Hover Studio, the makers of the very entertaining mobile game “Ready Steady Bang,” are releasing a follow up title in June, “Ready Steady Play.”
Like its predecessor, RSP features smooth, whimsical character animation from sister company Animade that’ll be worth the price of the game alone (assuming the game isn’t ridiculously expensive).
Get game updates via Facebook, Twitter or sign up for email updates on the Cowboy Games website.
Brazilian graphic novel artist and writer Rafael Grampá (“Mesmo Delivery”) turned his powers to the small screen for the first time in “Dark Noir.” The animated short was his directorial debut, a commissioned work for Absolut’s “Transform Today” campaign.
The project was billed as a “co-creation” between Grampá and Absolut’s Facebook fans, who supplied concepts and drawings via Absolut’s Facebook presence.
But when it came to producing the actual animation, Grampá partnered with Red Knuckles, formerly of Passion Pictures, where they had worked heavily with director Pete Candeland.
Rick Thiele and Mario Ucci, co-founders of Red Knuckles and co-creative directors on “Dark Noir” shared some process behind “Dark Noir” with us.
How did you guys get involved in this project?
Sid Lee approached us about “Dark Noir” in late November 2013 with the intention of making a live action short film with animated characters.
Their main reference was a project we art directed while still at Passion, Gorillaz “Stylo”, in which we turned Jamie Hewlett’s famous 2D characters into 3D animation and integrated them against live action plates.
We eventually managed to convince everyone that doing it fully animated was a good idea.
Did Red Knuckles do all of the CG animation? What about the 2D animation?
Yes. Both 3D and 2D. The main reason Red Knuckles exists is to allow us to work with the artists we admire and a lot of those artists happen to be 2D animators.
So when this project came along, we immediately pitched to Rafael the idea of having a mix of 2D and 3D animation, and he said yes straight away. So then we went after those incredible dudes — 2D and 3D — and they were all up for it, too.
Describe the process of working with Rafael Grampá. How did you work together?
Well, the fact that we are all Brazilians helped a lot. We had pretty much the same imagination, and Rafael is one of the most incredible artists we know (we were fans of him from way before). The visual communication flowed seamlessly.
He would explain the sequences he had in mind by drawing them, and to us, this is the best way to communicate.
Absolut understood Rafael’s persona very well and just let him do what he wanted to do without any interventions. With that, we were blessed with an entire studio of artists creating and making decisions 24/7. That is not something that happens often.
The film has a rich look inspired by film noir. Can you tell us a little about the look development process?
The mood of the film was in there since the first revision of the script. It was impossible for us to imagine the film any other way, so we gathered all the references that came to mind into a mood panel. This panel included “Blade Runner,” “In the Mood for Love,” anything by Christopher Doyle.
We wanted to have eveyone coming in and out of light all the time, engulfed in shadows one second and then showered by light in the next. And if the characters didn’t move on the shot, then we would create mechanisms to make the lights move instead, revealing and hiding.
What consolidated the noir look was the combination of the script with the images.
The official making of video (below) says that Facebook fans had input. What was that like?
This crowdsourcing of ideas was a big thing for Absolut, so we knew that it had to be very well planned out in order to make it work with the schedule.
The hardest ideas to accomplish were obviously posted first. People had quite a small window of time to respond, due to pressing deadlines. Even so, the response we got from it was astonishing. Hundreds of people submitted ideas and drawings that just blew our minds and gave us a completely fresh take on things!
In this case, it seems like crowdsourced aspect of the film was pretty focused. How do you feel about crowdsourced filmmaking/animation in general?
At times, we danced with the idea of crowdsourcing aspects of production like modeling and texturing, but since we had a very tight schedule, we had to keep everything in a very controlled environment.
If you have a project with a more flexible schedule crowdsourcing might work, just as long as the creative direction remains consistent. Still, artists would have to be carefully handpicked.
You guys recently left Passion to start Red Knuckles. How is it going so far? What have been some of the challenges?
Yes, we left Passion in December 2013 after having a great run there, working almost exclusively with Pete Candeland on some fantastic projects.
Red Knuckles started with the idea and the ideal of collaboration. There are many ultra-talented artists, directors, creatives, etc. out there that we want to work with. We thought the best platform to reach and collaborate with them would be via our own studio.
So far, it has been truly incredible. We got to meet those amazing people that we would not have had access to if we were associated with a single production house.
What we have set ourselves to do is a different business model where we want to be an animation studio, an artist’s house exclusively, without attaching ourselves to only one production house or director. That’s where the challenge lies: in making this model understood and needed in London.
But everyone we have talked about this were extremely happy to know that we are out and and free to do some animation. I hope we can show some more cool stuff soon.
Written and Directed by Rafael Grampá
Animation Studio: Red Knuckles
Director of Photography: Red Knuckles
Red Knuckles Creative Directors: Mario Ucci and Rick Thiele
Producer: Monica Domanska
Original story and characters created and designed by Rafael Grampá
Lead Animator: Lucas Vigroux
3D Animators: Giovanni Braggio, Scott Beharrell Bono, Chris Whyte, Magali Barbe, Florian Mounié and Martyn Smith
2D Animators: Adrien Gromelle, Stephen Vuillemin, Jonathan Djob Nkondo, Alice Bissonnet, Duncan Gist and Giovanni Braggio
Technical Director: Maïckel Pasta
Lighting TD: Patrick Krafft
Environment Modelling: Florent Rousseau
Mattepaintings: Manuel Dischinger, Ian McQue, One Pixel Brush
Global Facebook Fans:
Scene 1: Adriano Antonini
Scene 2: David Jesus Vignolli
Scene 3: Greg Fenwick
Scene 4: Nina Robra
Scene 5: Anton Kovalenko & Adri Ceesari
Scene 6: Maria Vlad
Creative Agency: Sid Lee Amsterdam
Associate Creative Director: Gill Glendinning & Roger Leebody
Account Manager: Jonah Dolan
Production Company: Jimmy Lee Amsterdam
Producer: Justin Townsend & Ezra Xenos
Voice of Vincent Black: Doug Cockle
Voice of Madaleana Proud: Ajit Sandhu recorded @Stainless Sound
Music Company: Croacia
Music Composer: Marcio Chavemarin
Music Company: Wake the Town
Sound Engineer & Music Composer: Paul Schumpter
Music Producer: John Connon
‘Paper Bones’: Written and performed by Mike Ghost
With a charming jewel tone palete and lovingly wrought 2D animation, designer/director Celyn (Nexus Productions) shows how simplicity and complexity can coexist in “Map Table.”
The spot’s main aim is to convey the modular nature of Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby’s Map Table desk, produced by furniture manufacturer Vitra. But in Celyn’s hands, the story becomes unexpectedly beautiful — and reassuringly human.
Concept – Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby
Direction and Design – Celyn Producer – Beccy McCray 2D Supervisor – Dave Walker
2D animation – Stuart doig
2D animation – Maki Yohikura
2D animation – Manav Dhir 2D animation – Luca Toth Compositor – Alasdair Brotherston Composer – Dan Arthure Studio manager – Natalie Busuttil
UK-based Fraser Davidson’s latest, “A Guide To American Football,” is a hilarious distillation of one of America’s most beloved pastimes.
In the same spirit as his previous sports-related work, “Irritable Bowl Syndrome” and “Alternative Rugby Commentary,” Davidson mixes whip-crack wit with equally clever visuals to inform and entertain broad audiences with devilishly good design and motion.
In the case of “A Guide To American Football,” Fraser not only designed and animated he everything, he wrote it, too. That, my friends, is the triple threat in this business. Impressive.
Oh, and rumor has it that Davidson completed this project in about two weeks. Wow.
Voiced by Adventures in Design podcast. All sound work by Morgan Samuel.
Daniel Bruson directed this marvellous animation for the opening scene for “The Podium Waltz”, a short film about visually impaired brazilian runner Terezinha Guilhermina.
This scene follows the way her guide described the opening ceremony of the Paralympics to her, as they walked through the Olympic Stadium. For that I created about 1400 black and white watercolors, that were photographed and then composed and colored digitally. I tried to create this atmosphere where shapes and sounds emerge as they come to the character’s attention, and also to bring some of the joy and wonder of the moment.
Daniel was also responsible for this rather emotional animated scene for the film:
Update: Check out this nice making of as well.
The Podium Waltz
Direction
Daniel Hanai & Bruno Carneiro
Animation Direction
Daniel Bruson
Animation
Daniel Bruson
Francisco Beraldo
Ian Sampaio
Flávio de Paula
Leandro Franci
Compositing
Daniel Bruson
Francisco Beraldo
Leandro Franci
General Assistance
Rafael Moretti
Talita Annunciato
Director/Animator Nicolas Ménard brings us his new film: Somewhere.
With a unique style combined with the amazing music/sound design by Rich Vreeland, Somewhere takes us to a completely fresh universe of animation and storytelling.
Director/animator Jeff Le Bars has an impeccable eye for composition and color, as his Emile Cohl 2012 graduation film “Carn” proves.
But the real magic of “Carn” is its story — an aspect of filmmaking most young directors struggle with. Built on a simple, fable-like structure, “Carn” ticks along with satisfying, grim precision until its fateful conclusion. The pacing, like the layout, is spare and artful, brimming with tension achieved through subtraction, not addition.
The music and sound design from Spectral Approche beautifully underscore the film’s emotional power.
Hat tip to Ash Thorp.
Columbus-based Leftchannel has been plugging away for over 10 years, but it’s been a while since we’ve posted them on Motionographer.
Their recently launched opener for the 2013 motion Conference, which kicks off this Friday in Albuquerque, breaks that silence. It’s a delightful typographic romp seasoned with cute character work and a couple visual surprises that make it worthy of repeat viewing.
Leftchannel’s Creative Director Alberto Scirocco will also be presenting three sessions at motion 2013.
Studio AKA (London) tells the history behind the building of the TSB bank through this beautiful piece.
Combining the hand crafted artistry of 2D character animation within a stunningly integrated use of 3D CGI sets, the journey through time is reflected in the film’s opening shot; an unbroken take which lasts a whopping 95 seconds.
Check out some of the process below. Plus, there’s a 2-part interview on the D&AD website.
Written by – Marc Craste and Damon Collins
Client: TSB
Paul Pester
Catherine Kehoe
Mike Regnier
Terry McParlane
Agency: Joint London
Creative Director – Damon Collins
Producer – Matt Keen
Music: Anne Dudley
Sound Design: Factory
Production Company: Studio AKA
Writer/Director: Marc Craste
Producer: Nikki Kefford-White
Character Design: Steve Small
Additional Art Direction: Dave Prosser
Previsualisation: Christian Mills, Anna Kubik
Supervising Animators: Steve Small, Michael Schlingmann
2D Animators: Peter Dodd, Sharon Smith, Nicolette van Gendt
2D Assistant Animators: Nick Appleton, Gerry Gallego, Freya Hotson, Simon Swales, Margot Tsakiri-Scanatovits, Justine Waldie, Jonathan Wren
2D Paint: Eamonn O’Neill, Kristian Andrews, Gemma Mortlock
2D Compositing: Michael Schlingmann
Supervising CG Artists: James Gaillard, Christian Mills
Modelling & Texturing: Adam Avery, Sara Diaz, Will Eager, Vincent Husset, Raymond Slattery
Rigging: Adam Avery
Lighting, Rendering & Compositing: James Gaillard, Daniel Garnerone, Alex Holman, Christian Mills, Will Eager, Cristobal Infante
Simulation & FX: Cristobal Infante
3D Animators: Boris Kossmehl, Fabienne Rivory, Marie Verhoeven, Lucas Vigroux
Technical Director: Fabrice Altman
Editor: Nic Gill
Production Co-ordinator: Ren Pesci
Production Assistant: Alli Albion
“Coin” begins as a rather humble homage to fighting games of yesteryear, an 8-bit nod at nostalgia with lovingly crafted keyframes.
Then things get awesome.
More than just an epic fight scene, “Coin” is an odyssey told through the language of kicking ass. While mopping up the screen with hundreds of foes, the short’s hero journeys underwater, into outer space, through the belly of a whale and into the circles of hell. There are plenty of references to video games from my childhood, but even without that esoteric knowledge, it’s a wildly fun ride.
“Coin” was directed and animated by Chris Burns (Exit 73 Studios) with music, sound design and compositing by Bob Fox.
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