Hasta La Motion!

As part of Frito Lay’s “Made for Each Other” campaign, two Motionographer favorites have created two decidedly adorable mini-shorts about finding true love. Although they’re radically different in style, both spots pack a tidy narrative into their confines.

First up is “Two Hears Are Better Than One,” created by Nexus Productions’ Tom & Mark with illustrator Adrian Johnson.

Next up is the 3D complement to the first spot. “Love & Sockets” has Blacklist’s David Lobser written all over it, from the outlandish characters to the expansive sets.

Both spots drive viewers to the Made for Each Other website, which is chock full of cute character design.

Credits
2 Heart Are Better Than One (Magnets)
Production Company (animation): Nexus Productions
Director: Tom & Mark with Adrian Johnson
Executive Producers: Chris O’Reilly & Charlotte Bavasso
Head of Production: Julia Parfitt
Producer: Luke Youngman
Production Assistant: Denise Abraham
Key Animator: Valentina Ventimiglia
Compositor: Luke Carpenter

Love & Sockets (Light bulb)
Production Company (animation): Blacklist
Director: David Lobser
Animation Company: Little Sister
Animation: Peter Richardson, Ian Brauner
Rigging: Gwen Murray, Yaron Canetti
Modeling: David Avetisov
Matte Painter: Kristian Merc
Executive Producer: Adina Sales & Aaron Kisner

Posted on Motionographer

Made for Each Other

We posted Last Parish a week ago as a quickie and after some debate (there has been a LOT of quickie to full debates as of late) we have decided that Dade should have been featured all along.

Dade started out as a designer with a knack for 3d in a time when knowing both trades was pretty rare. After joining Digital Kitchen, Dade quickly moved up the ranks because of his ability to lead his own projects and before he knew it his business card read CG/VFX Director. Currently, Dade is working for Superfad in Seattle directing projects and working as a Digital Cinematographer. I asked Dade to clarify his role of Digital DP since I had never come across that title, and this is what he had to say:

I realized that many times when I was working with other creative directors and directors, I would be asked to “man” the camera and of course set up the lights in our CG scenes. I didn’t see much of a difference from what I was doing virtually, and what many of the live action DP’s were doing on the spots we’d shoot. Digital
cinematographer was just a way for me to let people know my involvement and
that I took that responsibility quite seriously.

Now that Dade is a director doesn’t mean that he stays away from production work, in fact it seems quite the opposite. On any given project, Dade will not only direct, but he will also design, texture, model, sim, animate cameras, light, render and composite. Pretty impressive list of daily chores for any single person to handle, and yet he seems to manage it all pretty well. Although he did tell me that “I still find myself in my home studio staring at wireframes till 1am”.

I think what impresses me most about people like Dade is that although he has been in the industry long enough to sit back and take it easy, he still has the passion that drives him to remain hands on and put the long hours needed to make his projects feel complete.

Posted on Motionographer

Last Parish: The Portfolio of Dade Orgeron

Remember White Winter Hymnal? Sean Pecknold’s debut Fleet Foxes video with the killer hand-crank star trails shot?

Pecknold (aka Grandchildren) just completed a beautiful new video for the Fleet Foxes track ‘Mykonos‘. The two-triangled hero and his shape-shifting antagonist strike a nice visual balance between abstract imagery and recognizable characters.

The first time watching what caught my eye was the elegant polygonal shapes (jellyfish, birds, castles, rolling water). On repeated viewings it was the story-related details that kept me coming back – the moments where the triangles switch between walking and flying, the man in the castle sending spindly patrolling legs into the forest, the triangle offing the guard and his subsequent tumbling sequence/final battle (or at least that’s what I got out of it).

The video was completed in four weeks using glass plane animation technique, with only two days for post. Check out the behind the scenes for some down and dirty making-of action.

Fleet Foxes – Mykonos
Director/Animator – Sean Pecknold
Artist/Illustrator – Jesse Brown (papervspencil.com)
Animation Assistant – Toby Liebowitz (inbruno.com)
Animation Assistant – Chris Ando (myspace.com/talbottagora)
Art Director – Sean Pecknold
Produced by Grandchildren
Labels – Bella Union & Sub Pop
Special thanks – Ryan Rothermel, Matt Daniels, Miles Tillman, Thad Scott, Mike Ragen, That Go, Britta Johnson, Aja, Greg, Lisa, Smokey, Robin, Christian, Josh, Casey, Liz, Olivia, Joy, and Skye

Posted on Motionographer

Sean Pecknold – Fleet Foxes ‘Mykonos’

A few weeks ago, Flynn Productions directorial duo Karni & Saul completed this music video for Flogging Molly’s latest single Float. The video follows a tired and frail stick character as he takes us on an epic journey from city to sea, building himself along the way.

The ambitious scope of this epic saga is made accessible through its simple character’s ability to evoke pathos. Karni, with a background in fashion photography, and Saul with his feet in the world of 3D animation have once again sensibly married their two worlds to bring this piece to life.

Artist: Flogging Molly
Production Company: Flynn Producions
Commissioner: Thomas Dreux, Side One Dummy Records
Directors: Karni & Saul
Producer: Natalie Bayle
Animators: Karni &; Saul, Kostas Koutsoliotas, Stave Brown
Designers: Karni & Saul
Post Production: Flynn Post

Posted on Motionographer

Karni & Saul: Float

So Super Bowl XLIII has come and gone. That doesn’t mean we should overlook one of the few commercials that premiered during the big game that actually had something to do with football.

Motion Theory’s ‘Run’ takes viewers on a journey through the “other” season of NFL running back Darren McFadden. It follows him through the combine, the draft, training camp, practice, and then the opening game of the season. Directed by Mathew Cullen, who has an impeccable eye for detail, the spot is chock full of layers that build around the NFL star. Cullen and the Motion Theory team, led by Senior Art Director Kaan Atilla and VFX supervisor Bryan Godwin, had a very tight schedule to create the evocative, layered journey that highlights all the work and preparation that goes into a great NFL season.

Also, big congratulations to Mathew for winning the Grammy last night for Short Form Music Video Director.

Posted on Motionographer

Motion Theory : NFL