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Artist owned-and-operated effects boutique Brickyard VFX announced completion of a new two-spot campaign for Callaway Golf via ad agency Young & Rubicam, Irvine, Calif. Shot and directed by The Cronenweths in Argentina, the effects-heavy :30 ads, “Inspired Design” and “Post Its,” aired nationally on March 3 and March 10, respectively.

The spot “Inspired Design” opens on a Callaway Golf researcher watching a wrecking ball destroy a building as a male v/o declares, “We set out to create the world’s fastest driver, so we studied power.” A montage of scenes follows depicting the same researcher observing other examples of strength, energy and motion, including a swimmer jumping off of a diving board, an athlete serving a tennis ball, and the back-and-forth of Newton’s cradle pendulum. Each scene takes place in slow motion, emphasizing the points of impact. The spot closes on a speeded up version of the same scenes, leading up to the driver being tested by a mechanical golfer, which powerfully sends the ball arcing through the air, a trail of smoke in its wake.

In “Post Its,” two Callaway Golf employees review designs at a drafting table in their sleekly designed office. The v/o asks, “What would it take to create the world’s straightest driver? An Idea,” as the men draw a stylized shape on a yellow Post It note. To represent the abundance of ideas at Callaway Golf, the Post Its start duplicating en masse, replicating themselves and unfurling across employees’ desks, spreading across the floor and curling up computer monitors. The spot closes as the idea grows to full realization with the self-replicating trail of Post Its traveling out of the office and onto the driving range where the mechanical golfer takes a monster swing with world’s straightest driver. Both spots wrap with the logo and tagline “A better game by design.”

In the commercial “Inspired Design,” Brickyard VFX provided a combination of 2D and 3D compositing and effects work, and implemented speed changes on all of the objects in motion. Both of the ads feature extensive CG work, including the creation of all of the Post It notes, the photo realistic clubs, balls and golf robot, as well as all of the background elements and close up shots.

“The Spots came out great, just the way we intended,” says lead VFX artist Geoff McAuliffe. “It is a very collaborative process with the Cronenweths, and Jeff is such an excellent cinematographer, that we’re pretty much guaranteed a good looking spot. The story telling skills that the Cronenweths bring to the table help set the stage for us. This was also a great introduction to working with the fine men and women of Young & Rubicam Irvine team.”

About Brickyard VFX
Located in Boston and Santa Monica, Brickyard VFX is an independent visual effects boutique specializing in top quality visual effects from 3D characters through to compositing. Completely artist owned and operated, the company was founded in 1999 to bring clients a level of customer service, craftsmanship and focus difficult to find at facilities today. Brickyard’s problem-solving expertise on set and in the studio has been applied to model, animate, light, texture, track, rotoscope, color correct and render seamless digital effects for XM Radio, Citibank, Volkswagen, Target, Tyson Foods and many other accounts.
www.brickyardvfx.com

Credits
Title(s):
“Inspired Design” :30
“Post Its” :30

Client: Callaway Golf

Agency: Young & Rubicam, Irvine, California
Craig Evans – Creative Director, Copywriter
Chris Deninno – Associate Creative Director, Copywriter
Steve Cullen – Senior Art Director
Ben Peters – Senior Copywriter
Jason Campos – Art Director
Steve Collins – Senior Account Executive
Nicole Canori – Account Executive
Carol Lomard – SVP/Executive Producer
Laura Keseric – Broadcast Producer
Alex Granieri – Associate Broadcast Producer
Ann Davis – Broadcast Business Affairs Manager

Production Company: Untitled
The Cronenweths – Director
Jim Evans – Executive Producer
Jay Kelman – UPM

Telecine: Company 3
Stefan Sonnenfield – Colorist
Missy Papageorge – Producer

Editorial: Cosmo Street
Katz – Editor
Helena Lee – Executive Producer

Visual FX: Brickyard
Geoff McAuliffe – Creative Director/Lead VFX Artist
Mandy Sorenson – Flame Artist
Patrick Poulatian – Flame Artist
Jimi Simmons – Flame Artist
Robert Sethi – 3D Artist (Co-Lead)
Yafei Wu – 3D Artist (Co-Lead)
Julian Sarmiento – 3D artist
Christian Andersson – 3D artist
Kirsten Andersen – Executive Producer
Bryan Barker – Producer

Popularity: 3% [?]

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The Orphanage completed the six-month post-production schedule on The Host, South Korea’s largest budget and most ambitious film to date for one of Korea’s premier film production companies, Chungeorahm Films.

To date, approximately 25% of the population of Korea has seen the film. The over 100 shot VFX creature film is helmed by internationally acclaimed director Joon-ho Bong (Memories of Murder) and stars two of Korea’s top marquee names Song Kang-ho and Park Hae-il. As the principal VFX house, The Orphanage team led by veteran VFX Supervisor Kevin Rafferty, Executive Producer Marc Sadeghi, CG Supervisor Shadi Almassizadeh and VFX Producer Arin Finger supervised location shooting in Seoul.

The Host tells the story of a toxic monster that emerges from the depths of the Han River to terrorize the citizens of Seoul. Orphanage VP, Sadeghi remarks “It is a great honor to work on such an important project for the Korean film industry and we’re delighted with its worldwide acclaim.”

VFX Supervisor Kevin Rafferty, who joined The Orphanage after more than 20 years at other major VFX and animation companies including DreamWorks where he was the lead CGI supervisor on the CG animated hit Shark Tale and ILM where he supervised several Oscar nominated films including Star Wars: Episode One, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Dragonheart. Rafferty, who spent extensive time on set in Korea, says “When I heard that ‘The Host’ would premiere at Cannes, I was absolutely ecstatic. The worldwide critical praise is also extremely gratifying. I am so proud, honored, and excited to have been involved with this incredible project!”

In addition to extensive CG modeling and creature work, digital doubles, wind, fire, smoke and rain, The Orphanage oversaw the creation of a practical puppet fabricated in Australia at the Oscar winning John Cox Creature Workshop (Babe).

About The Orphanage
Founded in 1999, The Orphanage’s state-of-the-art VFX post facility in San Francisco’s picturesque Presidio Park continues its steady growth from boutique shop to a facility capable of handling studio tentpoles; including the recent: Superman Returns (Warner Bros.), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Disney), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.), Sin City (Dimension) The Day After Tomorrow (Fox), Hellboy (Revolution Studios) and Hero (Miramax). The company’s commercial division is experiencing a banner year with spots for Comcast, Ruby Tuesday’s, Toshiba, Dolby and tens of others in the works. A pioneer in filmmaking technology development, The Orphanage’s award-winning Magic Bullet software is bundled with numerous popular filmmaking products from Adobe, Sony & Panasonic.
www.theorphanage.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Visual effects house Guava recently completed :30 and :60 spots for the world’s largest tire company Goodyear via McCann Erickson. “Snow Day” and “Silent Armor” showcase the durability and reliability of Goodyear tires, and began airing February 18.

Spouting off factoids about the tires as they fly above lusciously colored landscapes, “Snow Day” and “Angels” take on slightly varying tones. More of a subdued piece, “Snow Day” places the pilots over snow-covered mountains as they watch children below play in the snow. The scene prompts the two to discuss the traction quality of Goodyear tires. In “Silent Armor,” an excited pilot delivers an informative, zealous speech about why he loves his job while soaring high above the world.

Born on the drawing board, the two spots share a similar premise: the narrative of two pilots talking and championing Goodyear tires while sitting in a Goodyear blimp. The simple concept, however, brought with it a number of design and graphics challenges for Guava artists who began their endeavor with the blimp’s gondola.

Unable to actually shoot the pilots’ dialogue in the air, the scenes were filmed in a studio and a recreation of the gondola’s outer shell was built. The Guava team went on to create an extension to the shell and fashioned parts of the vent system and spinning rotor blades to add to the believability of the blimp’s flight. Realistic backgrounds and air-to-air footage were married into the final product.

“Most of the time there was a separate mock-up gondola for safety reasons, which was used in many shots, especially the close-up shots of the pilots,” says lead artist Aron Baxter. “The problem with that was that we couldn’t roll the blimp out of the hangar to shoot it outside and get realistic natural light.”

The spot, which was largely shot within a 1200 square foot hangar, presented artists with the task of creating convincing natural light. The obstacle came from the green gel skylights in the hangar that cast a green filter over the shoot and lit reflections on the metallic blimp. Transferring flat passes and multiple alternate passes, designers combined passes of grades to minimize and rid certain highlights and reflections. Guava pooled the light passes to fake a natural source of light and convince viewers that the blimp was in the air.

Guava then moved to the exterior shoot when an elemental snag called for digital snow to be added to the overhead and craning shots.

“The remaining open-air segments were filmed in scouted locations, one of which was Bozeman, Montana. But when it came to the shoot days the snow had melted and so in ‘Snow Day,’ where the premise is that the children are off from school because there’s too much snow, we had to add snow to the entire shot,” Baxter said.

Technologies Used: Flame, Inferno, Combustion, Bojou for tracking, After Effects

About Guava
Drawing animators, producers, designers, 3D and vfx artists from a global pool, New York-based visual effects company Guava is dedicated to making imagery for commercials and other media, such as music videos, film, and art installations, including work in the permanent collection of MOMA .

To supplement its experimental thinking, exploration, and open collaboration, Guava continues to invest in powerful, cutting-edge technology to make sure the results are not only stunning to look at but are delivered on time.

To request a reel, contact Mike Donovan or Dino Rinaldi at 212.414.2222.

www.guavanyc.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

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The Mill have just finished the all new Dodge Ram 1500 commercial for the US market. Directed by Alex Rutterford (RSA)and produced by Cindy Burnay (RSA) for Agency BBDO Detroit.

The commercial starts with the two classic Rock’em and Sock’em robots fighting in their well known boxing ring. One beats the other and stamps out of the ring, smashing through the outside door taking part of the wall with him!!

Outside, the camera pans round to show a couple running away. Parked on the ’sidewalk’ the stunning Dodge Ram 1500 sits waiting. The Rock’em Robot stomps over hitting the Dodge Ram face on with full force but the Dodge Ram is far too strong and the robot loses the battle.

The Rock ‘em & Sock ‘em robot toys – originally made by Mattel were recreated in 3d using both Maya and XSI. Russel Tickner lead 3d artist and James Sindle both attended the shoot to advise on tracking, camera moves and lighting scenes. Director Alex Rutterford worked extremely closely with the team throughout the project to create this hi tech ad.

The Mill 2d team did a wonderful job compositing the shots on shake and flame, and with the extra challenge of a quick turnaround, it was important the teams worked closely together. To realise this all the artits combined their skills and software into one suite.

Both the Mill 2d & 3d teams have created a memorable commercial for American TV audiences, who will be looking forward to the next two ads in the series.

The Mill, London
40-41 Great Marlborough Street
Soho, London W1F 7JQ
+44 20 7287 4041
info@the-mill.com

The Mill, New York
451 Broadway 5th floor
New York NY 10013
+1 212 337 3210
info@the-mill.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

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New York’s Times Square is the hyper kinetic backdrop for Grammy Award winning rapper Ludacris and the high-energy opening for CBS Sports’ “Road to the Final Four Sponsored by Pontiac.” The piece opens the Network’s coverage of the NCAA Basketball Championship, better known as “March Madness.” The work, which combines live-action and computer graphics, is the collaboration between Northern Lights, Mr. Wonderful and CBS Sports.

Creative Director Doug Towey and Producer of Graphics Tracy Morris presented the challenge. Towey, who directed the piece, remarked, “Nobody is hipper than Ludacris. And because he is a real basketball fan, he speaks directly to the excitement of the tournament. We needed to create a piece that said that and more.”

For Beirne Lowry, Creative Director of Mr. Wonderful, striking a balance between CBS Sports’ presentation of the NCAA tournament, the Pontiac sponsorship and Ludacris’ performance was a challenge. This was especially demanding because the project went from concept to completion in less than a week.

“Ludacris was great to work with,” says Lowry. “He rewrote the lyrics to his Grammy-winning song, ‘Money Maker,’ to make it relevant to ‘March Madness’ and the Final Four in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. [Mr. Wonderful Assistant Producer] Laurie Duke and I were on-set to consult. We worked with Doug to get shots of Ludacris and the stage from angles that would help us accomplish the visual effects we dreamed up.”

Northern Lights Editor Scott Rankin found this project particularly interesting because of the teamwork required between CBS Sports, Mr. Wonderful and Northern Lights.

“I had to edit with motion graphics in mind,” explains Rankin. “I was much more involved than usual. I used rough keys and mattes, and basic graphic effects to give the clients a rough representation of what the finished spot would look like. The level of interaction with CBS Sports and Mr. Wonderful added to the excitement of an edit that I found fun and rewarding as a sports fan and because it presented new challenges.”

Standing five stories above Times Square, out in the open with freezing cold temperatures and 30-mph winds, the crew and Ludacris braved the challenges. Set-up for the shoot included a stage constructed with automated lights, a full jib and green screen so that Mr. Wonderful could composite Ludacris into the footage.

Additional game footage, animations and the Georgia Dome itself were projected onto scenes of the surrounding buildings and the crystal clear sky. CBS animations were also tracked to replace existing signage. (Mr. Wonderful also handled the 2006 show open, which featured the band P.O.D.)

The opening will continue to air over the next few weeks and during the final tournament broadcast.

CREDITS
Client: CBS Sports

Project Title: “The Road to the Final Four Powered by Pontiac”

Airdate: March 11, 2007

Production Company: CBS Sports
Director: Doug Towey
Producer of Graphics: Tracy Morris

Editorial Company: Northern Lights
Editor: Scott Rankin

VFX Company: Mr. Wonderful
Creative Director: Beirne Lowry
Executive Producer: Damien Henderson
Smoke/Flame Artist: Cecil Hooker
Assistant Producer: Laurie Duke

Mr. Wonderful & Northern Lights
135 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001
Mr. Wonderful T: 212.457.6700
www.mrwonderful.tv

Northern Lights T: 212.274.1199
www.nlpedit.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Super Bowl XLI provided the ideal platform for two firsts: Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation’s (PVH) first TV media buy in twenty years, and the national commercial directing debut of Ben Orisich, HomeNYC’s creative director and senior Flame artist.

HomeNYC provided a full-service, design-driven approach to “A Man’s Walk”: Editor Mark Tyler cut the 30-second spot, collaborating with Orisich, who lent his talents as a Flame artist and designer, a well as director, to the commercial. Animation artist, Lawrence Calderon also brought his skills to the mix, making certain that all of the spot’s elements were in place, and all of the extensive rotoscoping was completed, as well as the end tag design.

The Super Bowl placement took advantage of a unique showcase that was untapped by PVH’s competition, positioning one of the world’s largest apparel and neckwear companies with its sports minded target audience. The spots kicked off PVH’s expansive, integrated 2007 branding campaign, which will include television, online and cinema spots, as well as print advertising.

Director Ben Orisich captured a day in the life of a modern businessman with a visual rollercoaster ride, which plays out in reverse, as the spot follows the young urbanite as his attire magically changes into the appropriate garb for every setting.

The spot opens with and attractive woman at the wheel of a sports car, dropping the man off at home after an evening out. The next scene follows him through the night out as he enjoys socializing with friends and a game of pool. As his day continues to rewind, we see him at the office, interacting with co-workers and meeting clients. The spot then transitions to his home, where he begins his day selecting a Van Heusen shirt from a well-stocked walk-in closet and relaxing in his modern loft, enjoying his morning cup of coffee. The final scene finds him still asleep in bed, just before he begins his hectic day.

Orisich shot interiors for “A Man’s Walk” on 35mm in a dramatic SOHO residential loft and the contemporary corporate offices of V2, as well as at the Alvin Ailey Dance Studio. Nearby Crosby and Howard Streets provided exterior locations.

PVH Marketing Group senior vice president of marketing, Mike Kelly, was creative director and one of the copywriters for the commercial. Kelly got Orisich involved early on in the creative process to collaborate on establishing the direction of the spot. Kelly had previously worked with Orisich on cinema and television spots for IZOD, as well as corporate tie-ins in 2005 and 2006, which presented the senior Flame artist/creative director with his first opportunities to sit in the director’s chair.

After the three- day shoot, it was left to HomeNYC cutter, Mark Tyler, to devise an innovative solution to the commercial’s editing challenges.

Tyler’s cut took on global proportions between Christmas and New Year’s. PVH’s Mike Kelly was in Sweden during the holiday, Orisich was visiting family in Atlanta and Tyler was vacationing in Mexico. Armed with his laptop and the latest version of Apple’s Final Cut Pro HD, Tyler found a shady spot to edit the commercial.

Back in HomeNYC’s Flame Suite, Ben Orisich finessed each frame, element by element. A lot of the Flame work was subtle. There were three or four scenes where clothes transitioned into different attire – and he was able to CGI, composite and image control, isolate visual elements and color correct, and sometimes change the background environment. Every scene required rotoscoping and detailed color correction, which was all part of creating the design and effects.

Instead of going through the time-consuming process of creating a separate light source for the talent during the shoot, Orisich opted to deal with it in postproduction, where rotoscoping, and detailed color correction gave him total control.

“Because I was coming from the perspective of a Flame artist, I knew exactly what I could accomplish in post,” says Orisich. “Knowing what elements could be manipulated, changed and tweaked in my Flame suite gave me, as a director, the confidence to go for a broader range of interesting shots without slowing down to adjust things that I could control and change later.”

“Lighting for the subtle color distinction of a fashion spot is very important and time consuming,” adds Orisich. “The shoot is about finding a balance and getting the beautiful shot – but it’s a real plus when I know that I still have the flexibility to alter the spot later.”

HomeNYC editor, Mark Tyler, collaborated closely with Orisich on the spot. Tyler noted, “Since the action plays out in reverse, keeping the visuals fluid and seamless was a major editorial challenge, We experimented with editing a scene and then playing it backwards, but it just didn’t time out, so we opted to cut the spot in reverse sequence. It was a time-intensive process, but it allow us to achieve just what we were wanted.”

For the last two decades, PVH has branded their labels with a series of high-end print campaigns. “Print gives a client total control over the final aesthetic of their ad, and in the fashion industry that’s critical,” Orisich points out. “I think my approach to the commercial production process — and the fact that I dedicate a lot of time to intensive manipulation and tweaking in Flame — presented PVH with the opportunity to maintain the same comfort level and control in their TV spots as they have when working in print.”

“I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Mike Kelly, a client who thinks on his feet and has the confidence to go with the flow of guerrilla-style production so we can take advantage of every creative opportunity that presents itself,” says Orisich.

“Mike understands that bringing more than one talent to the mix really raises the creative bar on a project,” he continues. “He was able to anticipate what we’d need and streamline the production so there was time to take advantage of the kind of unplanned opportunities that presented themselves. It really allowed us to take the creative concept in unexpected and exciting directions.”

A member of a panel of marketing gurus assembled by Inc. Magazine to critique this year’s crop of Super Bowl spots, said, “Kind of a dark-horse pick, but from a pure brand perspective, the Van Heusen spot was exceptional. They took advantage of the incredibly large and diverse audience and made a brand that is not typically categorized as upscale’ and, in my opinion, made it that way. Very well-cast, very well-shot. The product line was effectively integrated into great creative, and it shined.”

Last year Tyler and Orisich also teamed up to provide editorial, production, design and finishing services for the second Super Bowl spot, “In The Snow,” for IZOD’s PerformX sportswear line. Shot by Orisich in Iceland and the Bahamas, it delivers an energetic, high-impact message intended to exemplify the adventurous and fun-seeking traits of core customers. The spot, which premiered during the holiday season, features men’s and women’s active sportswear and highlights a new mark for the brand being introduced on products this season. Menswear is seen on actor Tyler Denk, winner of this year’s “Amazing Race” series.

www.HomeNYC.tv

CLIENT/PRODUCT: Phillips-Van Heusen “A Man’s Walk;” 1x: 30; debuted on Super Bowl;
AD AGENCY: PVH Marketing Group/NY
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING: Mike Kelly
PRODUCER: Joan Walsh
COPYWRITERS: Mike Kelly, Barrett Esposito
PRODUCTION COMPANY: HomeNYC
DIRECTOR: Ben Orisich, DP: Pete Konczal
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Martin Malanoski
LINE PRODUCER: Joel Lilje
EDITORIAL & EFX COMPANY: HomeNYC
EDITOR: Mark Tyler
PRODUCER: Zdenka Glavan
ANIMATION/VISUAL FX COMPANY: HomeNYC
EFX ARTIST: Ben Orisich
ANIMATION ARTIST: Lawrence Calderon
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Martin Malanoski
TRANSFER COMPANY: Post Logic/NY
COLORIST: Eric Alvarado
MUSIC & AUDIO POST: Yessian/NY
COMPOSER: Lloyd Landesman
SOUND DESIGNER: Jeff Dittenber
PRODUCER: Marlene Bartos
AUDIO ENGINEER: Dan Zank

Popularity: 3% [?]

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MTV recently tapped production and design collective Lightborne to create a series of on-air promo spots for the network’s popular “Spring Break 2007″ coverage and themed shows.

Spring break is known as a time when the college-aged head to warmer climates with hopes of fun in the sun, drunken debauchery, and naughty experiences with their fellow co-eds. Playing off this virtual “mating season” for the young, MTV Director Soo-Hyun Chung, with creative assistance from Jessica Burstein, developed a jungle-themed script that takes a weirdly sincere jab at the wild youth and their crazy antics that MTV seems to capture each year.

Using clips of embarrassing footage from last year’s Spring Break, Chung’s script called for a “national geographic-esque” narrator, who cunningly describes the party-goers’ antics as a scientist would describe wildlife mating rituals. Uniquely painterly and dark, the jungle-themed graphics created by Lightborne give these spots an original look that is visually rich, organic, and enticing. Moody vines and moss overtake the screen giving way to blooming flowers and flurries of excited fireflies and butterflies — a visual expansion on the whole “birds & bees” experience.

“When designing the spots, I really played up as many virile, visual metaphors as I could, while keeping things in good taste,” said Lightborne Creative Director Chris Gliebe.

Using a combination of footage, particles, 2D & 3D graphics Lightborne’s team attacked the project like a jaguar in heat, giving the original spring break footage a distinct look, and augmenting the transitions and information with its original design approach. Soo-Hyun Chung explains, “Spring Break can be such a cliché: the beach, the babes, the sun, the fun. It was time to turn the whole brand upside down. Lightborne found their inner animal and eschewed the animated computer graphic norm for something much more primal and organic feeling. They were extremely easy to work with and understood the vibe that I wanted to create instantly.”

Delivering one :30, and five :15 spots start-to-finish over the course of eight working days was a challenge, says Gliebe. “We had a lot of work on our plate, but Soo-Hyun’s concept and script had so much creative potential it made the task seem fun and easy. Hard work isn’t hard when you’re having fun with something.”

Wild life, indeed.

Along with developing the six spots, Lightborne also designed the “Spring Break 2007″ branding featured within the spots. Music was composed by Alexander Frankel. Sound Design by Britt Meyers of Great City Productions.

About Lightborne:
Lightborne is a motion design and production studio, which has created cutting-edge and memorable work in commercials, broadcast design, and short films for clients such as ECCO Shoes, Lee Cooper Jeans, MTV, and Fuel TV, as well as music videos for artists including Death Cab for Cutie, The Raconteurs, Atmosphere, Bad Religion and Kenny Chesney. Made up of designers, directors, animators, editors, illustrators, sound designers and effects artists, this collective desires to practice and advance the discipline of motion design. Lightborne thrives on the exploration of the unseen and untested and uses its knowledge and experience to help clients navigate innovation.

www.light-borne.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Commercial animation studio LAIKA/house and advertising agency Borders Perrin Norrander, Inc. (bpn, inc.) recruited Portland painter and LAIKA/house illustrator Evan B Harris to create a unique illustrative production design for Oregon Lottery’s “Deal or No Deal” scratch game campaign. Two animated spots, “Louisiana Purchase” and “Alaska,” air in Oregon beginning March 20, 2007.

Directed by LAIKA/house’s Aaron Sorenson, the campaign takes a humorous historic look at some of America’s “Best Deals Ever Made” including the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 (which doubled the size of the United States) and the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia.

All characters and backgrounds were hand-drawn and painted by Harris, scanned into a digital format, and then animated by LAIKA/house’s Wendy Fuller using Maya software. The result is two richly detailed 30-second commercials, which have a sophisticated palette and charmingly detailed characters from history including Napoleon and Thomas Jefferson.

Jeremy Boland, bpn Art Director, decided to give the spots a historical feel. After browsing LAIKA/house’s reel, the bpn team was drawn to Harris’ use of muted tones and intricate, timeless characters and to Sorenson’s expressive animation style.

“The concept was hysterical from the get go,” said Boland. “Using animation helped us bring an interactive imagination to the process, unlike live action. We appreciate all the work and artistry needed to make our concepts tangible.”

“We knew we wanted to use animation instead of live action after the concepts were finalized. Live action might feel forced, plus we avoided any similarity to the television show ‘Deal or No Deal.’ We wanted a totally different feel. Evan’s style and Aaron’s expertise were perfect,” Eric Terchila, bpn copywriter, said.

Evan B Harris describes his style as “urban folklore” – a modern historical style.
“I think my work lends its self to animation… it’s narrative and character based,” Harris said. “I love seeing my art come to life!”

The commercials aren’t only beautiful, but are also filled with witty, subtle humor, typical of Director Sorenson’s style. In “Alaska,” a polar bear and walrus wrestle before a killer whale eats them both. In “Louisiana Purchase,” a stubby Napoleon looses his hat over the rejection of his first land offer.

“The humor comes across in the characters by playing it straight-they take the deal very seriously,” Sorenson said. “In ‘Alaska,’ this is juxtaposed against the chaos of the environment around them, and in ‘Louisiana Purchase,’ the exaggerated size difference between Napoleon and Jefferson is automatically funny. It works better because Evan’s characters are elegantly designed, which is a great counterpoint to the performance of a miniscule Napoleon.”

Even the audio track is filled with subtle sounds: creaking ships, laughing Russians, clopping horses, and cheering crowds. Even Napoleon’s heavily accented voice has a special LAIKA/house touch … it’s an impression by LAIKA/house CG Manager Roland Gauthier, who is fluent in French.

Mr. Harris’ work is on display through March at the Compound Gallery, 107 NW 5th Ave., Portland. Mr. Sorenson was selected by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the “brightest and most talented 35-and-under artisans,” and was spotlighted in the publication’s October 16th special NextGen Crafts issue.

About LAIKA/house
The commercial studio is complied of a dynamic community of filmmakers, designers and animators who work together to produce world-renowned commercials and characters in every type of animation in every medium all under one roof in Portland, Oregon. The studio is owned by Nike co-founder and chairman Phil Knight

LAIKA/ house’ many awards include 11 CLIO Awards, three London International Advertising & Design Awards, five Mobius Advertising Awards, two Cannes Lion International Advertising Festival awards, two Academy Awards® out of five nominations, 11 Prime time Emmy Awards, and honors from the New York International Film & TV Festival, Annecy Awards, Annie Awards, and the World Animation Celebration Festival. Recently, LAIKA/house was honored with an Annecy nomination, three Annie nominations, two Telly awards, SICAF 2006 Special Distinction, AdWeek’s Best Spots for 2005 and named twice Animation Magazine’s No. 1 AniCom Pick for two years in a row.

Click here to view video

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Margaret Roberts, Maggie Begley Communications, 310-301 1785
Alise Munson, LAIKA/house, 503-276-0110

Credit List
Client: Oregon Lottery
Product: Deal or No Deal Scratch It Tickets
Agency: bpn, inc.
Title: Alaska & Louisiana Purchase
Running Time :30; :30
Broadcast Date: 3/20/07

CLIENT
Company: Oregon Lottery
Marketing Communications Manager: Brian Sullivan

AGENCY
Producer: Scott Fox
Art Director: Jeremy Boland
Copywriter: Eric Terchila
Creative Director: Terry Schneider
Accounts Executive: Loralee Stapleton

PRODUCTION
Director: Aaron Sorenson
Executive Producer: Jan Johnson

ART DEPARTMENT
Production Designer: Evan Harris
Character Designer: Evan Harris
Storyboard Artist: Aaron Sorenson
Art Director: Jenny Kincade
Photoshop artists: Meghan Saunders, Don Flores

CG
Technical Director: Terrence Jacobson
Animation: Wendy Fuller
Dir of Digi Prod, Commercial Division: Roland Gauthier

EDITORIAL
Editor: Steve Miller
Flame Artist: Tom Burney

AUDIO POST PRODUCTION
Company: Digital One, Portland, Ore.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Entertainment design and branding studio Picture Mill has completed the opening and closing titles for Warner Bros. The Astronaut Farmer, co-written by the Polish brothers, Michael and Mark, and directed by Michael Polish (Northfork, Jackpot). The Astronaut Farmer is the story of onetime NASA astronaut trainee Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton), a man who builds his own rocket in his rural Texas barn to fulfill his lifelong dream of space travel. The project came to Picture Mill through the Polish brothers and the movie’s picture editor, James Haygood.

The movie opens on Farmer, at first seen only in the distance as a lone figure on horseback, as he rides across a lunar-like Texas landscape dressed in his NASA suit to rescue a runaway calf. “The main title is divided into a series of these strong images, and we wanted that to be a part of the design. Our goal was to exploit that dreamlike cinemascope imagery that opens the movie,” says Picture Mill Creative Director William Lebeda, who worked with Art Director Elaine Alderette to create the sequence.

“Originally, we wanted to use black type that ran vertically up the screen, which we felt was evocative of a booster lift-off,” Lebeda explains. “It was tremendously cool but also impossible to read. Instead, we created a low, wide typography style that hangs on the horizon as Billy Bob’s Charlie Farmer character rides through the countryside in his spacesuit, with the type appearing to be made from the same polished steel and aluminum as the rocket. We were able to combine these disparate things into something that felt interesting and evocative.”

The end titles, designed by Picture Mill Art director Brad Berling, is a fully integrated blend of stills and live action that opens with an overlapping and layered collage of made-up news and entertainment magazine covers, Polaroid snapshots, and a sequence of a homecoming parade, shot in a news B-roll style, that was eliminated from the final cut of the film. Also not making the cut but appearing in the end title is a staged Jay Leno interview with the hometown hero.

“The filmmakers wanted us to keep the story going right to the very end, and it was challenging to work with the range of different material that we had to integrate in the sequence, including the Jay Leno footage, which was shot in HD,” says Berling. “To better fit that interview into the title and make it more filmic, we color-corrected the HD footage, enlarged and repositioned the video, painted in fake backgrounds, and added dark falloff to the edges so that the end title crawl would not be rolling over their faces. We wanted the audience to be able to follow the interview while still keeping the credits legible.”

“The Astronaut Farmer is an inspirational drama about staying true to one’s hopes and ideals, no matter what the cost,” said Lebeda. “This was a project that we wanted to be part of in a big way, and it was delightful to work with the Polish Brothers, whom I’ve known since our days together at CalArts.”

The Astronaut Farmer Title Credits

Main Title:
Creative Director- William Lebeda
Art Director- Elaine Alderette
2D Animation: – Josh Novak, Nelson Yu
3D Animation: Jon Block
Producer: Christina Hwang

End Title:
Creative Director: William Lebeda
Senior Art Director: Bradford Berling
Designer: Ken Pelletier
2D Animation: Chad Bonanno
Editor: Charles Jensen
Producer: Justin Greenlee

Client credits: Mark Polish (co-writer), Michael Polish (director, co-writer)
James Haygood, Editor
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Mill LA starts off with a retrospective of celebrated Hollywood moments for JCPenney. In the Oscar-debuting spot, “Life Imitates Art”, various sequences of famous films are recaptured in modern day settings all with JCPenney wear. DGA Award winner, Dante Ariola, again, teams up with Mills LA Flame Artist Chris Knight.

The spot starts with a woman evoking ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ Audrey Hepburn as she stares longingly in a department store window. Chris combined various plates, shot on location in Argentina, with an assortment of motion plates and high-resolution stills, taken in Manhattan to recreate the Fifth Avenue background.

To capture the feeling of a giant flock of birds gathering on a playground, similar to Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, Dante shot several birds against blue screen. Chris composited the footage onto live action plates, replicating the birds to number over one hundred. He also added CGI birds created by Mill LA CG Artist Robert Kolbeins.

For another scene, the production team used a crane to lift up the modern day Mary Poppins as she takes off for her flight. Chris removed all traces of the rigging and its shadows. He also combined twenty hi-resolution stills for the final wide vista scene, incorporating live action elements shot from the same building, such as boats, traffic, steam and smoke. Distant helicopters, a camera move and a hint of a lens flare helped to bring the shot to life.

Alongside these legendary film moments, the spot also depicts scenes from ‘Seven-Year Itch’, ‘Easy Rider’, ‘Taxi’, ‘Midnight Cowboy’, ‘Say Anything’ and ‘Titanic’. The spot with the tag line, “Today’s the day to feel like a star” marks a beginning for JCPenney’s new agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, and for new star, The Mill LA.

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