Interview: Capacity “Upgrade + Mobilize”
In the words of Capacity’s Ellerey Gave, “Before we became designers and animators and communicators, we were painters and illustrators and dreamers.”
Over the course of the last year and a half, Culver City-based Capacity has been working on an in-house short film while juggling client projects for companies like NBC, Cartoon Network and Toyota.
At long last, “Upgrade + Mobilize” is ready for the masses, and it’s definitely worth the wait. Mixing inspiration from Asian animation and art with their own polished aesthetic, Capacity has created a high energy, two and a half minute preamble to an epic battle of good vs. evil backed by beautiful audio from Plaid.
Motionographer was fortunate to get an advance interview with Ellerey about “Upgrade + Mobilize.” Check it out, along with some process work showing the development of this ambitious short film.
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 1:00 pm |
holy cow
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 1:20 pm |
omfffgggg
great job capacity. I BELIEVE IN C4D
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 1:49 pm |
Well done!
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 2:13 pm |
The “hero” moments in this, or when each shot reaches that undeniable state of graphic stillness is my favorite. They hit them – almost on beat – throughout the entire film. The shots are dynamic, transitions effortless, and type is to-die-for!
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 2:42 pm |
WOW! I want more. Much much more. Capacity continues to amaze me.
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 3:54 pm |
The work seemed to have a lot of maturity behind it. I’m not sure if that makes any sense, but it didn’t seem like someone’s first stab at the style, it seemed like they were seasoned pros doing it fluently. I expected something like the character animation to stand out as less good than the visuals, but it all looked equally great. nice job!
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 4:37 pm |
Incredible attention to details as usual!!! Great work you +’d it homeslices.
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 4:41 pm |
Loved the pacing, kept me on the edge of my seat. Good stuff.
Was this all Cinema 4d?
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 8:46 am |
Yep looks like Cinema 4D was the main tool the studio is using !
http://www.maxon.net/en/news/singleview-default/article/maxon-cinema-4d-helps-ignite-broadcast-customers-creativity-boosts-productivity-and-elevates-perfo.html
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 5:14 pm |
Sooo enjoyable to watch!
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 5:34 pm |
damn
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 1:03 am |
Well done Capacity! A definite labor of love that shines all the way through. Great to see this out in the open now!
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 2:20 am |
Stunning work guys!
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 8:13 am |
FUCK!
The bar has been raised!!!
Great work Capacity!
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 8:48 am |
Pure Beauty ! well done !
A nice way to push Cinema 4d the its maximum !
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 11:46 am |
no one annyoed by that asian voice over ? seems so tacked on…
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 5:27 pm |
amazing
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 6:48 pm |
WOW! that is Bawse!
Great job getting Plaid onboard to do the score.
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 8:07 pm |
Truly amazing work.
Ridiculously good.
Love the color palette, the attention to detail, fluid transitions – everything!
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 11:46 pm |
Hey everybody! Thanks so much for all the kind words. It really means a lot to get such positive feedback from our peers. Justin, thank you for the platform to share our work as a community. You are the man.
Thursday, August 13th 2009 at 2:59 am |
WOW that was amazing!
Friday, August 14th 2009 at 7:20 am |
i. love. that.
Tuesday, August 18th 2009 at 1:27 am |
ellerey, was that using any global illunimation or was it just great lighting and clever shaders? or both…
great stuff, loved the sword reference to final fantasy
Wednesday, August 19th 2009 at 9:36 am |
Hi mintyfresh… we used GI for a couple of shots, but the look is mostly achieved through a combination of lighting, hand-painted textures, and lots of compositing. As a few people pointed out, we used C4D pretty heavily in this project… but honestly, once we had our render passes we probably spent more time in AE in Painter. ; )