Motion Theory: Target “A Better Bullseye”


Target has good taste. By enlisting Motion Theory, the studio has left its mark on the rich history of Target advertising and embarked on a project that sets itself apart from the usual Motion Theory repertoire—creating a different approach for the themselves and a fresh perspective for the client.

In A Better Bullseye, the studio has delivered a piece that fits easily into the Target aesthetic, but remains unique. Gone are the typical Warholian graphics and pop-art visuals of previous Target campaigns; in are the good, old fashioned methods of character based advertising.

By setting the location of the spot in a factory, the piece hopes to convey the spirit of teamwork and efficiency that keep the Target brand strong and healthy. Beginning with an establishing shot of the famous bullseye, factory employees work together to fully stock the towering icon like a refrigerator. The attention to detail, as explained by director Chris Riehl, was not to be ignored:

“The team and I explored every possible detail you see from the memorable cast of characters to the host of strangely specific heavy machinery and vehicles which we hope comes through when watching the spot.”

The character design of the piece—like the Target aesthetic—is distinctively retro and in many ways, resembles the 60′s style design of Pixar’s, The Incredibles. In a production schedule described as “condensed,” the team of artists—similar to the factory workers in the spot—worked feverishly to create something high-end for a mega-mart that has a commitment to good design.

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Nathan Love: “NBC Peacock”


Nathan Love is up to its old tricks, yet again, in NBC Peacock. In collaboration with NBC Artworks, the studio has created an animated station ID that playfully adheres to the NBC brand while showcasing their mastery of character driven animation.

In exploring the origins of the famous NBC logo, Nathan pays homage to the famous peacock logo that has driven the stations branding for over 50 years. Heavily inspired by the 1993  NBC station ID’s created by John Kricfalusi of now defunct animation production studio, Spumco, Joe Burrascano, Nathan Love’s owner and creative director, elaborates:

“The brief was to create a stand-alone logo animation for NBC. The only guidelines were to make it our own, and of course, for it to be ‘the best logo ever.’”

Originally designed to promote NBC programming that was broadcast in color, Nathan has revisited the original mark and retrofitted it for today—bringing slapstick humor and personality to an iconic logo—while at the same time, making it their own.

For exclusive behind-the-scenes artwork on Nathan Love’s, NBC Peacock, see here.

For a multi-page, illustrated article on the history of the NBC peacock, see here.

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Buck: Sherwin-Williams “Bees”

Poppy Flower, Poinsettia, Stolen Kiss, Electric Lime… the passion in a paint swatch. Check out “Bees”, Buck’s second spot for Sherwin-Williams. If you missed it, watch the first spot and read our interview with creative leads Orion Tait, Benjamin Langsfeld, Joshua Harvey, and Motionographer’s Jon Saunders.

For this round, the creative evolves toward a fuller, bolder narrative with ambitious bees and landscaping. The message? You, too, can have a colorful hive, people. This campaign is really smart, and so are the creatives at McKinney who’ve let Buck do their character and story thing with color swatch sweetness.

Buck is currently working on the third spot for this campaign. Stay tuned.

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Frankie De Leonardis

boolab recently teamed up with agency Young & Rubicam Madrid to create a whimsical three-spot testimonial campaign for financial services company BBVA. Directed by Frankie De Leonardis, each spot stars a different Spanish celebrity relating the story of their life to BBVA’s 59+ program for seniors.

We first bumped into De Leonardis’ work via the epic Season 6 Lost promo he directed for Spanish network Cuarto last year. Visually, that project is so radically different from the BBVA work that I wanted find out a little more about this eclectic filmmaker.

Read on for our Q&A with Frankie De Leonardis and a making-of video for the BBVA campaign…

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D.A.D.D.Y. B.B.A.B

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Dublin-based directing team, D.A.D.D.Y., has once again laid there quirky hand on an unlikely brand. In association with Mother, London and Blink Ink, they’ve created four fake, animated PSAs for the “British Biscuit Advisory Board” (Rocky Biscuits) to promote safe biscuit-eating practices.

Both the characters and copy are rendered with a classic, dry British wit. Here’s all four of the films: Temp Storage, Quality Control, Opening Education & Meal Health.

Client: Rocky
Agency: Mother, London
Production Company: Blinkink, London
Director: D.A.D.D.Y
Producer: James Bretton
Editor: D.A.D.D.Y
Audio Post-Production: Factory Studios

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Michele D’Auria: Honda “The Dream Comes True”

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Michele D’Auria’s ambitious mini-bio of Soichiro Honda is full of jewel-toned palettes and beautiful illustrations that relate the genesis of the Honda brand with heart-felt enthusiasm and surprising artistry.

Michele’s approach is anything but literal, using for the enchanted dreamland of young Soichiro’s mind as the film’s stage.

The slow and steady pace of the narrative is punctuated by clever transitions and unexpected camera work. Simone Prisco’s lush, painterly backgrounds are wonderfully offset by the hybrid 2D and 3D animation.

Don’t miss the making-of video on Michele’s site.

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Fx and Mat: IOC “All Together Now”


Nexus Productions’ directing duo Fx and Mat put their powers to use for the International Olympic Committee and agency Coler & Weber United in “All Together Now,” a beautifully rendered tale of titanic Olympians literally pulling the earth’s geography together into a neo-Pangea.

Like their work for the Royal Bank of Canada (through Parisian prodco Mr. Hyde), “All Together Now” uses soft lighting and a rich palette to evoke a sunny, feel-good vibe reminiscent of Art Deco’s happier imagery. The contours of the characters remind me of Tamara de Lempicka’s hefty but friendly human forms—just without all the sitting around and pouting.


Credits
Full credits requested
Agency: Coler & Weber United
Production: Nexus Productions
Direction: Fx & Mat

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Justin Weber/MAKE: “Juiced and Jazzed”

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Justin Weber makes his directorial debut with “Juiced and Jazzed,” accompanied by the forces of Minnesota’s MAKE Visual, as they blast us back to a 1930’s-esque drunken rubber hose cartoon. The adventure follows Lulu, a seemingly innocent girl who happens upon a flask during the depths of the Prohibition Era. One drink is all it takes to get things fired up and out of control.

Justin began “Juiced and Jazzed” as his senior film at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Around the time he graduated in 2008, He had finished about 90% of the animation on paper. After being hired at MAKE, he opted to finished the cartoon there with the help of animation artists Andrew Chesworth, Aaron Quist, and Joe Kim.

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The cartoon screams with the energy of 1930’s jazz, with beautifully lit environments, highly expressive characters and memorably exaggerated movement. I was able to catch up with Justin for a little more info on his film:

We wanted to make a cartoon inspired by 1930s rubber-hose animation in the fashion of Max Fleicher’s Betty Boop, as well as having the polish and excitement of 1940s cartoons, à la Bob Clampett and Tex Avery.

I wanted fun, lively music to drive the story and the characters’ actions. As a result, “Juiced and Jazzed” begins with a bouncy, jazzy piece by Joe Venuti and moves into the wild and fast paced music of Spike Jones. 

Each artist really helped add a richness to the cartoon that made it even more fun to watch.

We firmly agree. For more info on “Juiced and Jazzed,” have a look at the official site and be sure to check out some of the process work above provided by Justin and the MAKE team.

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Interview: Capacity “Upgrade + Mobilize”

uandm-post
In the words of Capacity’s Ellerey Gave, “Before we became designers and animators and communicators, we were painters and illustrators and dreamers.”

Over the course of the last year and a half, Culver City-based Capacity has been working on an in-house short film while juggling client projects for companies like NBC, Cartoon Network and Toyota.

At long last, “Upgrade + Mobilize” is ready for the masses, and it’s definitely worth the wait. Mixing inspiration from Asian animation and art with their own polished aesthetic, Capacity has created a high energy, two and a half minute preamble to an epic battle of good vs. evil backed by beautiful audio from Plaid.

Motionographer was fortunate to get an advance interview with Ellerey about “Upgrade + Mobilize.” Check it out, along with some process work showing the development of this ambitious short film.

Read on…

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Mesai: Alarm


I gotta be honest, the real reason I was first attracted to Mesai’s “Alarm,” was for its beautifully soft lighting and rendering. On second pass, I noticed some of subtle character animation. But the story, I felt, dragged.

After talking it over with fellow Motionographer Greg Herman, though, I realized that was exactly the point. We’re pulled into this world where everything is punctuated by alarms, where every moment of stillness is just a preamble to the spine-wrenching squeal of a bell. Thus, the near real-time toaster sequence feels excruciatingly slow, the long ride in the elevator feels like a devilish trick.

Watching it a third time with this in mind, I found myself grinning wildly, enjoying the entire experience immensely.

You can download a 720p version of the film from Mesai, the animation partnership of Moohyun Jang and Jungoo Choo that created “Alarm.” You’ll also find some pre-production stills and a bevvy of test renders in the Alarm Introduction area of the site.

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