2009 Emmys: Outstanding Main Title Design Nominees

Here are the nominees for a 2009 Emmy award in Outstanding Main Title Design.

True Blood (HBO)

Rama Allen, Designer; Shawn Fedorchuk, Editor; Matthew Mulder, Creative Director; Morgan Henry, Main Title Producer; Camm Rowland, Designer; Ryan Gagnier, Designer
Making of and case study on Digital Kitchen’s site

Taking Chance (HBO)

Michael Riley, Title Designer; Dru Nget, Title Designer; Dan Meehan, Animator; Bob Swensen, Main Title Producer

United States Of Tara (Showtime)

Jamie Caliri, Director/Director of Photography/Editor/Main Digital Compositor; Dave Finkel, Creator; Brett Baer, Creator
Q&A with Jamie Caliri on The Art of the Title Sequence

Storymakers (AMC)

James Spindler, Creative Director; Mike Wasilewski, Designer; Ahmet Ahmet, Art Director; Grant Lau, Art Director
Interview with the creators on AMC’s blog

Lie To Me (FOX) – Video not available

Robert Bradley, Title Designer; Thomas Cobb, Title Designer
You can watch full episodes of Lie to Me on Hulu.com (in the United States).

See the official Emmy site for more details.

AICP Digital: Going Deeper

Photo by Mark Sebastian

When the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) announced the formation of a new chapter, AICP Digital, we wondered what impact that might have on motion graphics, animation and visual effects studios and freelancers.

Thanks to Motionographer’s Bran Dougherty-Johnson, we set up an interview with AICP President and CEO Matt Miller and President, Commercials Division and Executive Producer of Digital Domain, Ed Ulbrich, who has helped make AICP Digital a reality.

If you’re not sure whether or not this is relevant to you, don’t worry: it is. As Ulbrich says in our interview, “This should be of really critical importance to the individual, because their quality of life and their livelihood and their pay indirectly is determined by that relationship between these design companies, these animation shops, these visual effects studios, these web development houses—and the relationship with their clients.”

Many of our questions about AICP Digital revolved around rising issues regarding labor practices. “Labor is one of the great ticking time bombs of the motion graphics and design world,” says Ulbrich. “And it’s [about] getting the companies to have awareness of their obligations under the law and employees understanding what’s appropriate.”

Check out the interview here. It’s also available through iTunes, along with our other podcasts.

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F5 Talk 01: Simon Robson and Tim Rayner

For those of you who attended F5 last April, you know that our speakers were a diverse and inspiring mix of creative people from a wide spectrum of fields. As promised, we’re sharing those talks with the world, starting with Simon Robson and Tim Rayner’s presentation about their collaborative project, The Coalition of the Willing.

Although Simon and Tim weren’t the first speakers of our two-day event, we’re sharing their talk first for two reasons. 1) We believe in their cause, and 2) They need your support.

I asked Simon to tell us about his experience of F5:

Talking at F5 was a real pleasure. It gave Tim and I the chance to introduce the project we are currently developing, entitled ‘Coalition of The Willing’. It also gave us a deadline for which to prepare enough material to give the audience a good idea of what the project is all about. In short, F5 gave us a shot in the arm.

I won’t go too much into what ‘Coalition’ is about here, Tim does a fantastic job in the presentation of distilling the thinking and ideas behind the project. Suffice it to say that it’s a film that suggests a collaborative, technological way of combating climate change.

The film is also being made in a collaborative way. In the presentation, I talk about artists who became involved prior to F5. Since F5, Loyalkaspar, Parasol Island and World Leaders have all begun creating sections for the film. I’m thrilled and excited by the good will and the caliber of the artists who’ve thrown themselves into this project.

We plan to give the film a staggered online release, starting by publishing the written argument online and then fleshing this out with shots as and when they are completed. It’s an idea that Tim and I have been developing with Chris O’Reilly from Nexus Productions.

(more…)

Jean-Julien Pous: Gedda Headz “Spaced Out”

Following up on his poetic short film “Seeking You,” director Jean-Julien Pous recently released a new music video for Gedda Headz’ (MySpace) first single, “Spaced Out.”

Like the track, the visuals are a wild blend of analogue and digital. Shot in Hong Kong, because, says Pous, “it’s futuristic and intense, like an Asian Neverland,” the video is a tripped out journey through pop culture and video games shot beautifully by cinematographer Keidrych Wasley.

The video bites off a lot—aside from directing a dozen or so actors and coordinating their stunts with George Jackson, Pous packed his project to the gills with ambitious camera work, including a helicopter shoot. But the production never feels overwrought or Michael Baysian. It just feels fun.

With excellent character design like this, it looks as though Gedda Heads might be following in the footsteps of Gorillaz, channeling their music through their new alter egos. That’d be fine with me. It’d give them a good excuse to hire Jean-Julien Pous again.