Justin Cone's Posts
Two hits for Oreo, each with its own twist
Chances are you’ve seen either one or both of the Oreo “Wonderfilled” spots that have been burning up the interwebs.
The :90 anthem was directed by Martin Allais with animation by his own animation shop, Studio Animal. (Not to be confused with the Korean studio by the same name.) It’s a tour de force of 2D character work, packed with cute moments of hesitation and punctuated by charming type.
The :30 version by Royale uses a 3D/2D technique similar to their Christmas short, The Bell Ringer.
The chronically catchy tune was penned by Martin Agency creative director Dave Muhlenfeld and performed by Owl City.
NOTE: This post was updated to correct the studio attributed to the :90 spot.
Credits
Promotive.tv

Promotive.tv is focused on showcasing outstanding television marketing and promotions work. Looks interesting.
Making Glass Cows

From solid block to glass cow with milk inside — a quick look at the process.
Antfood’s frenetic sound design reel

Antfood’s 35-second sound design reel is a frenetic, fun romp for the eyes and ears.
Jordi Pages: Sci-Fi London Titles 2013

Pulsing organic forms set against a cosmic backdrop star in the Sci-Fi London Titles directed by Jordi Pages. Music by Combustion.
IAAH (Nessim Higson) 2013 Reel

Mesmerizing editing and wonderful typography in the latest reel from IAAH (Nessim Higson).
Nicolas Devaux: 5m80

“5m80″ directed by Nicolas Devaux explores the secret lives of giraffes. Produced by Cube Creative Productions & Orange.
Bradley G Munkowitz: Oblivion Screen Graphics
Joseph Kosinski’s latest feature, Oblivion, releases today in the US, and with it comes an impressive onslaught of screen graphics directed by Bradley “Gmunk” Munkowitz.
Like the work he directed for Tron, Munkowitz’s design for Oblivion is brimming with details. Munkowitz and his team oversaw the production of assets for scores of contexts, including an interactive light table, cockpit elements for the “Bubbleship” and HUD elements for various equipment and weapons in the film.
The briefing for the Graphic Language stressed functionality and minimalism while utilizing a bright, unified color palette that would appear equally well on both a dark or bright backdrop.
The function was to reflect the modernized sensibilities of the TET Mainframe computer and would assist the characters with the key components of their duties on earth; be it the monitoring of all Vitals on the ground using Vika’s Light Table, or the various diagnostics in the air using the Jack’s Bubbleship.
For good measure, the team also designed and animated all of the HUD UI for the various machines and weaponry in the film cuz they could, establishing a consistent graphic language that rendered all the interfaces with a loverly cohesion rarely seen in them massive-budget Sci-Fi productions.
Lucas Zanotto: Drawnimal App for iOS

Director Lucas Zanotto launches Drawnimal, an iOS app that encourages kids and parents to think outside the device.
Lagoa Launches, Blows Minds
I was invited to the beta of Lagoa.com (then called TeamUp) several months ago, and even in that early stage it blew my mind. As I toyed with a test scene, I couldn’t help feeling that I was staring into the future of CG — or at least a very interesting aspect of its future.
So what is it?

At it’s core, Lagoa is a cloud-based, photoreal CG renderer. In the simplest possible terms: You upload a scene from your favorite 3D package, hit render and watch the magic happen. With incredible speed, Lagoa produces photoreal imagery in seconds.
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Toros Köse: Reel

Toros Köse launches a new reel with equal parts polish and charm.
NYC ACM SIGGRAPH “Industry Spotlight”

NYC ACM SIGGRAPH’s 11th Annual “Industry Spotlight” presenters include Framestore, Light of Day, Mechanism Digital, The Mill, Mr. X Gotham, Psyop, The Studio and UVPHACTORY. Wednesday, April 3rd from 7:00PM to 9:00PM at FIT’s Reeves Great Hall. Details here.
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013 | Comments Off
“Marvel” by BlackMeal
Paris-based Blackmeal loves Marvel so much, they decided to make an homage to the company’s 74-year history of creating inspiring characters and telling thrilling stories. We asked Blackmeal a little bit about the project:
Quick Q&A with Blackmeal
Was this a project for a client? Or did you do this purely out of love for Marvel?
It was just purely out of love for Marvel.
It looks like it is mostly traditional animation. Is there any CG involved? If so, how?
It’s hand drawn (frame by frame), but we cheated for some characters: Ironman, Cyclops and the end title were created in 3D (Maya).
Was it difficult figuring out how to portray all of the Marvel characters? How did you design each of them?
No, it was easy. We started with a basic idea: The world of Marvel can be explained with simple shapes.
Thomas Lecomte (animation supervisor) is amazing. He chose 11 characters and wrote a screenplay in a few days. After that, you cannot really explain … it just came naturally. Marvel inspires us.
What is your favorite moment of the spot? Why?
Our favorite is without doubt, the first explosion. This is where it all begins.
Credits
Design and animation: Thomas Lecomte
Art direction: Vincent Ben Abdellah
3D composition: Mael François
VFX: Donald Simonet
Editing: Matthieu Colombel
Sound: Mooders
Tip o’ the hat to Will Adams.
The Supraflux Video Camera

The Stabilizer by Supraflux, the guys behind the Picosteady, looks incredibly promising.
Biting Elbows ‘Bad Motherfucker’ (Insane Office Escape 2)

Ultra-violent and possibly NSFW, this first-person POV music video for Biting Elbows’ “Bad Motherfucker” has racked up 5 million views in less than 3 days. Directed by Ilya Naishuller (Great Guns) as a follow up to “Insane Office Escape.”
Stephen Kelleher updates

Long-time favorite Stephen Kelleher updates his design portfolio with a landslide of colorful work.
Wednesday, March 13th, 2013 | Comments Off
Consulado relaunches

São Paulo-based Consulado relaunches
The History of Motion Graphics

SCAD’s Professor Michael Betancourt has penned the first (that I know of) comprehensive history of motion graphics: The History of Motion Graphics: From Avant-Garde to Industry in the United States.
Justin Leibow: Conference Calls

Justin Leibow’s “Conference Calls” is equal parts poetic and maddening.
PES for Het Klokhuis

PES strikes again, this time to create a title sequence for Dutch show “Het Klokhuis.”
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