Superfad : Preguntas Hermosas

Superfad Seattle has just released a new short film called Preguntas Hermosas, a beautiful tale of a time shared between two people told through a combination of “Poema X” by Pablo Neruda and “Under the Harvest Moon” by Carl Sandburg. As explained by Director David Viau, “The story unfolds in three parts; a fond remembrance, loss, and then finally acceptance.”

With cinematic transitions and methodical pacing, Preguntas Hermosas casts dark characters in epic worlds for its arresting narrative. The film’s narrator, Gabriel Puerto, complements the score and adds depth to the amazing visual journey. The camera work shows great restraint, leaning more toward a practical approach to cinematography in the CG environment.

David was kind enough to share some of his thoughts and a bit of the process, after the jump:

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Motionographer readers get a 10-day free trial to Stash. Use the code MGR0610 here. (That code also gives you discounts in the Stash store.)

BIF: Russian Dolls

And yet another spot for Amnesty from a powerhouse French directing-collective brings us “Russian Dolls” from BIF, produced by Rods.

Despite the lack of CG on this one, the narrative techniques share major similarities in their refined simplicity and symbolism to Pleix’s Death Penalty piece. Its audio also turns a table-top into a landscape for drama.

Although this spot is coming via La Chose rather than TBWA, in the case of Pleix’s piece, Amnesty has always found ways to address large issues in visually universal terms while still delivering the same impact as being completely literal.

Credits:

BNS: 2010 AICP Sponsor Reel

BNS: 2010 AICP Sponsor Reel

Pleix: Death to the Death Penalty

“Death Penalty” is latest from Pleix, produced by Warm and Fuzzy, for Amnesty International.

Drawing inspiration from the Amnesty logo, a lit candle, Pleix (collaborating with Parisian VFX-house, Digital District) crafts a simple, elegant and haunting piece.

Surprisingly, this spot was done in CG with some minimal shot elements. The statues were all sculpted in CG and then deformed.

“Creating the texture of wax was relatively easy to render compared to simulating realistic deformations of wax,” says Pleix. “CG software is great when you are making quick water splashes, but they were unusable to melt things very slowly. So we had to find many tricks to make it work, especially with the melting being the highlight of this project. We also did a number of facial scans which enabled us to create extra details on the faces. It was a challenge to the very end. ”

Credits:

Andre Maat & Superelectric: World Cup Promo

Simple and clever stop-motion World Cup Promo from Andre Maat & Superelectric with Markenfilm, Berlin

Eric Alba and his Adjustable-Height #VFX Tracking Marker Poles

Eric Alba and his Adjustable-Height #VFX Tracking Marker Poles. Really generous and thorough D.I.Y tutorial, from a stereoscopic feature he is working on.