Paris-based Moustache created this ethereal voyage through a glowing world for Studio 37, Orange’s feature film production company.

Credits on the Moustache project page.

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Moustache: Studio 37

And from looking at the production art they were kind enough to send to us, this production involved alot of research and development. It almost looks like a Disney production….’cept with balls and tits.

Bravo.

Girl
Boy

Music by Future Perfect

Advertiser/Client: AIDES
Product/Service: AIDS AWARENESS
Director: Minivegas
Agency: TBWA, Paris
Animation/VFX Girl: Minivegas
Animation/VFX Boy: MPC & Minivegas
Executive Creative Director: Erik Vervroegen
Creative Director: Erik Vervroegen/Michel De Lauw
Copywriter: Xander Smith
Art Director: Jonathan Santana
TV producer: Maxime Boiron
Production Comapny: La Pac
Music: Future Perfect
Account Supervisor: Anne Vincent/Veronique Fourniotakis

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Cheeky PSA’s for AIDES

Way back in June of 2006, we posted a Quickie about Grzegorz Jonkajtys’ short film, Ark. He recently sent word that the film’s site has been revamped (and that it won Best of Show at SIGGRAPH 2007).

Ark is a breath-takingly gorgeous bit of filmmaking. From the epic mattes to the subsurface scattering in the flesh textures, it’s the kind of project you want to crawl inside and spend all week exploring. Jonkajtys crafted a fully realized world, lush with detail—which only makes the twist at the film’s conclusion that much more pointed.

Don’t miss the fxguide article on how miniatures, a motion control camera and CG was used in the film.

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Grzegorz Jonkajtys: Ark

Paper Airplane is a collaboration between Nervo and agency start-up muh-tay-zik for communications technology company, Premiere Global Services. The animation does a wonderful job of keeping the whimsical spirit of Betsy Walton’s illustrations. Great sound too.

A little more on how this was made, from Nando Costa:

Betsy gave us most of the assets as finished paintings with very few separate layers. Our goal was to animate the elements in such a way that they still felt hand drawn. We were trying to stay away from any stereotypical processes for simulating the illustrated feel, such as using sequences of hand-drawn lines.

The only 3D elements are the paper airplanes and the characters, which were built in XSI. After rendered, the elements went through some multi-layering compositing process in AE to get the same kind of rough look that the original illustrations had.

Check out some illustrations, pre-animation here and here.
Check out some stills from XSI here and here.

You can see more of Betsy’s work on her flickR and her website.

Credits

Creative Director: Nando Costa
Illustrator: Betsy Walton
Animators: Brian Merrell, Jeff Norombaba, Alphonse Swineheart, Thiago Costa, Joshua Cox
Music: Darrin Wiener

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Nervo: “Paper Airplane”

Barcelona-based DVEIN just dropped a set of four IDs for National Geographic Channel that show how extraordinary ordinary objects can be when they’re examined from the right perspective.

[UPDATE] Due to a misunderstanding on my part, I mistakenly credited DVEIN for another project originally listed in this post. It will appear separately. My apologies.

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DVEIN for NatGeo

PauseNYC (presented by FITC) has put together a solid lineup of speakers for its inaugural event this November 10th and 11th at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. The early bird registration price of $149 ($89 for students) ends on Friday, so hurry and get yours while you can!

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PauseNYC: November 10-11

For this new American Express advert, Not To Scale’s National Television created a believable claymation look entirely in CG. According to the release: “Shooting the elements for real would have left the Agency and Client little room for ongoing changes and edit decisions, so bringing the script to life in Maya was quickly agreed as the best possible option for all eventualities.”

Makes sense to me. I’m sure this approach has been used many times before without me even knowing it. The first time I remember bumping into it was in Coke “Cloud” from Psyop back in 2006.

Hear No Evil’s music and sound design for “Clay” are worth noting. I love the accordion fill during the lobster sequence, and the way the tympani-based percussion gives way to a funky trap set by the spot’s end. It really helps give the whole spot forward movement.

Credits can be found on National’s project page. The spot can also be viewed on Not To Scale’s site under Latest.

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Not To Scale/Natl for Amex “Clay”

This elegant and poetic piece, directed by Shilo, mixes an amazing performance by international spoken word artist Ainsley Burrows, with flowing, metaphorical cg elements and a cinematic live action location.

Working with Saatchi & Saatchi London, Shilo has crafted some impressively integrated moments that add a nice visual spin to accompany Burrow’s voice. It’s such a nice breath of fresh air to have spoken word drive the audio and create the tone vs. the typical monotone voiceovers that we hear soo much today in TV spots.

Project Name: Guinness “Spoken Word”
Length: :60
Film Location: The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor - Bayonne, NJ
Market and Media Distribution: Caribbean TV

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
City/State: London, England
Creative Director: Tim Hearn
Creative Team: Dave Govier, Levi Slavin
Executive Broadcast Director: Andy Gulliman
Regional Planning Director: Karen Johnstone
Account Director: Frederic Roger
Account Manager: Victoria Reiz
TV Producer: Laura Mueller
TV Production Assistant: Emma Wolanski

Production Company: Shilo at Hanrahan
City/State: Bicoastal, USA
Director: Shilo
Creative Director: Andre Stringer
Director of Photography: Martin Ahlgren
Associate Creative Director: Evan Dennis
3D Lead: Tamir Sapir
Editors: Josh Bodnar, Andre Stringer, Galen Summer
Illustrator: Zach Johnsen, Evan Dennis
Animators: Henning Koczy, Craig Kohlmeyer, Stieg Retlin
Compositors: Bashir Hamid, Tamir Sapir, Andre Stringer
3D Artists: Warren Heimall, Craig Kohlmeyer, Christina Ku, Youngmin Kim,
Chris Fung, Joji Tsuruga
Rotoscopers: Constance Conrad, Joel Voelker, Chris West, Stieg Retlin
Trackers: Chris West, Joel Voelker
Producer: Lindsay Bodanza
Line Producer: Nina Goldberg
Executive Producer: Tracy Chandler
Executive Producer for Hanrahan: Mark Hanrahan

Music and Sound Design : Human

Principal Talent: Ainsley Burrows

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Shilo For Saatchi & Saatchi London : Guinness “Spoken Word”

Hornet’s Peter Sluszka created a wonderous mixed media ride through a child’s imagination in this spot for SimCity Creator. The playful interaction between live action and stop-motion reminds me of some of the better moments in Gondry’s Science of Sleep.

Check out the production shots on the Hornet project page for a little glimpse behind the scenes. (You’ll also find the credits there.)

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Hornet’s Peter Sluszka for SimCity Creator

For his contribution to the aforementioned Black Thinking campaign, boolab’s Nico Casavecchia directed “Scratch Me,” a twisted take on turntablism that involves a couple of very tolerant felines. The character animation of the cats is excellent, adding a dash of realism to an otherwise surreal trip.

Keep your eye on the Black Thinking website, where three more films in this series will be released before the year’s end.

[Credits have been removed at the agency's request]

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Black Thinking: “Scratch Me”