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Design and animation studio Ember took on high-profile projects for two of the country’s most popular networks this fall by creating a stunning campaign for VH1’s annual “Hip Hop Honors.” They also left viewers wanting more with exciting new packaging for ESPN & Lexus’ New Monday Night Football Half Time Show. According to Ember Co-Founders Jason Ett and Shane Zucker, these new projects for VH1 and ESPN showcase the talent and versatility of their studio.

For the VH1 “Hip Hop Honors” the annual event, which recognizes the Honoree’s historical contribution to the music and the culture – the cable net approached Ember about designing and producing the 2007 show package, as well as the promotional campaign: “We were looking for an interesting way to animate some graphic illustrations portraying various hip hop artists,” says Phil Delbourgo, SVP, Brand & Creative for VH1.

“The illustrations, created by Dutch designer, Pascal Duval, were a compilation of hundreds of individual hip hop related graphic elements forming the faces. Ember took those illustrations and brought them to life in 3D creating an effect that was both random and mesmerizing. The animation was truly unique and allowed us to create a perfect expression of our print campaign. The graphics brought an intense energy to our promos and to the show itself.”

“Pascal’s artwork was our jumping off point,” explains Ember’s Jason Ett. “We conceived an internal rationale for how this iconic hip hop universe would operate and then extrapolated from there.” “We did a series of elaborate animation tests, and a phase of R&D to determine how best to capitalize on the initial artwork,” adds Shane Zucker. “We also had to build quite a bit of flexibility into our creative process and particularly the Particle tool set that the 3D animation team built, because the confirmed lists of artists for the show was constantly changing.”

ESPN’s David Saphirstein needed a new graphics package for Monday Night NFL Football Half Time Show, and its sponsor Lexus. So he also turned to Ember. The studio was able to produce designs that integrated the slick elegance of Lexus while embracing the fiery and energetic spirit of ESPN. Design and production was accomplished in a very tight, 10-day turn-around – creating all HD elements, which included the 10-second open, bug, transitions, bumps and on-set loop-able animations.

“The guys at Ember were able to nail the design fast,” says Saphirstein. “This made it possible to hit our 2-week deadline. They were able to deliver a look that worked for us while maintaining the Lexus Brand.”

“The timeline on the ESPN project was the biggest challenge for us,” agrees Ett. “They needed to revise the package for their sponsor Lexus, and they wanted the look to be specific to Lexus. We created a design that showcased the sleek class of the brand.” “Working with the ESPN clients was a great experience,” concludes Zucker. “They approved every stage quickly. And our team was excited about the project, and where it was going to be seen.”

About Ember:
Ember was launched in January of 2006 by Co-Founders/Directors Jason Ett and Shane Zucker. The duo had met while collaborating in Berlin, Germany on Volkswagen’s Vision World for the Glaserne Manufaktur. Inspired by the experience of a new world canvas for Design and Animation, the two began a friendship and creative partnership with a passion for moving design into a visionary future: design for multi-sensory experience that extends beyond the limitations of a television or film screen. Starting 2007, its second year in business, off to a successful start, Ember moved into its new space in Venice, California, a long-time haven for artists. Ember’s new studio in Venice is surrounded by fine artists, architects and sculptors, as well as designers and animators.

www.studioember.com

Credits on Vh1:
Creative Director: Shane Zucker
Executive Producer: Jason Ett
Producer: Craig Houchin
Senior Designer: Shaun Collins
Designer: Martin Surya
Designer: Bryan Louie
Lead Animator: Mike Navarro
Art Director/Animator: Magnus Hierta
Animators: Ian Townsend, Raymond King, Clayton Anderson, Ben Hurand

Credits on ESPN:
Creative Director: Shane Zucker
Executive Producer: Jason Ett
Producer: Garrett Braren
Senior Designer: Shaun Collins
Animators: Ian Townsend, Ben Hurand, Masan Yi

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Visual Effects facility Artifex Studios had the opportunity to create a fully-digital creature for the upcoming feature film Scourge. Artifex worked on several intense scenes requiring the “star”. With such an integral role, a great deal of character needed to be built into each VFX sequence. Scourge has a definite personality; a calculated attitude had to be conveyed in every movement. Details such as 3D drool were also added during Scourge’s transfer from human host to host.

“Creating a creature from scratch was a terrific opportunity for us.” says Adam Stern, VFX Supervisor and President of Artifex Studios. Together with director Jonas Quastel, Scourge was designed in-house then taken to full 3D. The work involved some complex rigging including a dynamic tentacle system which was created separately. A custom system was created that allowed animators to control everything from the speed of individual tentacle motion, to how they were affected by forces (i.e. gravity), to how they collided with other objects in the scene including other tentacles.

“Hero” tentacles were keyframe-animated for specific directed action. Additional VFX work for the film included tentacles bursting from actors and being shown underneath skin, 3D prosthetic augmentation, and a full CG exterior church set.

The film starts with a dramatic camera move down the church tower, then continues on a stormy night in 1871 where barely a glimpse of Scourge is revealed. Later in the present day the creature is let loose and afflicts an entire town. Scourge was modeled in Maya utilizing ZBrush for sculpting. All animation was completed in Maya, with 3D rendering handled by RenderMan and compositing handled in Nuke.

Andrew Bronstein of PHD Productions produced the film. Scourge was penned and directed by Jonas Quastel, whose writing credits include Crackerjack (Christopher Plummer, Nastassja Kinski), Listen (Brooke Langdon) and work on the TV Series Poltergeist: The Legacy. Quastel directed Sasquatch (Lance Henriksen, Andrea Roth, Erica Durance), Ripper II and The Psychic (Casper Van Dien).

Reflecting on the partnership between Artifex and PHD, Bronstein remembers the collaboration fondly, “We went from an idea, to seeing what the creature looked like, to designing the way it moved. And we had control of every little aspect.” In particular, it was that attention to detail that impressed Bronstein. “At one point, the creature moves from one body to another, and there’s this great little detail, just a little dribble of slime, but it totally sells the shot. Artifex delivered all the elements you expect to see, but that we hadn’t thought to ask for specifically.”

“I’ve worked with the folks at Artifex on past projects,” Quastel said. “We knew they’d be the perfect fit.” He had high praise for the collaborative process of designing of the Scourge. “We spent weeks developing look and function. There was very little to draw on as far as other films. Instead, we pulled ideas from nature and borrowed from fantasy art. The result is something no one’s ever seen before, a spectacular and frightening creature with natural movement, texture and character.”

Scourge was shot on a JVC HD camera (GY-HD250) using the Red Rock Micro Film Lens (M2) adapter. The choice was simple for DP Corey Robson, whose previous credits as a digital imaging technician made him the perfect fit for the new “tapeless” pipeline still in its infancy. For the budget-conscience independent feature, the camera was an ideal fit, says Robson. The pipeline was also new for Robson but one that he was dying to try. The film was recorded directly on to hard drive using a Wafian HR-1. Going directly to hard drive skipped the tape stock step which compresses images and allowed for a cleaner resolution and colour space than transferring to HDCAM or HDCAM SR.

Artifex Studios Ltd. is located in Vancouver, Canada and creates digital effects and 3D animation for film and television www.artifexstudios.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

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A journey from the ocular nerve to the wild imaginings of the mind’s eye: “Enter” is the visually arresting commercial launching Pioneer’s Kuro television and the result of a unique collaboration between agency TBWA\Chiat Day and Süperfad.

Inspired by the brand mantra “seeing and hearing like never before,” the spot traverses a fantasy landscape, moving through realms heretofore unimagined. From stop motion, to live action, to 2D and 3D animation, comic illustration, collage and editing, “Enter” represents the scope of Süperfad’s talent and techniques.

“Creating a surreal journey through the subconscious is not an easy task but Süperfad really delivered,” comments TBWA/Chiat Day producer Brian O’Rourke. “We pushed them every step of the way and they came back with even better solutions than we expected. We were especially impressed by their range of animation styles as well as their shared desire to make the work great.”

“Our intent was to emulate the fractured stream-of-consciousness of dreams; leaping from one fragmentary moment to the next,” explains Süperfad Creative Director Justin Leibow. “This of course with an ever-constant forward trajectory bursting through discordant visuals. Needless to say, having this opportunity was unique and really exciting.”

Superfad
Süperfad is home to a diverse group of designers, artists and directors united to produce compelling motion imagery for entertainment, branding and that special something in between. With the strategic vantage points of Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and London, Süperfad’s creative reach is both vast and personal, combining the spark of advertising experience with artistic approaches. www.superfad.com

Credits
Client: Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.
Spot title: Kuro TV “Enter” 1 x :60
Airdate: Theatrical 10/24/07, Television 11/1/07

Advertising Agency Location: TBWA/Chiat Day Creative Director: Worldwide CD: Lee Clow
CD: Jerry Gentile
Producer: Brian O’Rourke
Asst. Prod.: Cia Restraino
Copywriter: Gage Clegg
Art Director: Becca Morton

Live Action Production Company/Süperfad
Director: Will Hyde, Justin Leibow, John Hilton
DP: Brendan Galvin
Executive Producers: Kevin Batten
Producer: Scott Ludden

Animation/Visual Effects/Süperfad:
Creative Directors: Will Hyde, Justin Leibow Exec. Producer: Kevin Batten
Producer: Amy Russo
Artists: Will Hyde, Justin Leibow, Bryan Cox, John Cherniack, Eric Lee, Grace Lee, Tim Kadowaki, Will Campbell, Matt Lavoy, Matt Rosenfeld, Ryan Kirkwood, David Silvers, Dan Fraga, John Riggs, David Viau, Eric Edwards, Ajit Menon, Phiphat Pinyosophon

Editorial Company: Süperfad
Editor: Charles Jenson

Colorist: Beau Leon of The Syndicate

Music Company: Machine Head/Venice, CA
Composer: Jason Moss
Music Producer: Vicki Ordeshook

Sound Design Company: Stimmung/Santa Monica , CA Sound Designer: Gus Koven Sound Producer: Jack Catlin Associate Sound Designer: Peter Lauridsen

Audio Mixing: Eleven/Santa Monica, CA
Mixer: Jeff Payne

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Riot recently delivered more than 80 visual effects shots for THE SEEKER, a supernatural fantasy released on October 5th by Walden Media and 20th Century Fox.

Led by Production Team VFX Supervisor James Price on behalf of Fox, and Riot Visual Effects Supervisor David Jones, the facility’s team of artists crafted some of the most challenging and unusual visuals featured in the film, including a recurring “fractal” effect used to identify a series of magical signs that are key to the survival of humankind.

Based on the popular Susan Cooper book series, THE SEEKER is the tale of 14-year-old Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) who learns he is one in a group of ageless warriors called “Old Ones” destined to battle the forces of The Dark. The film is directed by David Cunningham (THE PATH TO 9/11) and also stars Christopher Eccleston (DOCTOR WHO) and Ian McShane (DEADWOOD).

Coming up with the right look for the fractal effect was among the key tasks for Riot’s team. The fractals are the visual clues that allow Will to identify magical signs that, to others, appear as ordinary objects by imbuing them with a rough, geometric pattern of infinite complexity. “It was one of those interesting challenges where the visual is described in the script as ‘unusual and something that’s never been seen before,’” recalled Jones. “That is a very broad diving board as you could jump in almost any direction.”

Jones and the Riot team collaborated with Cunningham and the film’s visual effects team in developing the overall concept for the fractals, as well as a look for each specific time they appear. “Rather than a strict geometrical representation, we came up with a more natural look that suggests infinite depth,” Jones explained. “Our idea was to make the objects appear to be lit from within. The fractal is the object’s gem-like center that gives it its unusual properties, makes it glow and evolves over its surface in an infinite way.”

More than 25 artists were involved in executing the fractal effects, which involved 3D elements, lighting and textures.

As is often the case with large, complex visual effects packages, time was at a premium. To help make the workflow function with maximum efficiency, Riot employed a remote review technology, cineSync, to review work with the production team at Fox. “It allowed us to simultaneously view and annotate QuickTime files,” Jones said. “Rather than drive to the studio and wait for the director to have a free moment, we could review work together from our respective offices at a time convenient to all. It really sped up the process.”

About Ascent Media Group
Santa Monica, California-based Ascent Media Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Discovery Holding Company (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB), which, through its Creative Services and Network Services divisions, provides creative and technical media services to the media and entertainment industries. Through more than 75 facilities in California, New York, London, Singapore and other locations throughout the world, Ascent Media Group provides effective solutions for the creation, management and distribution of content to major motion picture studios, independent producers, broadcast networks, cable channels, advertising agencies and other companies that produce, own and/or distribute entertainment, news, sports, corporate, educational, industrial and advertising content. More information about Ascent Media Group is available at www.ascentmedia.com.

www.seekthesigns.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

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Award-winning visual effects design company a52 detailed its role in bringing a sensational new ad to life for advertising agency Team One and the 2008 Lexus RX350. The spot entitled “Pop-Up” was directed by Stylewar through Hollywood production company Smuggler, and is set to debut in high-profile network and cable broadcast coverage this week.

Like its widely acclaimed predecessor spots from earlier this year “Hospital” and Hydrant,” “Pop-Up” stylishly relates the Actively Safe features of the new Lexus RX350. The visual components of this campaign have been lavished with detail. “Hospital” and “Hydrant” were crafted by MJZ director Nicolai Fuglsig to relate each story in a single unedited shot. In another sensational campaign facet entitled “RX in Window,” life-sized RXs were presented crashing through real-world storefront windows in key U.S. cities. Triggered by pedestrians passing motion sensors near busy intersections, the imagery subsequently repaired itself, clearing the broken glass to reveal a pristine RX.
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a52’s artists have played important roles in each of these campaign elements, and as explained by Jon Pearce, Team One’s creative director on the campaign along with Gavin Lester, “a52 was immensely important in conveying the ‘reality’ of a giant pop-up book. We wanted the spot to feel as real as possible. What we found in the course of production was that building a pop-up book over 20 feet tall to accommodate a full- sized Lexus was physically impossible. To be more exact, the book could have been built that large, but the weight of the pop-up extensions would have been too great, and turning the pages on a book that large at a rate that could accommodate a 30-second spot was problematic.

“As a result,” Pearce continued, “production built a giant, full-sized book frame for green screen, with tabs and wheels that could be manipulated by actual stage hands. And the actual pop-up book with moving parts was a mere six feet high, which was then married to the green screen frame at a52. The guys at a52 put complete heart and soul into making the effect as lifelike as humanly possible. As with all intricate effects jobs, passion is the driving force that usually propels the end result beyond merely convincing to something quite amazing.”

a52’s project team included producer Sarah Haynes, VFX supervisor Andy Hall, lead Flame artist Raul Ortego, VFX artists Kirk Balden, Tim Bird, Mike Bliss and Brandon Jolley, CGI lead artist Dan Gutierrez, and CGI artists Chris Janney, Kirk Shintani and Kevin Clarke. Haynes and Ortego detailed their team’s steps in bringing “Pop-Up” to life.

First, Stylewar and director of photography Toby Irwin filmed the background actors operating the 30-foot book frame on a green screen. Next, they shot each page of the miniature pop-up book opening and closing, as well as the animated movements within the pages. Using the movements of the actors for timing, Ortego re-timed the live-action of each page to match each other and the actors’ movements.

Flame and Smoke were used to rotoscope out the different pop-up pieces, which were then composited together in Flame. For the city scene, a52’s CGI artists recreated every visual element in Maya – using high-resolution stills from the shoot as textures – and tracked them to the live-action using boujou for final compositing in Flame. For every action of the book, a52’s artists either recreated or re-timed them to ensure a seamless feel to the storytelling. Live-action passes taken of the hero Lexus to capture reflections and shadows were also combined in Flame, and virtual holes were created for the pop-up book’s pages – also in Maya, tracked with boujou – where the Lexus appears. Additional touches by a52’s artists include Maya-created tabs and wheels for the book, the book’s shadow, the page edges and thickness, and the entire cover page and binding. Final Flame flourishes include reflecting the book in the floor, as well as color-grading and addition of logo and titles. Smoke was used to assemble the final versions for lay-off.

a52’s Ortego cited some of the challenges he and his colleagues faced in putting all the pieces together. “It was like a puzzle,” he said, “because in a pop-up book, all the elements are connected, and in this case, the pieces were all shot as separate elements. Another challenge was that it needed to appear as just one shot, which meant we had to keep all the layers moving during 30 seconds. Also, because the post was done in HD, the render times were very long. In the end, though, I think all the layers (more than 120) blend together seamlessly to simply communicate the idea of the commercial.”

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Sydney-based digital production company Animal Logic has created the visual effects for the new Pure Blonde ad campaign, collaborating with Director Paul Middleditch & Producer Peter Masterton at Plaza Films and Clemenger BBDO Melbourne. Entitled ‘Utopia’, the commercial shows the magical, mystical process of making Pure Blonde beer.

The ad features a beautiful utopian world where perfection abounds, from the stunning landscape to the beautiful blonde race inhabiting it. The ad shows the brewing of Pure Blonde, from the hops falling into the pure clean stream, to its filtration through a silken spider’s web carried by doves, through to its handling by blonde utopians.

Suddenly, this ‘perfect’ world is interrupted when a giant 18-wheeler roars up and a burly truckie jumps out to collect the beer and deliver it to the ‘real’ world. The blonde folk are left with mud in their eye (literally) and bambi picks up a nasty cough in the wake of the exhaust fumes.

Nearly every shot features visual effects work. Animal Logic’s team of artists created digital matte paintings of mountainous environments, which were composited into the majority of shots. Additionally, most shots feature digital elements such as CG hops/seed elements floating through the air, CG butterflies, spider web and blowfish, bubbles in the water and enhanced animal movements. Additionally, the team added smoke, water and mud elements, composited the logo onto the truck and added other seamless CGI elements.

The commercial began airing in Australia on October 5, 2007.

CREDITS:
Production Company: Plaza Films
Director: Paul Middleditch
Producer: Peter Masterton

Agency: Clemenger Bbdo Melbourne
Copy Writer: Emma Hill
Art Director: Cameron Hoelter
Producer: Roz Ruwhiu

Editorial: The Editors
Editor: Peter Whitmore

Animal Logic:
Art Director: Ben Walsh
Supervisor / Lead Flame Artist: Angus Wilson
Flame Artist: Tony Cole, Howard Hill
Flame Assist: Jodi Tyne
Cgi Lead: Tim Quarry
Matte Painters: Ben Walsh, Michael Halford
Producer: Melanie Wickham
Co-Ordinator / Line Producer: Katherine Webb

About Animal Logic
One of the world’s most highly respected digital production companies, Animal Logic produces award-winning design, animation and visual effects solutions for the film, television and advertising industries. The company has a studio in Sydney, Australia and a production office in Los Angeles. Information about Animal Logic is available at www.animallogic.com.

Click here to view ‘Pure Blonde’

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Animated, megalomaniacal germs voiced by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry are just part of what drew creative boutique Assemble to the recent Domestos campaign. Charged with directing and producing spots for eleven markets, Assemble attacked the project with the intensity of the product advertised, albeit with an appropriate dose of humor. From the in-person pitch to Lowe Worldwide and Unilever, to production and delivery of the completed spots, the process was a sparkling success.

“The scope of the project was vast in part because the agency was willing to let us embellish and enhance the presentation, and to have fun with the execution,” says Assemble Co-Director/Co-Creative Director Mauricio Baiocchi. “We all agreed that an epic style would be more entertaining to watch and, admittedly, to create.”

In the spots the germs are Emperors, drunk with power and the desire to take over the world (as they know it) with Limescale and disease. But their devious plans are revealed to be foolhardy in the face of Domestos, which eliminates the germ force and its dirty minions. Working from the agency story boards, Assemble designed the 3D characters and environments bringing the vignettes to animated life. Additionally, Assemble directed the voice talent – the powerhouse duo of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.

“Honestly, there wasn’t that much we had to do in the voice over session,” laughs Assemble Co-Director/Co-Creative Director Asa Hammond. “These guys are such pros and so hilarious that we felt honored just to be the audience to their performance.”

While the animation process was far more complex than the voice talent session, Berkeley-based Assemble and the agency in London benefited from their eight-hour time difference. Assemble posted work to view in the evening, and would have notes from the agency team by morning (pacific standard time). They would then provide changes by the time the agency returned to work the following day. In the end, Assemble delivered two high-end animated spots all via a virtual and timely collaboration.

“The nice thing about working with a small shop like ours is that the artists are close to the creative feedback. The person the client is talking to is likely the same one setting the keyframes or designing the look, so the conversation keeps closer to the work, with less translation, less in the abstract,”concludes Co-Director/Co-Creative Director Mauricio Baiocchi.

Click here to view.

CREDITS
Client: Unilever / Domestos

Agency: Lowe Worldwide
Creative Director: Basil Mina
Global Communications Director: Helen Bell Unilever Regional Business Director: William Dixon Account Director:

Eddie Gapper Account Manager: Marc Horne Producer: Nick Peers Production Assistants: Ben Roberts & Rory O’connell

Animation/VFX: Assemble
Executive Producer: Mark Medernach DUCK
Producer: Juan Bronson
Creative Directors: Mauricio Baiocchi and Asa Hammond

Artists: Austin Cable, Kate Choi, Steve Ferrera, Jonathan Lyons, Meats Meyer, Natalie Nolan, Dan Seneres, Alan Sperling, Zack Klinger

Sound Design: Go Girl Productions
Sound Designers: Paula Gallitano & Jimi Randolph

VO & Mix: Margarita Mix/Hollywood

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Synonymous with the revolutionary style and sleek appearance of Nissan’s Crossover SUV, SWAY studio infuses life and illusion in the newest Nissan Rogue commercial entitled “Seamless,” currently airing on Spanish-speaking broadcast channels nationwide.

SWAY’s renowned visual effects team integrated live action, motion control and photoreal computer graphics (CG) techniques to create a virtual environment full of unimaginable visual deceptions.

The :30 spot creates the illusion of the Nissan Rogue on a real studio set, surrounded by virtual projection screens displaying the environment through which the car is traveling. The strong CG imagery in “Seamless” allows the viewer to journey in and out of this illusion by creating the impression that the car is actually traveling through a real live environment.

“This commercial required intense planning and pre-visualization,” noted SWAY Visual Effects Supervisor, Wayne England. “An elaborate single shot camera move required many motion control passes to account for the spot’s complex and ambitious nature, but once combined with our photorealistic CG methodologies and compositing, the project gained a great deal of dynamic and compelling motion.”

A precise CG replication of the vehicle’s exterior was seamlessly integrated with a live action interior, which required intense 3D tracking and compositing techniques. This combined with flawless compositing of all motion control passes, allowed the characters inside the car to appear and change as the camera moved throughout the shot.

Because the car could not physically move within the visible soundstage setting, the ground beneath the Rogue required a large amount of CG effort for which careful reference photography and high dynamic range (HDR) images were taken. Through texturing and modeling details, the car appears to roll on a large conveyor belt, while simultaneously driving on a realistic road. To further create the Rogue’s apparent motion, SWAY captured live-action high-definition footage using a specially configured three camera rig that collectively captured a 150 degree field of view. The footage was then stabilized, re-timed and projected onto virtual screens which appeared to surround the Rogue. This required considerable synchronization inside the 3D scene, so that the content of the screens would appear in exact alignment with the 3D elements within the shot.

During the live-action shooting process, SWAY additionally captured HDR images of sky environments, and after careful editing, used them as the primary CG lighting source for the entire spot.

SWAY utilized a variety of off-the-shelf hardware and software to complete the Nissan spot. The most prominently used tools were NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics boards, NUKE and After Effects for compositing and LightWave for pre-visualization animation. Autodesk’s 3ds Max 9 was used as the primary 3D package while PF Track was used for 3D tracking.

About SWAY
SWAY is one of the top animation, effects and design studios in North America whose aim is to advance the artistry of visual content, enabling exciting new creative ideas in any media. SWAY’s world class artists use cutting edge and innovative technology to produce unforgettable imagery.

SWAY’s proprietary software, the SWAY Drive-A-Tron™ driving simulator has been used to create stunning visual effects and spots for Chevy, Mazda, Pontiac, Subaru, Hyundai, Hummer and Toyota. This software replicates the performance of any vehicle with complete precision.

SWAY’s headquarters are located in Culver City, Calif. For additional information on SWAY studio, visit its website at www.swaystudio.com.

Nissan Rogue “Seamless” Production Credits
Agency: The Vidal Partnership
Tom Schimoler – Creative director
Marco Walls – Associate Creative Director
Sherry Slubbers – Producer

Production Company: Plum Productions
Gavin Bowden – Director
Mark Conley – Producer
Beth Pearson – Executive Producer
Dana Christiaansen – DP

Editorial: Plum Productions

Music: Endless Noise

Motion Control: ImageG

Audio Mix: Lime Studios

Post Production and VFX: SWAY studio
Mark Glaser – Creative Director
Wayne England – VFX /On Set /CG Supervisor
Erin Hicke – VFX Producer
Natalie Moore – Coordinator
James McEwen – onset supervisor
Greg Tsadilis – Lead CG Artist
Curtis Cardwell – CG Artist
Alex Nice – CG Artist
Juan Vargas – CG Artist
Paul Hopkins – 3D Tracking
Michael Orlando – 3D tracking
Chris Bankoff – Composite Supervisor
Christian Schermerhorn – Compositor
Claudia Yi Leon – Compositor
Gilbert Gonzales – Compositor
Saeed Faridzadeh – Compositor
Hudson Shock – Compositor
Marc Rienzo – Compositor
Leighton Greer – Executive Producer Production

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Themselves a fine example of the artful deployment of minimal resources, the Framestore Design team have recently completed work on Sugar Battery, a short animation about a new development in alternative energy. Brilliantly conceived and realised, Sugar Battery is screening over autumn 2007.

The film was created for production company Coast as part of their second Green Design series. The first series of Green Design featured Hydrogen, another Framestore Design animation, and Producer Mac Mackenzie returned to the team for one of the five short films in this new series.

Like its predecessor, Sugar Battery was designed and directed by Adam Parry, who worked entirely in Flame, and was produced for Framestore Design by Simon Whalley. “We were very pleased to be approached by Coast to do another animated film for their Green Design series,” says Whalley, “Repeat business is always flattering – you know that you’ve been doing something right – and it was doubly pleasing because they wanted something a bit different this time, and clearly felt we could handle that.”

“The subject is a battery that runs on sugar. Specifically, it generates electricity via a sugar soaked solution that mimics cell respiration. Environmentally it is a good idea, because the energy comes from a renewable, free, non-polluting source (the sun), and, once the battery’s exhausted, what’s left over is water. One reason for going down the animation route is that this is a product in development – it exists, but not yet in the form we show. They need to figure out how to mass produce a small version of the object.”

Describing the difference between Sugar Battery and its predecessor, Designer Adam Parry says, “The challenges involved were different and greater this time around. For Hydrogen we employed a classic sort of science-documentary visual vocabulary – cross-sections, molecular models, and so forth. Coast wanted to move a little away from that this time. So, for example, the sun and water motifs I created were intended to evoke rather than illustrate. That said, the visualisation of the battery itself needed to be quite scientifically focussed and not too abstract. And for the end of the piece, we wanted to locate the battery within an entire human eco-system – so we thought a city was appropriate for that.”

“The range of information we needed to convey in just 50 seconds was huge,” continues Whalley, “From broad scientific principles such as the idea that all life on earth is fuelled by sunlight, to the specific process of photosynthesis, to the real-life applications that the battery might have. The producers gave us their script, but beyond that we had a pretty free hand.”

Green Design is the umbrella title for a series of short films that Coast has been creating over the last four years. The films aim to inform people about the range of ways in which new technology is being used to help us live our lives in closer harmony with our planet. Editorially independent, the series have been commissioned by BBC World, National Geographic Channel, Sky News and Euro News, and go out in editorial time. In addition to creating the only animated episodes of Green Design, Framestore CFC has also created titles, effects, TK and conforms for other films in the series.

CREDITS

Green Design ‘Sugar Battery’
Production Company Coast
Head of Production Mac Mackenzie

For Framestore Design
Direction and Design Adam Parry
Producer Simon Whalley

www.framestore-cfc.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

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The Indian film market, popularly known as “Bollywood,” is booming, but Indian filmmaking, until quite recently, has been slow to adapt to computer-generated visual effects (VFX) and animation. As Bollywood moves toward an era of slick visual effects, Indian VFX and animation studios are honing their skills and building their portfolios by taking on work from Hollywood as well as for indigenous films and commercials.

Resident Evil: Extinction, a Sony/Screen Gems film, is the third in a series of films based on the popular Resident Evil games. Not only does the film deliver an outstanding movie going experience, but it elevates the role Indian studios are playing in delivering world-class visual effects. Resident Evil: Extinction is a sci-fi/horror film directed by veteran Russell Mulcahy and stars Milla Jovovich (Zoolander, The Fifth Element). In the movie, Jovovich and her co-stars battle it out with zombies and killer crows against the post-apocalyptic landscape of a ruined Las Vegas.

One studio pushing the boundaries of VFX work on Resident Evil: Extinction is Mumbai-based Anibrain, which was founded in 2006 by Jesh Krishna Murthy, a veteran of the VFX industry who has been in involved with notable movies such as Batman Begins, Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life, and eXistenZ. With support from Mr. X, a prominent Canadian VFX studio and Anibrain’s regular outsourcing partner, Anibrain continues to take on challenging VFX projects.

For Murthy, the key to creating a world-class, high-end animation and VFX studio in India capable of delivering visual effects with worldwide appeal was in integrating top NVIDIA Quadro professional GPUs and NVIDIA Gelato rendering software into Anibrain’s visual computing workflow.

One detailed shot from Resident Evil: Extinction that exemplifies the importance NVIDIA technology plays in the creative process is a “fly-through” of the interior of a satellite. The photorealistic animation was rendered entirely with Gelato film-quality rendering software on Quadro graphics boards.

“We have been very impressed with the real-time rendering capabilities of NVIDIA Quadro FX solutions and NVIDIA SLI™ technology is helping us create mind-blowing visuals in the real-time arena,” says Murthy. “On the high-end, feature-quality rendering side, Gelato is an invaluable tool in our arsenal. Gelato is meeting and surpassing all our rendering needs for photo-real feature film effects.”

www.anibrain.com

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