The Black Dog’s Progress


Deliciously dark is how I’d describe Director Stephen Irwin’s latest offering.

A tragic, darkly animated and powerful journey through the life of one dog as he travels from abusive home to even worse.

On the audio side Sorenious Bonk did an amazing job scoring the soundtrack, creating a truly haunting atmosphere of unease.

Warning: because of the subject matter some folk might deem this as NSFW.

Posted on Motionographer

Logan: NASA Project “A Volta”

a-volta-logan
Warning: This video contains strong language, simulated sex and violence. Might not be suitable for some environments.

For the NASA (North America South America) Project’s “A Volta,” Santa Monica-based Logan built a dim lit nightmarish world of isometric madness and ultraviolence inspired by the artwork of The Date Farmers.

In an interview with BoingBoing’s Xeni Jardin, Logan’s Alexei Tylevich explains the semi-narrative structure of the project:

It wasn’t meant to be a great “story” but just another structural device to keep the viewer occupied. It’s a music track with a “plot” thinly stretched over it. I thought it might be clever to turn this video into a mini-film with a semblance of a plot. A plot that has the same level of strategically naive incompetence and misdirected energy that is implied in the work of Date Farmers.

If you’ve been following Motionographer for a while, you’re no stranger to Logan’s work. While they’re capable of producing consistently slick commercials for clients like Apple and Lexus, they refuse to be easily pigeonholed.

Projects like Toyota “Meet” and their Metal Gear Solid 4 interstitials defy categorization and challenge rational thinking. Skewing towards post-modern modes of presentation that leverage dissonance, juxtaposition and suspension of resolution, these works show that Logan is as interested in exploring formal qualities of storytelling as they are in straightforward narrative.

Case in point: The “making of” featurette Logan created for “A Volta” does little to reveal technical details, opting instead for an obtusely entertaining mockumentary:

Read the full interview over at BoingBoing for more information.

Credits
Artist: N.A.S.A.
Track: “A Volta” (feat. Amanda Blank, Sizzla & Lovefoxx)
Director: Logan
Producer: Logan
Original Artwork: The Date Farmers
Commissioned by: Squeak E. Clean Productions
Executive Producer: Susan Applegate
© 2009 Spectrophonic Sound under license to Anti- Records

Posted on Motionographer

Buck: Ravens and Dragons

buck-cactus

Buck has created two more spots for Cactus, the agency behind the Own Your C anti-smoking campaign, which has produced some remarkable motion work. “Ravens” and “Dragons” aren’t part of that series, though; they’re targeted to parents who smoke around their children.

The spots are entirely CG, which I assume was as much a budgetary decision as a creative one. But that decision also gave Buck complete control over the lighting and camera work, both of which contribute greatly to a mounting sense of tension in each spot.

Honestly, I could watch these just for the lighting alone. In “Dragons,” the pools of light (or stretches of darkness, if you’re a pessimist) create pockets of warmth that seem to slip away before they can be fully embraced, while the cemetery tones of “Ravens” suggest an ashen wasteland matched only by the smokers’ lungs.

Watch both spots on Buck’s site.

Thanks for the tip, Damien!

Credits

FOR DRAGONS:

– Creative Director: Ryan Honey
– Executive Producer: Maurie Enochson
– Producer: Jason Cohon
– Associate Creative Director: Jeremy Sahlman
– VFX Supervisor: Doug Wilkinson
– Art Director: Bradley Munkowitz
– Character Animation: Matt Everton
– FX TD: Gene Arvan
– Lead 3D Artist: Jens Lindgren
– 3D Artists: John Niehuss, Randa Mohtady, Thomas Madreiter, Mike Colarik, Kyle Raffile, Csaba Letay, Ivan Sokol
– Lead Compositor: Patrick Scruggs
– 2D Artists: Ian Kim, James Rydesky, Jon Gorman, Joe Mullen
– Editor: Aristides Zamora
– Audio: Cypher Audio
– Software: Maya, After Effects

CACTUS

– Strategic Director: Joe Conrad
– Creative Director: Norm Shearer
– Associate Creative Director: Jeff Strahl
– Associate Creative Director: Brian Watson
– Producer: Danielle Bryan
– Account Director: Amy Taylor
– Account Executive: Shanna Grimes

FOR RAVENS:

BUCK

– Creative Director: Ryan Honey
– Executive Producer: Maurie Enochson
– Producer: Nick Terzich
– Associate Producer: Eric Badros
– Associate Creative Director: Jeremy Sahlman
– VFX Supervisor: Doug Wilkinson
– Art Director: Bradley Munkowitz
– Character Animation: Matt Everton, Frantz Vidal
– FX TD: Dave Rindner
– Lead 3D Artist: Jens Lindgren
– Artists: Randa Mohtady, Henry Foster, Frances Yeh, Ivan Sokol, Doug Appleton, Sebastian Nozon
– Lead Compositor: Moses Journey
– Editor: Aristides Zamora
– Audio: Cypher Audio
– Software: Maya, After Effects

CACTUS

– Strategic Director: Joe Conrad
– Creative Director: Norm Shearer
– Associate Creative Director: Jeff Strahl
– Associate Creative Director: Brian Watson
– Producer: Danielle Bryan
– Account Director: Amy Taylor
– Account Executive: Shanna Grime

Posted on Motionographer

Buck: Ravens and Dragons