LAIKA: Tostitos "The Amazing Flamenco Chef"

LAIKA: Tostitos “The Amazing Flamenco Chef”

LAIKA: Tostitos “The Amazing Flamenco Chef”
Posted by Lauren Indovina
A spot hit the airwaves last week and caused a stir in our community. It had the kind of superb craftmanship that catches your eye amid the muddy commercial landscape.
“The Amazing Flamenco Chef” comes from LAIKA’s commercial division, LAIKA/house and director Nicholas Weigel. Teaming up with agency Goodby Silverstein and Partners, Weigel and his team have further catapulted LAIKA’s already solid reputation into contention with top CG commercial shops that can pull off a commercial narrative with saucy animation bolstered by a feast of triumphant design.
Weigel’s no stranger to Motionographer. He worked with Psyop as an Animation Director on “Coke: Inside the Happiness Factory” and with The Mill on Orangina’s “Naturally Juicy” project before joining the LAIKA/house family in 2008.
LAIKA’s also enjoying another bit of animation news: LAIKA Entertainment’s “Coraline” was just nominated for an Oscar. With LAIKA’s unwavering artistry- and people like Weigel—LAIKA/house is parlaying their sibling’s success as masters of narrative and stop-action into victory in the commercial world.
Note: Interview to come. Director Nicholas Weigel will talk about “The Amazing Flamenco Chef” and Laika’s commercial division, LAIKA/house.
Posted on 3 February 2010 |
Tags: "Salsa", cg, character animation, character design, Laika, Tostitos
http://masdconstruction.blogspot.com/ Marcos.Silva
Awesome Tv Spot from Laika/house. I love the animation of the girl and all the scenary and sliced tomatoes! just wonderfull! the Art direction is just an eye candy awesome colors and lighting. !
Congratulation for Laika/house! Can’t wait for the director’s interview.
cheers
bicycleman
PERFECT AD! I loved every second! I’m buying the salsa just because of the ad!
supari
Congratulations to Mr. Nicholas Weigel and Laika on a job superbly done! I too loved every bit of it. Nice flow in boards. I also love Salsa’s design. Looking forward to the interview with the director and to see more of his work in the future.
PeanutButter
i like this guy’s work, and I think this ad is spectacular. One question I have though is why does this character design not have a nose? What’s up with that?
tknott
Great Job Nicolas
benja
Nice! This spot makes me HUNGRY for more work by Weigel and the LAIKA house team!
http://www.briandrucker.com briandrucker
Beautiful. The animation is so subtle and dynamic….Nick. And the lighting is equally as amazing….go Saira. Congrats on a stunning piece.
jrtorrents
nice work
http://deoclicianocgiportfolio.wordpress.com/ ochyming
Nice work.
The guitar ruined the music, it should be more “dramatic”.
I wonder if Flamenco lovers wouldn’t feel robbed, tho.
http://www.holbrooksfilms.com tomshqui
Very cloudy with a chance of meatballs, and super lush.
The nose is superfluous to the design, just as there is no reason to have eyebrows or a tail… it’s not like she’s jumping round sniffing all the food.
oeuf
I can admire the technical prowess of this piece. The landscapes are beautiful and the slow motion is great, but that character ruins it for me.
http://kulthouse.com kult
What about the character ruins this entire piece for you?
oeuf
Just my opinion, but the noseless, browless face, her hands and that gumby-like shoulder (RIP Art Clokey). Nitpicking, I guess, but when she comes up close and her face is framed in the shot (see frame above) it kind of ruins it.
Again, just my opinion…
I’d like to see what other designs were made for the character, and what led ultimately to the decision of using the one in the spot.
dandegloria
This spot is great! I saw it on TV and wanted to see who created it, wasn’t surprised when I found out. Excellent work.
comfortk
This spot is amazing, I’d love to know all the problems that came up during the process of making it.
laraanderson2@gmail.com
The entirety of the character design bugs the ever living daylights out of me. As an illustrator I focus on making characters friendly and usable for marketing, this character is neither. She is too distracting from the immaculate backgrounds that were created. You look at her and focus on what wrong with the face immediately because the proportions are so wrong for the hyper reality going on in the background, which happens to be stunning, No doubt that the movement and the animation is beautiful, but it all gets ruined with an ugly unrealistic face.