Broadcast design & animation studio motion504 recently teamed with NBC-owned network, Chiller, to create a comic-book-influenced promo for the upcoming movie, “Remains,” based on the graphic novel of the same name by Steven Niles. The movie premieres on Chiller on December 16th.

Niles’ “Remains,” Chiller’s first original film, journeys to Reno, Nevada where a horrific blast has turned the locals into the ravenous undead. A group of remaining humans takes refuge in a vacant casino and fights a losing battle against the undead, who grow steadily stronger, smarter and more aggressive by the minute.

“We came to motion504 with a very rough edit and asked them to design a visual treatment for the trailer,” says Brian Everett, Chiller Design Director. “The goal was to connect to the story’s (graphic novel) origins, while at the same time capturing all the visceral action the film has to offer. On a rather tight timeline, they created an animation toolkit that’s slick, textural, and really helps elevate the footage. Being that ‘Remains’ is Chiller’s first original movie, it’s been great to collaborate with the team at motion504 and develop a piece of communication that’s both scary and stunning.”

To stay true to the movie interpretation, motion504 Creative Directors Scott Wenner and Amy Schmitt hand-sketched detailed frames from the film itself. As they were illustrating, motion504President / Creative Director Andrew Reynolds began creating animatics and tests, building the sequence simultaneously to accommodate the short timeline. After refining the edit, the three then animated the scenes, giving life to the piece by adding movement and distortions to the environments and zombie characters.

To stay true to the movie interpretation, motion504 Creative Directors Scott Wenner and Amy Schmitt hand-sketched detailed frames from the film itself. As they were illustrating, motion504President / Creative Director Andrew Reynolds began creating animatics and tests, building the sequence simultaneously to accommodate the short timeline. After refining the edit, the three then animated the scenes, giving life to the piece by adding movement and distortions to the environments and zombie characters.

With the short turnaround time, motion504′s hands-on approach worked well, with Reynolds posing as a zombie for a number of the shots, and Schmitt and Wenner using their own hands for reference to create elements.

Dozens of pencil sketches were scanned and colored in Photoshop. Animation was executed in After Effects, using a wide variety of techniques to give life to each scene.

Watch Remains on motion.tv.

Credits
Project Title: “Remains” promo

Client: Chiller
VP Creative Director, Chiller/Syfy: James Spence
Creative Director, Chiller/Syfy: Shea Pepper
Design Director, Chiller/Syfy: Brian Everett
Writer/Producer/Editor, Chiller/Syfy: Dan Frome
Project Manager, Chiller/Syfy: Bill Ikin

Broadcast Design & Animation Company: motion504/Minneapolis, MN
Creative Directors: Andrew Reynolds & Scott Wenner
Illustrator: Scott Wenner
Animators: Andrew Reynolds, Amy Schmitt & Scott Wenner
Executive Producer: Eric Mueller

Tools: Photoshop (initial coloring), After Effects (animation)

About motion504

motion504 is a broadcast design, effects and animation studio specializing in the art of motion. Featuring the talent of senior-level creative directors, designers and animators, the company works for TV, film, music and advertising clients.

With its open studio space, motion504 is built upon the idea of collaboration through communication, critique and contribution amongst its artists and clients.

nailgun* (known for their deft touch with sports related show opens and packages),  had previously worked with ESPN branding their coverage of all four grand slam  tennis tournaments however, according to nailgun* Creative Director Michael Waldron, this assignment was different.

”The packages we did for ESPN was specific to the ESPN brand,” Waldron says. ”This package had to have its own look, but yet feel right for the many networks that it aired on. The USTA had a package that had been on the air for quite some time, but they wanted to start fresh, which they left it up to us for the most part. The only specific was that there had to be the flaming ball logo, no people so that it could be used for both ATP events and WTA events, and use the familiar blue green hard courts.”

Set to a driving hard rock soundtrack, the new US Open Series show open begins on a shot of the deconstructed USTA logo, as a fiery tennis ball passes through the elements, seeming to come to a rest as the logo appears to coalesce, before hurtling towards the North American territories where the tournaments take place.  The ball personifies the sheer power and prowess one expects to find in the US Series as it takes us through various states of power play before resolving inside the USTA logo.

”The tracking shot of fiery tennis ball was the most intensive in the sequence,” Waldron notes. ”We wanted to convey the speed and power of the modern tennis game. We wanted to be very cinematic in our approach so we made sure that there was a sense of scale. We also played with the speed of the action. Having slow motion sequences with fire is not easy. Fire is not very fluid so it looks choppy when you slow it down, but we came up with a great solution.”

That solution involved the creative use Adobe AfterEffects, Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as 3D animation software Maya.

”Creating hair in Maya is very processor intensive so we ended up making two animated tennis balls — a close-up ball and a distance ball so that way the close up ball was super detailed while the distance ball was much lighter for rendering,” Erik van der Wilden, nailgun*’s Director of Editorial + Animation adds. ”Just the sheer scale of the project was challenging, but so was making the look work, not just for the USTA, but for their broadcasting partners as well. It was very tricky but they all loved the new package and we’re proud to be a part of it.”

Watch the show open on motion.tv.

About nailgun*

Founded by Michael Waldron and Erik van der Wilden in 2003, New York-based nailgun*, is a collaborative of artists — designers, writers, photographers, editors, producers, animators, filmmakers, illustrators, strategists, painters — who’ve come together to create unique visual solutions for clients that include ESPN, HGTV, Spike, VH1, E!, Versus, TV Land, Universal Channel,  Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, Publicis, McCann-Erickson NY and Ogilvy & Mather.

Creative Credits:

Client: USTA

Project: Show Open/Packaging

Production/Animation/Design: nailgun*, New York

Creative Director/Director: Michael Waldron

Director of Editorial + Animation: Erik van der Wilden

Senior Producer: M. Shane Dolly

The artists and producers from international production company and design studio Brand New School (BNS) are very proud to present their recent collaboration with international graphic design icon Stefan Sagmeister for EDP Renovaveis, S.A., the renewable energy subsidiary of Energias de Portugal (EDP) and one of the world’s largest and fastest growing wind energy companies.

Sagmeister, Inc. has recently created and introduced a strikingly fresh brand identity for EDP. To help introduce it throughout Portugal and beyond, Sagmeister teamed with BNS to develop an animated storyline using the brand new illustrative visual language. The resulting :60 commercial debuted last week on broadcast and cable television in Lisbon, Portugal, and along with many shorter versions, it is set to continue airing widely across the country and Europe for many weeks to come.

“It was such a pleasure to see the identity we created together with EDP become alive through the magic of Brand New School, not only were the results lovely but the process getting there also absolutely enjoyable,” Sagmeister said.

For BNS, the project team featured founder and executive creative director Jonathan Notaro, art director Christopher Palazzo, executive producer Devin Brook, producer Derek Macleod and an illustrious team of designers and artists. The animation workflow involved creating vivid illustrated scenes from EDP’s new branding identity created by Sagmeister art director and designer Jessica Walsh along with others created by BNS. “Bringing life-like behavior to the deceptively simple geometric system created by Sagmeister, Inc. was a fun challenge,” Palazzo explained. “The scope of this system is absolutely astounding. A graphic system this rich and smart can do anything, as shown in the final piece. Stefan and his team were an absolute dream to work with.”

“This collaboration with Sagmeister Inc. is special,” Notaro added. “Obviously he is a design god, and as fans of his work over the years we were all super excited with this collaboration, and looking forward to the next one!”

“EDP” features the song “The Gift.” Additional credits for Sagmeister include illustrators Stephane Elbaz, Xavi Garcia, and Michael Freimuth. For BNS, credit also goes to Flame artist Blake Huber, designer/animators Robin Greenwood and Hye Sung Park, designers Caleb Chalter, Phil Intralligi, animators Scott Balles, Andrew Mastrocinque, and artist Andrew Rothschild.

For more information on EDP and this campaign, please visit www.edp.pt.

About Brand New School
With offices in New York, Los Angeles and London, Brand New School is a vertically integrated production company and design studio that delivers extraordinary media on all platforms. Offering a new model for creative digital production, we are filmmakers, developers, designers, animators, editors, illustrators, and producers dedicated to driving communications to new heights. Akin to leading academic institutions, our guiding philosophies prize experimentation and learning, and our commitment to discovering the best ideas for our clients is absolute. For more information, please visit www.brandnewschool.com.

Watch the video on motion.tv

In the past year, Zoic Studios has developed a unique pipeline product called ZEUS. The showiest of ZEUS’ capabilities is to allow filmmakers on a greenscreen set to view the real-time rendered virtual set during shooting; but ZEUS does far more than that.

Zoic Studios pipeline supervisor Mike Romey explains that the pipeline that would become ZEUS was originally developed for the ABC science fiction series V. “We realized working on the pilot that we needed to create a huge number of virtual sets. [Read this for a discussion of the program's VFX and its virtual sets.] That led us to try to find different components we could assemble and bind together, that could give us a pipeline that would let us successfully manage the volume of virtual set work we were doing for V. And, while ZEUS is a pipeline that was built to support virtual sets for V, it also fulfills the needs of our studio at large, for every aspect of production.

“One of its components is the Lightcraft virtual set tracking system, which itself is a pipeline of different components. These include InterSense motion tracking, incorporating various specialized NVIDIA graphics cards for I/O out, as well as custom inertial sensors for rotary data for the camera.

“Out of the box, we liked the Lightcraft product the most. We proceeded to build a pipeline around it that could support it.

“Our studio uses a program called Shotgun, a general-purpose database system geared for project shot management, and we were able to tailor it to support the virtual set tracking technology. By coming up with custom tools, we were able to take the on-set data, use Shotgun as a means to manage it, then lean on Shotgun to retrieve the data for custom tools throughout our pipeline. When an artist needed to set up or lay out a scene, we built tools to query Shotgun for the current plate, the current composite that was done on set, the current asset, and the current tracking data; and align them all to the timecode based on editorial selects. Shotgun was where the data was all stored, but we used Autodesk Maya as the conduit for the 3D data – we were then able to make custom tools that transport all the layout scenes from Maya to The Foundry’s Nuke compositing software.”

By offloading a lot of the 3D production onto 2D, we were able to cut the cost-per-shot.

Romey explains the rationale behind creating 3D scenes in Nuke. “When when you look at these episodic shows, there’s a large volume of shots that are close-up, and a smaller percentage of establishing shots; so we could use Nuke’s compositing application to actually do our 3D rendering. In Maya we would be rendering a traditional raytrace pipeline; but for Nuke we could render a scanline pipeline, which didn’t have same overhead. Also, this would give the compositing team immediate access to the tools they need to composite the shot faster, and it let them be responsible for a lot of the close up shots. Then our 3D team would be responsible for the establishing shots, which we knew didn’t have the quality constraints necessary for a scanline render.

“By offloading a lot of the 3D production onto 2D, we were able to cut the cost-per-shot, because we didn’t have to provide the 3D support necessary. That’s how the ZEUS pipeline evolved, with that premise – how do we meet our client’s costs and exceed their visual expectations, without breaking the bank? Throughout the ZEUS pipeline, with everything that we did, we tried to find methodologies that would shave off time, increase quality, and return a better product to the client.

“One of the avenues we R&Ded to cut costs was the I/O time. We found that we were doing many shots that required multiple plates. A new component we looked at was a product that had just been released, called Ki Pro from AJA.

“When I heard about this product, I immediately contacted AJA and explained our pipeline. We have a lot of on-set data – we the have tracking data being acquired, the greenscreen, a composite, and the potential for the key being acquired. The problem is when we went back to production, the I/O time associated with managing all the different plates became astronomical.

“Instead of running a Panasonic D5 deck to record the footage, we could use the Ki Pro, which is essentially a tapeless deck, on-set to record directly to Apple ProRes codecs. The units were cost effective – they were about $4,000 per unit – so we could set up multiple units on stage, and trigger them to record, sync and build plates that all were the exact same length, which directly corresponded to our tracking data.”

We found methodologies that would shave off time, increase quality, and return a better product to the client.

Previously, the timecode would be lost when Editorial made their selects, and would have to be reestablished. “That became a very problematic process, which would take human intervention to do — there was a lot of possibility for human error. By introducing multiple Ki Pros into the pipeline, we could record each plate, and take that back home, make sure the layout was working, and then wait for the editorial select.” The timecode from the set was preserved.

“The ZEUS pipeline is really about a relationship of image sequence to timecode. Any time that relationship is broken, or becomes more convoluted or complicated to reestablish, it introduces more human error. By relieving the process of human error, we’re able to control our costs. We can offer this pipeline to clients who need the Apple ProRes 442 codec, and at the end of the day we can take the line item of I/O time and costs, and dramatically reduce it.”

Another important component is Python, the general-purpose high-level programming language. “Our pipeline is growing faster than we can train people to use it. The reason we were able to build the ZEUS pipeline the way we have, and build it out within a month’s time, is because we opted to use tools like Python. It has given us the ability to quickly and iteratively develop tools that respond proactively to production.

“One case in point – when we first started working with the tracking data for V, we quickly realized it didn’t meet our needs. We were using open source formats such as COLLADA, which are XML scene files that stored the timecode. We needed custom tools to trim, refine and ingest the COLLADA data into our Shotgun database, into the Maya cameras, into the Nuke preferences and Nuke scenes. Python gave us the ability to do that. It’s the glue that binds our studio.

“While most components in our pipeline are interchangeable, I would argue that Python is the one component that is irreplaceable. The ability to iteratively making changes on the fly during an episode could not have been deployed and developed using other tools. It would not have been as successful, and I think it would have taken a larger development team. We don’t have a year to do production, like Avatar – we have weeks. And we don’t have a team of developers, we have one or two.

While most components in our pipeline are interchangeable, Python is the one component that is irreplaceable.
“We’re kind of new to the pipeline game. We’ve only been doing a large amount of pipeline development for two years. What we’ve done is taken some rigid steps, to carve out our pipeline such a way that when we build a tool, it can be shared across the studio.”

Romey expects great things from ZEUS in the future. “We’re currently working on an entire episodic season using ZEUS. We’re working out the kinks. From time to time there are little issues and hiccups, but that’s traditional for developing and growing a pipeline. What we’ve found is that our studio is tackling more advanced technical topics – we’re doing things like motion capture and HDR on-set tracking. We’re making sure that we have a consistent and precise road map of how everything applies in our pipeline.

“With ZEUS, we’ve come up with new ways that motion capture pipelines can work. In the future we’d like to be able to provide our clients with a way not only to be on set and see what the virtual set looks like, while the director is working — but what if the director could be on set with the virtual set, with the actor in the motion capture suit, and see the actual CG character, all in context, in real-time, on stage? Multiple characters! What if we had background characters that were all creatures, and foreground characters that were people, interacting? Quite honestly, given the technology of Lightcraft and our ability to do strong depth-of-field, we could do CG characters close-to-final on stage. I think that’s where we’d like the ZEUS pipeline to go in the future.

“Similar pipelines have been done for other productions. But in my experience, a lot of times they are one-off pipelines. ZEUS is not a pipeline just for one show; it’s a pipeline for our studio.

“It’s cost effective, and we think can get the price point to meet the needs of all our clients, including clients with smaller budgets, like webisodes. The idea of doing an Avatar-like production for a webisode is a stretch; but if we build our pipeline in such a way that we can support it, we can find new clients, and provide them with a better product.

“Our main goal with ZEUS was to find ways to make that kind of pipeline economical, to make it grow and mature. We’ve treated every single component in the pipeline as a dependency that can be interchanged if it doesn’t meet our needs, and we’re willing to do so until we get the results that we need.”

Watch the video on motion.tv.

Hybrid production studio Vitamin has created a new spot for Nike, its second spot for the brand this year.

The new ad promotes the Lunarswift+ 2, a redesigned version of the classic Nike running shoe. The Vitamin team concepted a world where the retooling of the shoe occurs in a futuristic laboratory full of pristine high-tech gear. A sleek robotic arm uses a laser to cut a breathable pattern into the shoe’s surface while a gyroscopic pedestal tests its overall performance. Another robot arm swings into view, cradling a display showcasing the shoe’s available color stylings and the “Run Cool” slogan.

Vitamin was responsible for conceptual design through finish, including all CGI modeling, animation, compositing, audio, and color. “At the beginning of the project Nike provided a brief about the new shoe with it’s technical specifications that needed to be featured in the spot…the rest was up to us”, recalls Vitamin Creative Director Danny DelPurgatorio. “It helped having worked with the Nike team in the past. There was a level of trust and creative freedom that contributed to the current campaign for Run Cool”. The testing facility featured in the spot was designed by Art Director Matt Beharry. The creative team felt the hi-tech facility was appropriate for Nike, who is constantly on the cutting edge of technology.

Modeling, animation and compositing was completed by a team of artists headed by Vitamin Art Director Rob Foster and Art Director/3D Lead Linas Jodwalis. Concept Artist Tony Legato prepared all of the conceptual design for the laboratory, the robotic arms and other elements that served as the basis for the models prepared by the CG artists. Jodwalis said that they drew their inspiration, in part, from classic sci-fi films. “We wanted it to be very beautiful and elegant, but also something that could exist in real life,” he explained. “We wanted to show off the shoe, but not in a ‘demo’ way, but rather in a way that is organically integrated into an artful piece.”

Vitamin partnered with frequent collaborater Todd Beyer to create the ethereal soundtrack and sound design for the piece. “We knew from the beginning that music would be a key component to the story. It introduces an element of humanity, which was an important part of the message.” recalls DelPurgatorio.

To view this spot visit motion.tv.

Vitamin is located at 232 East Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611. For more information, call 312.664.6683 or visit their website.

NIKE Run Cool Credits:
Creative Director: Danny DelPurgatorio
3D Lead: Linas Jodwalis
3D Modeling: Evaldas Cesnavicius, Charlie Peterson, Bruce Long, Morgan James, Linas Jodwalis
3D Animation: Morgan James, Igor Choromanski, Linas Jodwalis
Design: Matt Beharry
Conceptual Design & Storyboards: Tony Legato
Compositing & 2D Animation: Matt Beharry, Rob Foster, Danny DelPurgatorio
Music & Sound Design: Todd Beyer
Color Correction: Michael Mazur
Senior Producer: Larissa Shames
Associate Producer: Nina Yoo
Nike Digital Program Manager: Corey Patterson
Nike Executive Producer: Jesse Canright
Nike Producer: Noah Stanik

NEW YORK, NY — Paul Goldman, founder of Ear Goo, Inc. and the design studio Element, LLC, has partnered with Matt Giulvezan, formerly of MTV Networks, to launch The Goo, a new multimedia company with a primary focus on creating content for television, film, web, mobile and emerging media. The Goo consists of three divisions: Action Goo (concept + live action production), Eye Goo (editorial + design + motion) and Ear Goo (music + sound design + mix). The family of The Goo companies will work synergistically to offer clients a first-class, full-service boutique experience.

Additionally, The Goo has acquired Spek Studios, the boutique design studio based in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY. Spek Studios founders Reno Diaz and Rene Avalos will serve as Eye Goo’s Creative Director and Art Director respectively. Spek’s recent work includes the promo campaign of the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards featuring Eminem, Drake and Justin Bieber; ads for Mountain Dew, ESPN, Comcast, Verizon, Scion, Hershey’s; and music videos for Kanye West, to name a few.

”What makes The Goo different is that it combines the power of three distinct companies all sharing a common DNA that can work independently or as a complete full-service production and post company,” says Goldman, who serves as the company’s CEO and Chief Creative Officer. ”This versatility gives us an added edge. We have the power to create and deliver content that is original, intelligent and inspiring, whatever the client objective.”

Giulvezan is perhaps best known for his award-winning creative work over the past decade on the MTV Video Music Awards, Movie Awards, TRL, MTV/Paramount Films, Sony Pictures, The Weinstein Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment. In addition, Giulvezan was responsible for heading up promotions for hit shows and movies such as MTV’s Jersey Shore, Jackass 3D, The Real World, The Hills, True Life, Making The Band and Spring Break. Giulvezan also has extensive experience working directly with Hollywood’s top celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Seacrest, Andy Samberg, Will Forte, Sarah Silverman, Sean Combs, Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Russell Brand, Wayan Bothers and Michael Cera.

”The ability to take a project from inception to final delivery, while working under The Goo umbrella of companies makes us extremely flexible,” says Giulvezan. ”When we pitch an idea we are very much aware of our client’s brand and marketing strategies and will already have considered concept, live action, edit, design, music and mix.”

Over the past 16 years both Goldman and Giulvezan have impressed many with their collective work on such global brands as MTV Networks, McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz, Verizon Business, Volvo, Nintendo, Visa, AT&T, Nokia, Citibank, Stella Artois, FedEx, Paramount Pictures, New Line Cinema, Sony, Universal, ESPN, VH1, BRAVO, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, iNDemand, Nickelodeon and TLC, among many others. Together the duo are at the top of their game with links to every industry award given, including the Emmy, Oscar, Clio, ADDY, Promax/BDA, New York Festival, Art Directors Club, Beacon, and Telly Awards.

Located in mid-town Manhattan, The Goo represents the next generation of cutting-edge, one-stop shop multi-media companies.

About The Goo
The Goo is a multi-media company with a primary focus on content for television, film, web, mobile and emerging media. The Goo consists of three subsidiary companies: Action Goo (concept + production), Eye Goo (editorial + design) and Ear Goo (music + sound design + mix). The family of The Goo companies work synergistically to offer clients a first-class, full-service boutique experience. For more information contact: www.thegoo.com

nailgun* has just released their latest vintage: 2011 spring montage, which represents a distillation of the best of its’ eight years of growth. Besides the natural maturation of skill and process, there are glimpses of their latest project for Converse; a melange of all their talents in design, storytelling and now 3D character integration. The evolution of nailgun’s work reflects Creative Director Michael Waldron’s recent observation; that their love of cinematic perspective is getting more opportunities to surface in their work.

Enjoy this tasting of the continually evolving craft of nailgun*.