Comcast “Rabbit”

The script for “Rabbit,” a new Comcast advert directed by Biscuit Filmworks’ Noam Murro, would probably work as a radio spot. But the visuals add such an enjoyable level of absurdity that it’s hard to imagine it without them.

I like that the character animation is a cross between realism and cartoonish exaggeration. The rabbit’s over-sized eyes and over-the-top facial expressions add a touch of zaniness that counteracts the bravado of the voiceover.

Noam Murro seems to have a penchant for this sort of deadpan absurdity. His recent Sears spot and the celebrated Hummer “Monster” advert both present the unreal as the ordinary.

That’s not to say he’s incapable of straight-up weirdness. Murro’s magic lies in his ability to make the unbelievable not believable, but likable. That’s a refreshing change from the usual approach taken by vfx-centric spots that strive for ever higher levels of hyper-realism.

Oh, and get a load of the credits for this one. Animal Logic, Brickyard VFX and Superfad (among others) all played a part in bringing this baby to light.

Client: Comcast

Title: Rabbit

Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Creative Director: Jamie Barrett
Copywriter: Mike McKay
Group Creative Director: Chris Ford
ACD/Art Director: Nick Spahr
Agency Executive Producer: Tanya LeSieur
Assistant Producer: Peg Oberste

Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Noam Murro
Sr. Executive Producer: Shawn Lacy
Executive Producer: Colleen O’Donnell
Producer: Jay Veal
Director of Photography: Jo Willems

Editorial Company: Bikini Edit
Editor: Avi Orin
Assistant Editor: Paul san Filippo
Executive Producer: Gina Pagano

Visual Effects: Animal Logic, Australia
Creative Director: Bruce Carter
Producer: Nerissa Kavanagh
Art Director: Ben Walsh
Art Director Michael Halford
Lead Compositor: Nicholas Ponzoni
CG Lead: Andrew Jackson
CG Lead: Andreas Wanda

On-Line: Brickyard VFX
2D Artist: Patrick Poulatian
Producer: Diana Young

Telecine: Company 3
Colorist: Dave Hussey

Sound Design: Trinitite Studios
Sound Designer: Brian Emrich

Final Mix: One Union Recording
Engineer: Eben Carr

V/O Mix: Lime Studios
Engineer: Rohan Young
Assistant Engineer: Joel Waters

Graphics: Superfad

About the author

Justin Cone

/ justincone.com
Together with Carlos El Asmar, Justin co-founded Motionographer, F5 and The Motion Awards. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with is wife, son and fluffball of a dog. Before taking on Motionographer full-time, Justin worked in various capacities at Psyop, NBC-Universal, Apple, Adobe and SCAD.

20 Comments

dieLAMB

Always great to see new work from Noam who had been rocking great work for over 10 years.

He’s now stepping into the features world with his new film Smart People.

mfh

madness. I love that the dude has a coffee pot hooked up to his face!!!

david lewandowski

Always a surprise no one in certain circles of post houses know what it means to de-interlace footage for web delivery and circulation.

Drk

That is epic

Matt

Like how they added little things like the carrots on the ground and the ‘lead’ foot.

cuge

are we really gonna nerd out about de-interlacing in here?

anonymouse

ye… nothing like having a couple of months worked ruined by failing to check a single checkbox…

Matt

(^) Yes, we are.

lewandowski:
I remember thinking that when watching one of my favorite VFX reels (posted as a Quickie some time ago)…
https://ny.beam.tv/beamreels/reel_player.php?QjvDZxCfDg&getxip=true&xip=4831ceee

Matt

(^) yes, we are.

lewandowski:
I remember thinking that when watching one of my favorite VFX reels (Mill – posted as a Quickie on June 18, 2007).

lightweaver

now that was dope!

Tread

funny… but too bad it’s a lie. The internet hasn’t gotten faster since I was a freshman in college in 98.

justin

Word. It’s super depressing how the whole ultra-broadband thing never happened. And it doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon.

.dE

In sweden we haven’t got any freshmen but the since 98 my internet has gone from 56k modem to the 100mbit/s i’m on today… I’d say that’s an improvement.

Pa

Well, it has in most european countries.

triangles

to bad comcast is one of the evilest companies. at least they’ve got the cash to make good commercials. they could make a commercial with a big middle finger that airs for like thirty seconds. I’m sure their buddies in congress could make sure it wouldn’t get pulled. yeah, they roll like that. oops… going off the topic here. top shelf work!!

Simon Robson

very funny, very clever…

Juan Breton

i want comcast in my country ! ! ! broadband is just a lie in here !

KGB

Awesome, funny spot.
Too bad comcast is such a necessary evil. :)

untitled

Not my cup of tea. The rabbit running after the jet pack on his back looks strange to me.

wabash

I love this.

Comments are closed.