Hasta La Motion!

Enjoy the infinite zoom technique employed in two different styles — Psyop zooms into lush landscapes overrun with surreal details in Toshiba “Endless Performance” and Johnny Kelly zooms out through orthographic illustrations of a universe inhabited by books in New York Times Book Review “Holiday Books”. I particularly love the sound design moment by David Kamp where the cutting board syncs with the music.

For more zoom-a-zoom-zoom-zoom and a boom-boom, check out ZoomQuilt, ZoomQuilt II, and the classic Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames.

Toshiba “Endless Performance” Credits
Brief: Toshiba Encore Tablet
Client: Toshiba
Agency: McCann Enterprise
Exec Creative Director: Will Shepherd
Creative Directors: Mark McCall, Richard Dorey
Account Handlers: Kat Patterson, Tamsin Devereux, Fred Letts
Agency Producer: Holly Edwards
Production Company: Psyop
Creative Directors: Kylie Matulick, Fletcher Moules
Producer: Shannon Alexander
Designer: Paul Kim, Therese Larsson, Paul Mager, Chris Martin, Andrew Park, Velwyn Yossy
Lead Technical Director: Stephen DeLalla, Matt Lavoy
Previz Artist: Victor Garza, Brianne Meyer
Modeler: Larissa Docolas, Rie Ito, Wendy Klein, Brianne Meyer
Texture Artist: Larissa Docolas, Wendy Klein
Rigger: David Bokser, Sean Kealey
Lighter: Robby Branham, Stephen DeLalla
3D Generalist: Stephen DeLalla
3D Animator: David Bokser, Chris Meek, Brianne Meyer
2D Animator: Max Graenitz, Rachel Yonda
Storyboard Artist: Josh Wiesenfeld
Matte Painter: Chris Brock, Edmund Liang, Velwyn Yossy, Paul Kim
Compositor: Katerina Arroyo, Matt Lavoy
Flame Artist: Matt Lavoy
Editor: Lance Pereira
Assistant Producer: Jessica Schlobolm
Music Title & Artist: From Nowhere (Artist: Dan Croll)
Post Production: Psyop / Craft London
Sound Design: Craft London
Media Planning: Rocket

New York Times Book Review “Holiday Books” Credits
Production Company: Nexus
Director + Designer: Johnny Kelly
Producer: Isobel Conroy
Project Lead: Mark Davies
Animation: Sergei Shabarov, Michal Firkowski, Fabrice Fiteni, Mark Davies
3D Rendering: Michal Firkowski, Jeremi Boutelet, Mark Davies
3D Modeller: Florent Rousseau
Compositing: Elliott Kajdan
Client: New York Times Book Review
Art Direction: Nicholas Blechman
Music & Sound Design: David Kamp

Been a long time coming, but this delightfully illustrative and darkly comic tale is now available to view in its entirety online, after having toured festivals. I especially enjoyed the constantly pulsating and bubbling white beard of “dad.” Designed and directed by Dylan White, so be sure to head over to his site for more behind-the-scenes info. I enjoyed the click-thru showing the juxtapositions between storyboard images and final style frames. Full credit list on the site and on the Vimeo page here.

Posted on Motionographer

Paint It Black, from Nexus directors, Smith & Foulkes, is refreshingly witty. The color (or shade) black serves as the visual glue that binds the narrative of the piece together and creates a visual dialect that—like much of Smith & Foulkes work—is distinguished by character driven narratives and artful storytelling.

While the piece is entirely 3d, it maintains a graphical uniformity by limiting the palette and rendering each character with a soft finish. Evidently, the directors understand the nuances of great transitions and can intelligently craft a matrix of character subjects into one coherent aesthetic. As well, the ominous voice-over is playfully poetic and harks back to a kind of horror-esuqe delivery from a Boris Karloff or Vincent Price—making the piece filmic while still being commercially proper.

Credits:
Client: Panasonic
Title: Black
Length: 30”

Agency: The Campaign Palace
Creative Team: Nic Buckingham & Hywel James
Agency Producer: Katrina Maw

Production Company: Nexus
Director: Smith & Foulkes
Executive Producers: Julia Parfitt
Producer: Luke Youngman
Project Lead: Michael Greenwood
Illustrator / Designer: Mark Gmehling
Animation: Nexus
Compositing: Hugo Guerra

Sound Design: 750mph (London) / Nylon Studios (Sydney)

Posted on Motionographer

What is an Executive Producer? This role may go unnoticed by many of us, but the success of a company is often defined by this individual. They shape the culture of the production company they lead. In addition to their sales and strategic roles, they must define and reinforce the creative ethos of the company. This begins with bringing in the right talent and nurturing them to their full potential.

The ways in which this takes place varies from EP to EP. What follows is how some of the good ones do it, including:

• Michael Adamo (EP at Passion Pictures, London)
• Nick Hussey (EP at Rokkit, London)
• Chris O’Reilly (EP at Nexus, London),
• Adina Sales (EP at Blacklist, New York)
• James Bretton (EP at Blinkink, London).

Read the round table discussion and get a glimpse into 2010 and beyond.

Posted on Motionographer