Here in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg recently championed some controversial restrictions on the sale of sugary soda drinks, sparking debates about how much government should intervene in protecting the health of citizens.
While not everyone agrees about Mr. Bloomberg’s tactics, the health risks of sugary sodas are obvious. Or at least they should be.
In an effort to spread awareness on the topic and skewer companies that manufacturer the offending drinks, The Center for Science in the Public Interest has launched The Real Bears. Alex Bogusky (formerly the “B” of vaunted agency CP&B) masterminded the campaign, tapping one of our favorite directors here at Motionographer, Lucas Zanotto, to direct the music video that sits at the center of the project.
Mr. Zanotto recently released the director’s cut of the video featuring an alternative soundtrack. (Jason Mraz penned a sugary sweet tune for the official version.)
Interview with Lucas Zanotto
We caught up with Mr. Zanotto to get some inside information on the project.
Who approached you for this project? Why did they choose you?
I got an email from Marty Butler, from The Butler Bros. He wrote that he likes my work and ask if we could have a chat about a potential project they are working on. We had a Skype conference together with Ronny Northrop, who wrote the script for the movie. They presented the whole idea.
Marty said they liked my style and the way I bring in an analog and organic feel to the work. They wanted something minimal and crafted.
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We all know how horrible factory farming is by now, but what’s interesting about this particular campaign is that it seeks to maintain its Television airspace through viewers’ donation. If there is one ad that deserves to be watched instead of getting chucked aside by channel-surfing or toilet-going, this is it. As a friend of mine said, ‘if this doesn’t stop factory farming in Australia, nothing would’. Consider making a donation, folks. Or at least think twice about where that packet of meat you’re buying came from.
Frame Set Match (FSM) of Sydney did the wonderful job of bringing this chorus of animals together. Full credits and more about the process and the story behind this ad can be found here.
Thank you for the nudge, Guy and Stefan.
Directors Sumo Science, Yves Geleyn, Gabe Askew, and Major Briggs bring four very different – but equally cool – perspectives to the “Stories of Better” campaign produced with Saatchi & Saatchi for the 2012 Paris Motor Show.
And – a special bonus – a behind the scenes from Yves Geleyn.
Credits
Bethesda’s Dishonored (developed by Arkane Studios) was one of the mostly hotly anticipated games of the year. Thanks to nearly three years of pre-production, the game is set in the richly detailed (if comparatively compact) world of Dunwall, a whaling town that’s crumbled into chaos.
Working with agency Rokkan and Bethesda, Psyop created three prequels, “The Tales of Dunwall,” to help promote the game prior to launch. Each video contributes to the backstory of the game, but the visual style was intentionally a departure from the look of the game. Each frame has a painterly, illustrative style full of the kind of details you can only get from hand-wrought work.
We caught up with Psyop’s Jon Saunders, Creative Director for the project, to get some insight into the process behind the work.
Where did this job come from?
We feel very fortunate to have been approached by Rokkan and Bethesda to help create these webisodes. From the onset, the creatives we worked with, Charles Bae and Regi Jacob, were very collaborative and extremely cool to work with. It became one of the best creative partnerships I have yet to be a part of.
What was the brief like? Was the story already worked out?
The initial brief came when the whole project was still very much up in the air in regards to visual look and direction. There was no story yet, just the idea. Charles and Regi wanted a back story for the game that was reminiscent of a fairy tale or folklore for the world of Dunwall.
Exclusive making-of materials after the jump…
Gabe Askew (Hornet) is no stranger to Motionographer. We posted his first break-out project here, an unofficial music video for Grizzly Bears “Two Weeks” that seemed to garner more interest online than the official video.
Since then, he signed with NY-based production company Hornet and has been developing his storytelling chops. His recently released short film, “Goat and Aaron,” shows the same penchant for tactility as his other work, but it contains something new for Askew: character dialogue.
We caught up with Gabe to get some insight into the process behind the project.
Q&A with Gabe Askew
The look for this short is beautiful. It seems to be the result of mixing many different techniques. Can you talk about the techniques you used?
Each shot began as an individual watercolor painting. I then projected that painting onto geometry and broke it up into sections in CG. I layered on additional textures and applied different shaders to create an abundance of materials.
I used Vray where I found it really easy to take a material from cloth to glass to wood without much effort. In post, I applied some real dust and grain, which I shot against black. I shot it towards the sun and trees so that the exposure seems to “swim” a little.
The world you’ve created for the short is brimming with lovely textures. What was the thinking behind building the world with such a tactile quality?
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Moth is a London-based animation and illustration collective set up by three graduates of the Royal College of Art – David Prosser, Marie-Margaux Tsakiri-Scanatovits, and Daniel Chester. Each member is a powerful director in their own right, as evidenced by their award-winning graduating thesis films, but this commission by WWF shows off what happens when their powers combine like Voltron. I’m looking forward to more work from Moth and the many young guns coming out of London.
Some words from Moth about their process after the jump!
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A superbly executed take on the old trope of the unfolding book voyage. Digital District, a French studio based in Paris, has taken the lighting to the next level while using engaging camera angles to highlight every detail that has been put into this spot. The layout and animation flows smoothly around the piece with great attention to the thoughtful transitions.
Gotta say it again though, you should check out their Reel! It’s pretty fantastic. This is definitely a studio to keep your eye on if you haven’t been already.
Prologue’s Creative Director Simon Clowes has crafted an elegantly sinister title sequence for CBS’ new series, “Elementary,” starring Jonny Lee Miller as a contemporary Sherlock Holmes. (It has tough competition in BBC’s “Sherlock,” also a modern recasting of the venerable sleuth at 221B Baker Street.)
Simon carries Prologue’s legacy of impeccably crafted title work forward. His penchant for live action elements reminds me of my favorite work from Kyle Cooper, Prologue’s founder. Both Cooper and Clowes’ work leverage visual metaphors to foreshadow elements of the narrative ahead.
Both also bring a graphic designer’s eye to their framing. Credits appear in perfectly shaped lagoons of negative space, nestled between gritty textures and golden light. It’s a subtle art, one that Clowes commands with a mastery befitting Prologue.
Tip ‘o the hat to Ash Thorp.
Julia Pott (Hornet) has struck again. “The Event” is an apocalyptic love story based on a Tom Chivers poem by the same name.
As in “Belly,” previously posted on Motionographer, “The Event” manages to conjure painfully tender moments from surreal circumstances, a skill that is quickly becoming Ms. Pott’s hallmark. (In that way, her work reminds me of David O’Reilly.)
Julia’s mixed media usage is also noteworthy. She uses live action footage as much for its textural qualities as for its narrative importance. While the footage in “Belly” felt collaged into place, the ocean footage in “The Event” interacts more with cel animated elements and represents a borderline between life and death, order and chaos.
“The Event” is part of Channel 4′s Random Acts series and was conceived and produced by Carrie Thomas.
Pull up a seat, put on a party hat, and have yourself a big slice of cake; Cartoon Network just turned 20! On October 1st, 1992, Cartoon Network made its official debut on television sets across America. With a vast 8, 500 hour cartoon library at its disposal, the network became the beneficiary of classic reruns from Warner Bros, MGM, and Hanna-Barbera. Two years later, Cartoon Network Studios was founded and the the network expanded into original programming. Fast-forward to today.
For their big 2-O, the network commissioned London studio, I Love Dust, to create an original music-video commemorating 20 years of animated cartoons. The piece is a who’s who of animation and features an ensemble cast of nearly 100 beloved characters. With music by Mad Decent, the two-minute spectacular invites everybody to celebrate the fantastic legacy of Cartoon Network.
So, how did they do it? We caught up with I Love Dust for a juicy look into Cartoon Network’s 20th Birthday Music Video here.
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