machine will be entertaining the launch party goers in Soho”. Queens of The Stone Age are as yet to confirm to play the New York office launch. Check back here for our launch party ticket competition in a couple of weeks time.

Posted on Motionographer

The Zigtech spot we posted earlier this week is by Logan, and they’ve sent along credits and a link to a high-res version of the spot. Take a look!

Credits:
Client: Reebok
Agency: DDB Berlin
Chief Creative Director: Amir Kassaei
Creative: Leila El-Kayem
Senior Producer: Christine Kastens
Chief Account Manager: Stephen Kimpel

Prodco: Logan & Sterntag Film GmbH
Director: Alexei Tylevich
Executive Producer: Kevin Shapiro
Producer (Sterntag) : Nadja Bontscheff
Post Producer: Christopher Lenz
Line Producer: Caleb Omens
DP: Florian Stadler
Editor: Volkert Besseling
Art Director: Kevin Stein
Lead Designer: Kenneth Robin
Design: Carlos Florez, Ian Kim, Juicy Wang
Lead Compositor: Kevin Stein
Lead Flame Artist: Brandon Sanders
3D Modeling: Josh Cortopassi, Julien Forest
3D Animators: Sei Sato, Johnny Lum
Roto: Brian Williams, Dan Everson, Ivy Depies

Posted on Motionographer

Gabe Askew’s new video for the song “Ten By Ten” by Bluebrain is a really interesting and well-executed piece, and quite a departure from Two Weeks, the unofficial Grizzly Bear video that he put out last year. “Ten By Ten” is skillfully orchestrated and very graphic – clean and elegant. It’s especially impressive, considering Gabe completed this almost completely on his own with no budget. And the new direction shows that he is still exploring and expanding his craft. Kudos.

Read on for a Q&A with Gabe about this piece. (Sorry folks, link fixed now.)

Posted on Motionographer