To go along with the massive ad campaign will be a series of nine animated shorts ala Animatrix. Nine different directors will create shorts about each circle of hell that Dante descends through on his journey to save Beatrice (which I’m sure will be very close to Dante Alighieri original text).

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Nexus directors Mighty Nice recently collaborated with illustration duo We Buy Your Kids and animated a trippy music video for Paul Dempsey. The enigmatic tale of parallel universes is mysterious but seems familiar, like a dream remembered in pieces. We Buy Your Kids had previously worked on spots for SBS and ABC under the direction of Mighty Nice. When they were commissioned for the video, they turned around and returned the favor, stating:

“We started storyboarding it out as a journey through all of the art made for the releases – through our existing art and into more elaborate pieces made especially for the clip. That was the brief and we wanted to keep it to this simple idea so we avoided being too literal or establishing a strict storyline. Mighty Nice brought so much to the table and their ideas and expertise really make the clip what it is. Especially with the slow dreamy pace of it all – all those effects and additions are pivotal. We’re also crazy particular about our images being changed or edited – but we were particularly thrilled with what they did with the texture animations in the figures, adding lighting etc and of course the character animation.”

Credits
Director: We Buy Your Kids
Production Company: Mighty Nice
Label: EMI
Artist: Paul Dempsey
3D: Stefan Wernik, Alison Bond, Alex McLeod
Compositors: Pete Nizic, Toby Pedersen and Olivia Watson
Producer: Clare Downie

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Originally posted as a Quickie, the promo for Massive Attack’s “Splitting the Atom” deserves a brighter spotlight, if only to illuminate all the incredible work that went into the project. From the storyline to the final composites, it’s a project that glitters darkly, thanks in large part to the vision of director Edouard Salier.

We asked Salier for a little more info on the project:

Last September, I received a call from Svana Gisla from Black Dog in London. She told me that Robert del Naja (aka 3D from Massive Attack) had seen some of the short films I directed. He wanted me to work on a project for their new album. They sent me all the tracks from Heligoland, and I picked “Splitting the Atom.”

I’ve listened Massive Attack since my teen years. Their music has inspired me in so many ways. I would say that their music world is pretty close to my own graphic world.

Sound and music play a major part in my films—I’ve been working with the same composer, Doctor L, for many many years. He’s part of the same background that Massive Attack. So I think Massive Attack and I were meant to cross paths.

After choosing the song, everything was easy: I asked them for some specifics, what they really wanted from me. They gave me a free hand, I came up with an idea and the band instantly bought it.

From start to finish, my team and I worked independently of the band. And there were just a few of us, because most of my team was already working at the same time for the new music video of Air (also a black and white sequence)!

Digital District did the 3D and flaming job. Remi Ganiette worked on the camera, Jean Lamoureux worked on rendering, Kevin Monthureux and Jimmy Cavé did the modeling. And last but not least, my old friends Zavou (Xavier Reyé), JuleMich (Julien Michel) and Dadoo (Damien Martin) were in charge of compositing.

For two months, we worked in a small group, all mesmerized by the voice of Horace Andy, all obsessed by each tiny particle of “Splitting the Atom.”

Credits
Title: Splitting the Atom
Director: Edouard Salier
Commissioner: Svana Gisla
Client: Virgin Music UK
Production: Scream Park, Paris
Executive Producer: Anne Lifshitz
Post Production: Digital District
Post Producer: David Danesi
CGI: Jean Lamoureux, Rémi Ganiette, Kevin Monthureux, Jimmy Cavé
Compositining and Art: Julien Michel, Xavier Reyé, Damien Martin
Flame: Christophe Richards
Music: Massive Attack

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We don’t usually feature straight cinematography work on Motionographer. However, what Director/DP Phillip Bloom was able to capture on Canon 5D and 7D DSLR’s during his 5-day stay at the Skywalker Ranch is so beautifully shot and full of inspiration that we just had to share it.

At the home of George Lucas, with Lucusfilm Producer Rick McCallum and Head of Post-Production Mike Blanchard, Bloom was faced with only one mission: show them how to get the best out of the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon 7D.

This epic, 7-minute short film goes well beyond that with one jaw-drop after another.  Philip Bloom’s blog post on the shoot is also a useful guide into his process and gear.

With this level of quality coming from the new breed of DSLRs, this undoubtedly changes the game for studios of all shapes and sizes and their creation of high-end live action.

For a fitting example, check out Prologue’s beautiful use of the Canon 5D in this motion test for the Sherlock Holmes main title (via Art of the Title.)

Have you used DSLR video for a project? Share it in the comments!

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For Simon Robson, Tim Rayner and a slew of other collaborators, what started as conversation and sketches is now coming to life in the form of “Coalition of the Willing.” To quote the site, which launched yesterday:

“Coalition of The Willing” is a film that discusses how we can use new internet technologies to leverage the powers of activists, experts, and ordinary citizens in collaborative ventures to combat climate change.

Rayner and Robson first announced their project at F5 last spring in New York City. Since then, they’ve assembled an impressive array of talent from around the world, all joined together in an effort to create positive change through the power of animation and collaboration.

Drawing on his past experience creating viral hits like “What Barry Says” and working as animation director on the BAFTA-nominated “Taking Liberties,” Robson took on the roles of director and producer, while also finding time to animate his own sections of the film.

To get the full story behind the project, I donned my dorky headset and conducted a Skype interview with Robson. Watch it below or on Vimeo.

Learn more

Coalition of the Willing’s Facebook page
Official site

Posted on Motionographer

“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.

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For Alan, this is an appropriate follow-up to his last naturalistic stop-motion video “In Our Talons” for the Bowerbirds. Much like his past work, Alan creates whimsy through simplicity. The consuming undercurrent that runs through these narratives are the result of a restraint and patience — a likely by-product on his background with docs and as a DP.

A solid track never hurts either…

You can also check out the making-of for some stop-motion chat about the fundamentals.

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Production Companies – Coy! Communications and A Large Evil Corporation
Mark Fairbanks – Writer
Paul Pateman – Writer
Mike Nicholson – Writer
Mark Denton – Writer
Mark Denton – Co-Director
Seth Watkins – Co-Director
Yvonne Clayton – Agency Producer
Guy Thomson – Producer
Christian Mills – Animation Director
Alex Bland – Production Designer
Eva Bennett – Lead Animator
Kenneth Jensen – Lead Modelmaker
Tony and Gaynor – Music Composition and Sound Effects
Martin Astle – Sound Engineer
Golden Square – Post Production

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Het Klokhuis is the Dutch childrens television show title that literally translates as ‘The Apple Core’.

Nexus Director Johnny Kelly along with sculptor, Jethro Haynes built the apple shells with 3D rapid prototyping technology (to maintain the logo shape). They were then animated in London’s Clapham Road Studios. The result is a beautifully handcrafted stop motion title sequence.

Credits
Agency: KesselsKramer
Art Director: Christian Borstlap
Producer: Pieter Leendertse

Production Company: Nexus
Director: Johnny Kelly
Executive Producers: Christopher O’Reilly & Charlotte Bavasso
Producer: Luke Youngman
Production Manager: Jo Bierton
Creative Development: Beccy McCray
Animation: Nexus Productions

Model-maker: Jethro Haynes
Animators: Matthew Cooper, Tine Kluth
Compositing: Alasdair Brotherston

Director of Photography: Matthew Day

Music: Harry Bannink
Sound Design: FC Walvisch Amsterdam

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In the cultural tradition of pop psychology, the number 16 is celebrated as a coming of age. For young girls, in particular, the allegorical figure is a worn as insignia to symbolize the connate transition from girlhood to young womanhood. Even so, while most ceremonies are are marked by high spirits and  jubilation, Boolab and The Ebeling Group, in their main title for film festival, Slamdance, get the party started with “Sweet 16.”

Palpitating to the rumbling beat of a drum and unfurling at a frenzied pace, the piece makes haste, borrowing from sweet 16 folklore by illustrating the benchmarks of pubescence through a surfeit of rousing imagery. By way of the first shot, the audience catches a glimpse at the awkward portrait of innocence: a sweet young girl with wide eyes, buck teeth, and  straggly hair.

Wrought with a series of literal and figurative transformations, the cinematography is elegant: brimming with quick cuts that fire in rapid succession, leaving the audience in a stupor to the evocative imagery and reverberating beat. As the storytelling visuals swell into motion, viewers are shepherd through a turnstile of tactful visual effects that exist solely to reinforce the conceptual underpinnings of the enduring, sweet 16 mythos.

For process imagery and insight from the Boolab director, Nico Casavecchia, continue here.

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