cgnews » Titles

jonny quest titles – inspiring character design

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 04:49:37 +0000

Roger D. Evans’ Jonny Quest Opening Titles has received quite the online buzz lately.

And rightfully so! This self-proclaimed 53 year-old man (now going on six) pays tribute to one of THE coolest cartoons ever to spin up the imagination of many a kid growing up in the 1960’s.

Roger painstakingly recreates the JQ cast as “3D” characters for his stop-motion opening titles tribute.

This post focuses on the character design for Race, an intelligence operative assigned to protect Jonny after his mother died. Race could fly all types of aircraft, was adept in many forms of self-defense, and was a weapons expert. The Quests held Race in high regard and treated him like a member of the family.

Clearly, Race looks totally different in these two shots yet we know with certainty that it’s Race because of his ever present red flap shirt, even though it occasionally changed into a T-shirt, sometimes in mid-story.

Fun fact: According to the documentary about Jonny Quest, the Hanna Barbara animators were not very proficient in drawing human form and had trouble following master artist and JQ creator Doug Wildey’s reference drawings. The HB animators were far more comfortable with stretchy, rubbery characters like Yogi and Boo-Boo. Thus, Race was Race, as long as he had white hair and a red shirt. So we have to decide which “look” to settle on for Race.

To start his version of Race, a generic soldier action figure that had a fairly “clean” head was located. His hair line was too high and his nose and eyes would have to be altered during sculpting.

Since the neck and body were less than desirable to Roger, he used a separate body to make Race complete. It didn’t matter that the head and body were different colors since they both would be painted later.

Super Sculpey was applied to his head to extend his hair line down onto his forehead and to areas on his face to chisel his cheekbones, widen his jaw and added a clef chin.

Race’s eyes are colored black with a felt tip pen. Though they will be painted over later, the original eyes looked very realistic and were distracting to Roger during the sculpting process.

Here’s the final ‘generic’ version of Race.

View the video on motion.tv.

Roger will be talking about his Jonny Quest project at motion 2011.

Check out his amazing comprehensive ‘making of’ documentation on his website.

2011 emmy nominations for outstanding main title design

admin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:59:44 +0000

The 2011 Emmy nominations for the category of “Outstanding Main Title Design” have just been announced.

Five fantastic sequences made the cut with amazingly beautiful and wide ranging style, design, and direction.

Imaginary Forces has two sequences in the running…HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and AMC’s Rubicon. motion speaker, Karin Fong was creative director on both.

Shine’s sequence for HBO Film’s Too Big To Fail was directed by Michael Riley.

The talented team from UK based Huge Designs created Any Human Heart.

Elastic’s Angus Wall directed the final nominated sequence for the HBO miniseries Game of Thrones.

Good luck to everyone who worked on creating these stunning sequences!

Credits:

BOARDWALK EMPIRE • HBO

Karin Fong, Designer/Director
Michelle Dougherty, Designer/Director
Lauren Hartstone, Designer/Art Director
Cara McKenney, Producer/Art Director

Length: :90
Description: Main Title Sequence for HBO original series
Live-Action, Main Titles
Designed & Produced by: Imaginary Forces
Director: Karin Fong / Michelle Dougherty
Executive Producer: Anita Olan
Producer: Cara McKenney
Designer: Karin Fong, Lauren Hartstone, Michelle Dougherty
Editor: Caleb Woods
VFX Supervisor: Jeremy Cox
Compositors: Jeremy Cox, John Stanch
3D Animator: Nate Homan
3D Tracker: Joerg Liebold
Additional animation: Matt Lambert
Storyboard Artist: Wayne Coe
Matte Painter: Amy Paskow
Design Assistant: Andy Chung
Design Interns: Alex Huang, Karin Soukup
Coordinator: Kacie Barton
Live Action Line Producer: Jennifer Pearlman
Directors of Photography: Aaron Phillips, Russ Swanson
2nd Unit Director of Photography: Wes Carrier

Studio: HBO
Production Company: Bootleg Productions
Director: Martin Scorsese, Terence Winter
Executive Producers: Terence Winter, Martin Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg, Steve
Levinson, Tim Van Patten
Co-Executive Producer: Gene Kelly
Co-Producer: Steve Turner
Music: Brian Jonestown Massacre
additional info: http://www.imaginaryforces.com/featured-work/broadcast/boardwalk-empire/

RUBICON • AMC

Karin Fong, Creative Director
Jeremy Cox, Designer/Animator
Theodore Daley, Designer
Cara McKenney, Producer/Art Director

Length: :42
Description: Main Titles
Designed & Produced by: Imaginary Forces (IF)
IF Creative Director: Karin Fong
IF Executive Producer: Anita Olan
IF Producer: Cara McKenney
IF Designers: Karin Fong, Theo Daley, Jeremy Cox
IF Animators: Jeremy Cox, JJ Johnstone, Andy Chung
IF Editors: Jordon Podos, Caleb Woods, Adam Spreng
IF Design Assistants: Daniel Farah, Leo Marthaler
IF Coordinator: Emily Nelson

Executive Producers: Henry Bromell, Josh Maurer, Jason Horwitch
Director (Pilot): Allen Coulter
Associate Producer: Leslie Jacobowitz
Network: AMC
Senior VP of Original Programming: Joel Stillerman
VP Original Programming: Jeremy Elice
Manager Scripted Development: Tara Duncan
Music Company: Duotone Audio
Composer: Peter Nashel
Music Editor: Sally Swisher
additional info: http://www.imaginaryforces.com/featured-work/broadcast/rubicon/

TOO BIG TO FAIL • HBO

Michael Riley, Creative Director
Bob Swenson, Creative Lead
Adam Bluming, Editor
Cory Shaw, Designer/Animator

additional info: http://www.shinestudio.com/#/projects/main_titles/7/

ANY HUMAN HEART • PBS

Paul McDonnell, Designer
Hugo Moss, Art Director
Justin Lowings, Animator

additional info: Watch the video on motion.tv

GAME OF THRONES • HBO

Angus Wall, Creative Director
Robert Feng, Art Director
Kirk H. Shintani, Animator
Hameed Shaukat, Designer

Client: HBO
Production Company: Elastic
Director: Angus Wall

Post-Production
Design Studio: Elastic
Art Director: Rob Feng
Lead Designer: Chris Sanchez
Designers: Henry De Leon, Leanne Dare
Concept Artists: George Fuentes, Rustam Hasanov
Storyboard & Concept Artist: Lance Leblanc
Production Artist: Patrick Raines
Producer: Hameed Shaukat
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall

VFX Studio: a52
CG Supervisor: Kirk Shintani
Lead Surfacing & Lighting: Ian Ruhfass
CG Artists: Paulo de Almada, John Tumlin, Christian Sanchez, Erin Clark, Tom Nemeth, Joe Paniagua, Dan Gutierrez
2D Animation Artists: Tony Kandalaft, Brock Boyts
Compositers: Sarah Blank, Eric Demeusy
Smoke & Colorist: Paul Yacono

Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall
Assistant Editor: Anton Capaldo-Smith, Austyn Daines
Executive Producer: Carol Lynn Weaver, Linda Carlson

Composer: Ramin Djawadi
Sound Design: Andy Kennedy

For additional info: http://www.elastic.tv/

Watch the video on motion.tv

motion+connect features stereo 3D pros on 7.12.11

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:31:07 +0000

Stereoscopic 3D has come of age with the success of films like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, and the entertainment industry is abuzz with interest in finding fast, efficient workflows that deliver quality results on reliable schedules.

In the third installment of the motion+connect Summer Series, Chris Meyer – principal at Crish Design and leading After Effects expert – presents After Effects: Stereoscopic 3D. He’ll be sharing ideas and techniques on how to use the new Stereo Camera Rig plus the greatly improved 3D camera depth of field blur in Adobe After Effects CS5.5 to create watchable stereo experiences for video, web, and other delivery means.

Next up, the motion+connect QuickFix features a live interview with Creative Director William Lebeda, of Picture Mill. William will talk with motion+connect host, Elaine Montoya about the creative side of stereoscopic 3D and about the process of creating title designs for feature films – and what changes when taking stereo 3D into consideration.

Picture Mill is a motion design studio deeply rooted in the traditional tenets of graphic design and filmmaking and is well-known for their title design work for feature films, including Mission Impossible III, Dreamgirls, The Green Hornet and many more. Designing for stereoscopic 3D is a growing area of expertise for Picture Mill.

Watch Picture Mill title sequences on motion.tv

Crish Design is an award-winning motion graphic design studio. The Meyers are authors of the well-known reference book Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, considered the bible in its field, as well as the best-selling introductory After Effects/motion graphics book, After Effects Apprentice. Crish Design has done work for NBC, ABC, HBO, Fox, TLC, New Line, and Paramount, plus corporations ranging from Apple to Xerox.

yU+co illuminates the green lantern with 3d titles

admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:09:29 +0000

Looking to visually communicate the mythology of “The Green Lantern” in a compelling way, studio Warner Bros. and director Martin Campbell turned to multi-disciplined creative design/visual effects studio yU+co, lead by Creative Director Garson Yu, to design a :90 stereoscopic 3D main title sequence that not only grabbed the audience’s attention, but also brought them up to speed on the superher’s history and set up the film’s first scene.

yU+co also created the film’s stereoscopic 3D main-on-end sequence and credit crawl, along with the main title and main-on-end sequences for this summer’s blockbuster, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”.

“The opening sequence was important to set up the backstory: there’s a whole mythology from the Green Lantern comic books that most people don’t know going into the movie,” Yu says. “So the sequence has to fill you in on that legend before the movie starts. Aside from getting the information across, we wanted to establish a feeling for the world – a big, epic journey through space that says: ‘this is a big superhero movie.’”

Rendered in stereoscopic 3D and perfectly wed to the resonant voiceover from actor Geoffrey Rush, the main title sequence opens with a shot of a green orb known as the “emerald energy of will power” hovering in space. As the camera slowly pulls into the orb, we discover the planet Oa at its center, inhabited by the Guardians who oversee the universe and its 3,600 sectors – each with its own protective Green Lantern. As the giant animated emerald ring that gives each Green Lantern its superpower rushes toward the camera, it splinters into numerous streaks of green light that recall the look of fireflies, only moving in a precise military formation.

The lights then form a green-hued navigational grid that visually conveys the idea that there are many Green Lanterns all around the universe working together as intergalactic peacekeepers. Following a heroic shot of the Green Lantern logo, yU+co introduces us to The Green Lantern’s nemesis, an entity of fear known as the Parallax – seen as a fiery yellow ball of energy and light with an ominous-looking skull at its core. The final shot of the sequence depicts the face of Abin Sur, the only Green Lantern to ever defeat Parallax, encased in a purple mist and wearing an emerald ring on his outstretched hand.

“The energy of willpower is the key to the Green Lantern,” Yu adds. “It’s the source of his power. We took our cue from the visual effects in the movie, but created our own look for the opening – something that visualizes energy because the battle between the green energy of will, and the yellow energy of fear is key to film’s plot. For the face of Abin Sur we wanted to set up this character so that the audience recognize him when they see him later. The design challenge was to stylize him as part of the nebula but still see him as Abin Sur. We overcome this challenge by projecting his purple face onto a 3D cloud like structure and composited it as part of the galaxy.”

A Film Classic Provides Inspiration
Where the main title sequence was an exercise in digital creativity, for the main-on-end-sequence yU+co decided to incorporate an organic technique that was used to great effect in the sci-fi classic “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

To create the unusual patterns of light and color that serve as the back drop for the key credits – rendered in striking green type before disappearing into vapor trails – yU+co used the high-res RED camera to shoot a variety of colored paints and lacquers as they’re poured into water and quickly spreads out. Those images, when blown up in size and composited into the 3D background, created the unusual effect and instantly resembled nebulas in our galaxy. The sequence was made even more powerful when perfectly edited to the guitar-infused techno soundtrack.

“It is important to think of 3D in the design stage, so you actually create a truly stereoscopic sequence,” Yu notes. “For the opening, we tried to maximize the 3D effect by constantly moving past and through objects, nebulas and energy fields. All of the design events and elements are staged in stereo so they are all in truly logical 3D space. Without logic behind it the design won’t make sense.”

In other yU+co news, in addition to their work on “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the company is currently working stereoscopic 3D title sequences for the upcoming “Conan the Barbarian” reboot (Lionsgate) and “Dolphin Tale” (Warner Bros.). The company also recently worked on the trailer for just released Ubisoft’s game “Call of Juarez: The Cartel.”

About yU+co
Recognized as an industry leader in visual design and motion graphics with offices in Hollywood, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, yU+co. specializes in main and end titles for film and television, visual effects, TV show opens and network graphics packages, theatrical logos, game cinematics and commercials. For more information contact Director of Business Development Dianna Costello at 323-606-5050 or moc.ocuynull@annaid

Creative Credits
Client: Warner Bros.
Project: The Green Lantern: Main Title Sequence (“Legend”), Main-on-End Sequence, Credit Crawl.

Design/Production: yU+co, Hollywood, CA
Creative Director/Design Lead: Garson Yu
Legend Opening Designers/Animators: Johnny Wong and Kina Choi
Main-on-End Designers/Animators: Etsuko Uji
Storyboard Designer: Edwin Baker
Comic story consultant: Johnny Ellsworth
Legend Opening Editor: Eric Anderson
Main-on-End Editor: Mike Parks
Stereo Supervisor and Lead Compositor: Stevan Del George
CG Supervisor and Lead Animator: Andrew Honacker
2D lead Compositors: Isa Alsup
Animators/Compositors: Gary Garza and Alex Yoon
2D Compositor: Owen Hammer
Matte Painters: MJ Sarmiento, Shahen Jordan
CG Artists: Mike Fisher, John Roumieh
EFX Artist: David Schoneveld
CG Lighter: Raphael Protti
C4D Artists: Masan Yi, Marc Leidy
Main-on-End EFX Prop Master: Jim Fox
IO: Jacob Medendorp, Adam Christensen
Associate Producer: Ryan Wilk
Producer: Sarah Coatts

Watch the videos
Watch “The Green Lantern” main title sequence on motion.tv
Watch the “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” title sequence on motion.tv
Watch “Call of Juarez: The Cartel” trailer on motion.tv

yU+co titles set tone for pirates of the caribbean 4

admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:43:10 +0000

Creative Studio Captures Mysterious Tone of New Entry In Blockbuster Franchise

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Combining subtle elements from the story such as tear drops, mermaids, a handwritten codebook and a strange symbol, multi-disciplined creative design/visual effects studio yU+co and Creative Director Garson Yu has re-teamed with Academy Award-winning director Rob Marshall and producer Jerry Bruckheimer to create the mysteriously elegant main title sequence and the dramatic main-on-end titles that bookend “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth chapter in the blockbuster Disney franchise in 3D.

‘’I always try to find a metaphor within a story,’’ Yu explains. ‘’The manuscript page, the mysterious symbol, the mermaids, the tear drop, the ocean and the black ghosting ink effects — we incorporated all of those elements into the title sequence to set the tone for the film and prepare the audience to enter this world.’’

Yu, who served as the project’s lead designer, centered his efforts on two distinct sections: the short, but eerily effective, main title; and the longer, more dramatic main-on-end title sequence.

The opening title sequence begins with a shot of a single drop of water landing in the ocean to reveal a handwritten codebook, a strange symbol and the silhouette of what appears to be a mermaid swimming toward a soft blue light. On top of that imagery is the simple typography ‘’On Stranger Tides’’ followed by the now familiar ‘’Pirates of the Caribbean’’ logo.

‘’Using high speed photography I shot a water drop falling at the camera and then reversed the motion to get the effect of a water drop falling away from the audience onto a calm surface of water,’’ Yu says. ‘’The whole title sequence is only 14 seconds but it is very effective. When the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ title come up, it gracefully distresses itself into black ink and melts into the sea. The challenge for me was to take all of the elements — live action and 3D animation — and bring it to stereoscopic 3D life.’’

According to Yu, for the longer main-on-end sequence he incorporated under water production footage as the background for the titles, which are displayed simply yet dramatically, giving them a unique sense of depth and texture.

Reunion with Bruckheimer and Marshall:

Working on ‘’On Stranger Tides’’ marks a reunion of sorts for Yu with both Marshall and Bruckheimer. In 2005 Yu created the titles to Marshall’s ‘’Memoirs of a Geisha,’’ and ironically he also worked with Bruckheimer 10 years ago to develop the logo for his company.

‘’I understand Rob’s aesthetic sensibility very well,’’ Yu explains. ‘’He comes from a Broadway musical background and has a sensible, elegant touch in his work. Both are very hands on and worked as a great team. Filmmaking is a collaborative process. I need the director to guide me to see the world he’s created. It was truly a great experience working with both icons.’’

About yU+co:

Recognized as an industry leader in visual design and motion graphics with offices in Hollywood, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, yU+co. specializes in main and end titles for film and television, visual effects, TV show opens and network graphics packages, theatrical logos, game cinematics and commercials.

Watch the “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” main title on motion.tv

Creative Credits:

Project: ‘’Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’’ (title sequence and main-on-end sequence)

Client: Jerry Bruckheimer Films/Walt Disney Pictures

Design/Visual Effects: yU+co, Hollywood, CA
Director/ Designer: Garson Yu
Executive Producer: Carol Wong
Producer: Sarah Coatts
Designer/Animator: Etsuko Uji
Designer: Edwin Baker
3D Stereographer & Compositor: Stevan Del George
2D Animation / Compositors: Alex Yoon & Mert Kizilay
2D Compositor: Isa Alsup
Roto / Paint: Miljohn Ruperto
3D Animator: Mike Fisher
3D Modeler: Sam Perez
3D Modeler: Robert Burton
Editor: Mike Parks

imaginary forces creates game trailer for starhawk

admin — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:29:12 +0000

Sony unveiled its latest sci-fi western combat video game, Starhawk, at E3 – the world’s largest video game conference.

Director Grant Lau and VFX Supervisor Alex Frisch created a futuristic world filled with spaceships, ATV’s, robotic fighters, and massive explosions entirely in CG.

Imaginary Forces collaborated with 3rd Floor, who did the pre-visualization and motion capture, and Spatial Harmonics Group, who did some of the visual effects for us: fume, exhaust, thruster, and dirt/dust.

Elements based on the game assets were given a cinematic feel as the viewer is introduced to the lead character and his story.

watch the trailer on motion.tv

yU+co Crafts Gritty CG Trailer for Call of Juarez: The Cartel

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:05:40 +0000

Modern Western Atmospherics Play Starring Role In Hollywood-Style Trailer Promoting the Next Chapter in Popular Game Series

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Looking to imbue the just-released trailer for Call of Juarez: The Cartel — the next chapter in their popular western themed shooter franchise (due out this summer) — with a modern look and a powerful ‘Hollywood blockbuster’ feel, game developer Ubisoft again tapped the multi-disciplined creative design/visual effects studio yU+co to execute the project’s complex motion capture, design, 3D animation and visual effects. The trailer is currently airing only online and can be seen at the official Call of Juarez website, as well as select others.

yU+co responded with a :90 creative and technical tour d’ force that perfectly melds the game’s old-west roots into a new contemporary storyline centering on a band of hard-nosed DEA agents matching wits, fists and guns with a drug dealing Mexican cartel.

”Ubisoft came to us with the over-arching concept of dust as both a unifying visual device throughout the trailer, taking viewers from scene-to-scene, but also a symbolic one that refers to the drug trafficking that fuels the Call of Juarez: The Cartel storyline,” Garson Yu, yU+co’s Creative Director, says. ”It was a great idea that inspired our creative execution, and challenged us to build on it and come up with more and more clever, yet subtle, visual metaphors for dust.”

New Motion Capture Techniques

For Sharon Ortiz, Ubisoft’s Senior Creative Writer, developing a concept that would introduce it to gaming audiences would be tricky.

”The Call of Juarez franchise has traditionally been set in the wild west and this new iteration would be the brand’s first set in modern times,” Ortiz said. ”Because of that we needed a concept that introduced the game’s storyline and characters in a unique way that befitted the iconic western — and naturally we wanted that epic Hollywood blockbuster feel. Ubisoft has worked with yU+co quite a few times over the past several years. We knew they would be an ideal partner on Call of Juarez: The Cartel. Collectively they have a great creative eye and an unflagging commitment to detail that would ensure a visually-stunning, high quality trailer.”

To achieve the bold look Ubisoft demanded, and make the extremely ambitious six-week production schedule, yU+co employed a new state-of-the-art system of motion facial capture called MotionScan. Created by the Sydney, Australia-based company Depth Analysis, MotionScan enables a high-res 3D recreation of a person’s face — not just capturing bits and pieces of facial animation, but their entire head, right down to the hairstyle and texture.

After extensive casting, yU+co shot the actors in two separate set-ups. In the first, the cast acted the scenes from the neck up only using the MotionScan technology. In a separate take yU+co captured the body movements and physical action using a more traditional motion capture set up. From there, both sets of data were composited using Adobe After Effects, and comped into the complex 3D animation they created using Maya. A radical way of combining technologies to be sure, but necessary to create the photo-real look the client wanted in a short time frame.

”Our biggest concern was whether we could achieve the visual effects, at a high level of execution, on time,” Brian Tippie, Ubisoft’s Art Director adds. ”yU+co was an integral part in coming up with a solution that would enable us to deliver this project on time. Their recommendation to use facial scanning became the only way to execute this project and have it be more than just another game trailer. They brought the characters to life.”

Memorable Sequence

Perhaps the most memorable sequence in the trailer features a long, continuous take set during a high-speed car chase on the Los Angeles freeway. The camera, in Tarantino-esque slow motion, follows the path of bullet as it’s fired from the shotgun of the main DEA agent, through the rear windshield of the cartel’s SUV and into the back of the driver, resulting in a spectacular crash and ball of fire, containing both real and 3D elements.

”To make this project come together meant partnering with Ubisoft in a way you don’t often see between client and creative studio,” Carol Wong, yU+co Executive Producer, says. ”They showed a lot of trust in us, especially given the new technology we were using. Together, we were extremely focused on making this trailer as powerful and effective as we could. You can see that in the final piece, which creatively stands head and shoulders above most videogame trailers out there.”

In other yU+co news, the company is currently working on main title sequences from two of this summer’s blockbuster releases – ”Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (Disney), due out May 20; and Warner Bros. ”Green Lantern” slated to open June 17.

About yU+co:

Recognized as an industry leader in visual design and motion graphics with offices in Hollywood, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, yU+co. (www.yuco.com) specializes in main and end titles for film and television, visual effects, TV show opens and network graphics packages, theatrical logos, game cinematics and commercials. For more information, contact Director of Business Development Dianna Costello (323-606-5050, moc.ocuynull@annaid).

Web Resources:

Click here to watch Call of Juarez trailer

Click here for more info about yU+co:

Click here for more info about Call of Juarez: The Cartel

Creative Credits:

Client: Ubisoft

Project: “Call of Juarez: The Cartel” trailer (:90)

Production/Design/Animation: yU+co, Hollywood, CA

Creative Director: Garson Yu

Animation Director: Richard Taylor

CG Supervisor: Andrew Honacker

Executive Producer: Carol Wong

Producer: Sarah Coatts

Associate Producer: Ryan Wilk

Project Coordinator/Asset Manager: Jacob Medendorp

Rigging TD: Amy Hay, Joe Spadaro, Juan Carlos

Lighter: Andy Lewis, Jeremy Lei, Luis Cayo

Hair/Cloth TD: Vincent Delay

Hair TD: Chris Christman

Character Animator: Hunter Brown

Compositor/Designer: Gary Garza

Compositor: Stevan Del George, Joel Ashman, Rick Makoul

Character Modeler/Texture Artist: Samuel Perez, Leo An

FX TD: John Roumieh, Karen Smith

Editor: Jason Sikora

VFX Editor: Mike Parks

Motion Capture: Just Cause Productions, Marina Del Rey, CA

Reuben Langdon

Facial MotionScan: Depth Analysis, Sydney Aus. & Culver City, CA

Oliver Bao

yU+co. Concocts Stereoscopic 3D Feast For Yogi Bear Film Titles

admin — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:56:42 +0000

Demonstrating they are smarter than the average design/production studio, yU+co. crafted a glorious stereoscopic 3D main-on-end title sequence for the new Warner Bros animated film Yogi Bear. Led by Synderela Peng, Art Director on the design and Richard Taylor, VFX Director on the production, and Producer Sarah Coatts, the team created a sequence that cleverly incorporates stylistic elements of Saul Bass with the madcap nature of Hanna-Barbera animation to create something truly its own.

''Designing in stereoscopic is very different than designing in 2D,'' states Founder/Creative Director Garson Yu. ''You have to offset the conversion process and bring things closer to the audience as well as further away to create that depth and dimension. You also have to give the audience enough time to enjoy the stereoscopic sensation, so you can't be too 'cutty' with scenes.''

Although yU+co. is no stranger to stereoscopic 3D, having created the 2D and 3D main-on-end title sequence to Shrek Forever After and the 3D logo for 3Ality Digital, Yogi Bear offered them the chance to accomplish more both creatively and technically in the 3D world.

"The initial concept was 'Saul Bass in stereo' -- a clear use of shapes and lines that Bass's classic designs are known for, but married to the playfulness of the Hanna-Barbera animation style,'' says Art Director Synderela Peng.

"We decided to show only silhouettes of main characters because we didn't want to mimic the 3D animation style seen in the film or the original look from 1960s cartoon. We knew the silhouettes would work because the image of Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo are so iconic that people would recognize them even without seeing their faces.''

Set to a rousing song by the alternative rock band Weezer, the Yogi Bear title sequence begins with a series of red and orange hued vertical lines as an array of fruit falls all around. Suddenly the chase is on as we see Yogi and Boo Boo silhouetted in the background driving a cart that drags a line of picnic tables filled with food, while the alarmed Ranger tries to stop them.

The sequence cleverly uses food in every frame, such as cotton candy and popcorn clouds, trees with marshmallow flowers and giant turkey legs, watermelon slices, sandwiches, cherry pie and hot dogs that dot the landscape and serve as a surface for the credit typography.

Some of the noteworthy scenes in the sequence include a nod to the Super Mario Bros., as Yogi and Boo Boo escape the Ranger by jumping and climbing various food items; and a scene in which Yogi and Boo Boo ride a raft down a waterfall.

“Once we agreed on the use of the silhouette concept, the challenge became to create enough gags to carry the sequence through,” says Edwin Baker, yU+co writer/designer. “We wanted to use the food in abstract ways that helped expand the visual language. The transitions needed to be clever, surprising and fluid. With the stereoscopic we wanted to find new ways to push the food landscape and make it more fun and exciting.”

Among the key creative choices yU+co made was to bring a team traditional cel animators aboard to create the silhouetted version of Yogi, Boo Boo, the ranger and a new turtle character, created using Flash. While it may seem to some unnecessary to have a cell animation team work on silhouettes, Peng noted that a lot of expression needed to be conveyed in the arm and leg movements of the main characters.

“Because you don’t see any facial expressions, it was imperative that we work with character animators because we needed a clear articulation of what the characters are doing based only on arm and legs movements”, Peng says. “Arms and legs had to show the emotions like joy, fear and frustration — very subtle movements and completely different from the motion graphics.”

”Thanks to the film producer Donald De Line, we had the opportunity to work on this film which gave our design team another added dimension to use their storytelling talents,” comments Yu. ”As a result, we’sve developed a great 3D pipeline to produce stereoscopic work and our team can handle just about any kind of project that out there.”

In other yU+co news, the company recently completed work on the main-on-end title sequence for the feature length documentary Waiting for Superman, which was selected as Best Documentary by the National Board of Review and the title sequence for Universal Pictures’s recent box office hit, Little Fockers.

About yU+co:
Founded in 1998, yU+co. is an award-winning visual design and production agency with offices in Hollywood, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. yU+co. work encompasses a wide range of disciplines, including feature film production and visual effects, television branding and promotion, interactive and experiential design, gaming cinematics and commercial advertising.

CREDITS
Project: Yogi Bear main-on-end titles
Client: Warner Bros.

Design/Animation: yU+Co., Hollywood, CA
Creative Director: Garson Yu
Art Director: Synderela Peng
VFX Director/Supervisor: Richard Taylor
Producer: Sarah Coatts
Effects Coordinator: Sean Hoessli
Design Team: Edwin Baker, John Kim, Daryn Wakasa, Etsuko Uji
3D Stereoscopic Compositors: Stevan del George, Mark Velacruz
After Effects: Jill Dadducci, Andres Barajas, Gary Garza, Wayland Vida, Alex Yoon
Animators: Josh Dotson, Eddie Moreno, Noel Belknap, John Dusenberry, Dae In Chung,
Ben Lopez, Pota Tseng
Editorial: Jason Sikora, Latoria Ortiz

RELATED LINKS
www.yuco.com

BIGSMACK Designs Oprah Winfrey Network Branding

admin — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 12:20:32 +0000

From its initial pitch, to designing the hugely successful upfront campaign, to the numerous branding twists and turns taken in the two-plus years since mega-brand Oprah Winfrey announced the end of her popular syndicated talk show and the January 1, 2011 launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), one company has remained constant ?‚àö√ë‚àö¬®- creative agency/design studio BIGSMACK. The award-winning studio led by Creative Director Andy Hann, designed the much-anticipated network complete on-air look including IDs, menus, bumpers and lower thirds, as well as a comprehensive promo toolkit.

?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§'sThis project was a long creative journey for us,'' Hann says. ''We'sre proud of the work and the fact that we beat out a lot of very good companies to nab this high profile assignment.'s's

Working off a logo designed by Bruce Mao Design, Chicago, the OWN on-air look conceptually takes viewers inside the ''O'' of the logo -- a modern, warmly lit world that abstractly resembles the look of naturally blown glass combined with an array of organic elements and digital animation.

One of BIGSMACK notable contributions was the idea of color-coding the on-air elements for specific times of the day. In the morning, the look veers toward a palate of orange and yellow hues; while a green tint marks the afternoon; and cool purple and burgundy shades represent the evening hours.

?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§'sUsing different colors gave us the freedom to explore the logo in different ways,'s's says Hann, who presented the BIGSMACK pitch directly to Winfrey and her team.

?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§’sWe chose to present the logo as a sculpture, a piece of crystal art that grabs viewer attention and makes a statement, giving the mark a feeling of importance. Going inside the ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§O’s is a metaphor for journey, personal growth, and awakenings, which is what Oprah is all about.’s's

Hann also noted that the Bruce Mao Design logo was the most complicated he had ever worked with. ”We were given a 2D logo, but the OWN crew wanted it to be interpreted into 3D. It ended up being a complicated model that made for long render times. For a network package, this was a significantly more complex logo than most.”

To create the on-air look BIGSMACK shot an array of natural elements — including light reflected through a variety of objects like crystal and Plexiglas, as well as water, glitter and particle dust — on a soundstage using a Canon 5D camera. That organic basis was then composited with digital elements animated using Cinema 4D and Adobe After Effects.

”Given Oprah style and personality, it was important that we ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§keep it real’s design-wise and incorporate these organic elements,” Hann adds. ”It would have been much easier to create these elements digitally, but the organic elements were more in keeping with the Oprah brand and what she is building with OWN.”

About BIGSMACK:
Lead by Creative Director Andy Hann, BIGSMACK is a full service creative agency specializing in the broadcast industry. From their offices in downtown Philadelphia, BIGSMACK creates, produces, designs and posts image and promotional campaigns for the world leading entertainment providers. Recent clients include Discovery Channel, Nat Geo, HBO, Comedy Central, Sundance and A&E, among others.

CREDITS
Client: Oprah Winfrey Network
Project: On-air branding/promo toolkit
Production/Design: BIGSMACK, Philadelphia, PA
Logo Design: Bruce Mao Design, Chicago, IL

RELATED LINKS
www.bigsmack.tv
www.oprah.com/own

The Big Apple Circus Gain Manic Titles

admin — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:48:12 +0000

The Big Apple Circus has been dazzling US audiences for decades with its world-class performers. This autumn, the circus is entertaining a larger group than ever before, and in a different way than ever before, as Circus – a six-part PBS documentary – offers an in-depth look into the outside-the-big-top lives of the clowns, trapeze swingers, animal trainers and other talented people at the core of Big Apple’s success.

When PBS brought in Show of Force to produce the show's opening sequence, the company immediately turned to Manic to handle production of the opening titles, which were concepted by design firm Chermayeff & Geismar. The result is a beautiful slow-motion sequence of characters flipping, riding and juggling across a stark-black, spotlight-accented screen as bold red typography scrolls across. The type varies in size, seems to float across the screen, and occasionally interacts with the characters, as when a pink-clad acrobat parts the letters of one credit, or when another title appears to snap at the force of a dog trainer's lowering hoop.

"Show of Force came to us with a few episodes already cut, so they had a fairly solid idea of the direction the show was heading," noted Manic CD Fran Roberts. "They also had done some preliminary exploratory on branding, logo and typography with Chermayeff & Geismar. What they needed was something that took the look and feel of the show and elevated the entire concept - showing the spectacle of the circus but personalizing and attaching to the more intimate human elements - with a lot of production value and spark, which is where Manic stepped in."

Manic spent six weeks on the project, making use of Apple Final Cut Pro and Color, Adobe Creative Suite, Autodesk Softimage and Flame throughout the two weeks of design and exploratory and the four weeks of subsequent production. The first act was to enhance the initial look of the type by fully integreating the letters as 3D objects that would respond to light and camera travel. Thereafter, the studio retimed, rotoscoped, color and density corrected, and performed rig/set removal on the raw footage.

“The plates had been shot on Phantom at various high speed frame rates, with all rigging and safety equipment exposed. We had to transform the raw shots into the clean final look,” said Roberts. “Not a problem given Manic’s depth of expertise, but we spent a lot of time simply making the plates work and flow in sequence.”

The project also spotlighted another area of Manic’s postproduction expertise that will become increasingly more relevant – 3D – as they tied the type and footage together and finalized the sequence in Flame.

About Manic:
Manic is a comprehensive creative solution for conception through completion of all media. Based in NoHo NYC, Manic delivers live-action production, cutting-edge motion graphics, 2D and 3D VFX, design, animation, and high-end finishing services for clients working in commercials, feature films, television, music videos and broadcast. The company’s artists and principals have led campaigns for notable brands such as Nike, Virgin Mobile, Acura, Reebok, Verizon, Maybelline, and Apple from major agencies TBWA/Chiat/Day, Merkley+Partners, McCann Erickson, and JWT to name a few.

CREDITS
Network: PBS
Show Title: Circus

Prod Company: Show of Force
Directors/Co-creators/EPs: Jeff Dupre, Maro Chermayeff

Design: Chermayeff & Geismar
Designer: Sagi Haviv

Post/Effects: Manic
CD: Fran Roberts
Animator(s): Eric Konon, James McMillan
MD: Bob Cagliero
Producer: Topper Anton

RELATED LINKS:
www.nycmanic.com

SOURCE:
Read more: http://www.trustcollective.com/portfolio/content/manic_circus.php#ixzz15jZuWy8Z
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