Hasta La Creative!

Bi-coastal creative production studio Stardust was tapped by ad agency Team Detroit to launch the new Ford 2011 Mustang with a gorgeously cinematic spot for TV and cinema. Stardust’s Jake Banks directed the live-action commercial, titled “_PG.” The spot highlights the 2011 Mustang’s speed, bold lines and fuel efficiency through seductive camera work, motion type and an authentic aesthetic. The :30 version aired Wed., April 28th during American Idol on FOX, while the :60 premiered in cinemas on April 30th.

Taking an opportunity to remind holiday travelers about Southwest Airlines’ ‘bags fly free’ policy, GSD&M Idea City and directors The Hoffman Brothers took a ‘70s-cop-drama approach on its series of national spots. Featuring a S.W.A.T. team of Southwest employees in various scenarios where they free bags held hostage by a competing airline, the spots include key shots of competing airline jets — recognizable by their white bodies and blue/red markings, but with branding blurred. The actual planes shot were Southwest’s own distinctive blue and red aircraft. Enter Chemical Effects to color correct this key story element and create a nifty crash zoom-in on an official-looking in-camera badge that becomes a stylized emblem for the Bags Fly Free patrol.

Mothership director David Rosenbaum has teamed up with ad agency TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles on a cinematic two-spot effort for Infiniti. To promote Infiniti’s Winter Sales Event, the festive commercials highlight the Infiniti G Sedan’s ability to handle the most challenging driving conditions — and an average Joe’s winter revenge fantasy. The 30-second spots “Inspired” and “Competitive” also tap the visual effects expertise of Mothership sister company Digital Domain. In “Competitive,” when an average Joe leaves for work, his neighbor’s bratty kids pelt him with snowballs. “See you at work!” says his annoying neighbor. The man uses his impressive snowball-making skills to exert sweet revenge. As the glacier-sized mass rolls through the sleepy mountain town, the man zips down precipitous roads in his Infiniti G-Sedan. When he pulls up to parallel park, the snow boulder rolls over his neighbor’s BMW, taking it away and leaving a convenient empty parking space.

Artist owned-and-operated bi-coastal digital studio Brickyard VFX recently completed work on Target’s “All Things Merry” campaign. Central to Brickyard’s work on the campaign was digitally replicating a super mom as she seemingly accomplishes ten things at once to prepare for the holidays in “Mrs. Claus Ain’t Got Nothing On Me.” Lead VFX artist Mandy Sorenson explains: “Our team helped map out this particular spot weeks in advance. We worked with Dayton/Faris to create a pre-visualization of the shot which helped us choreograph the multiple moms and determine the framing and camera movements to best tell the story. On set, the pre-visualization was used as a guideline for setting up the motion control, the moms’ actions and the progression of the room’s décor that was a continual build as the spot played.”

Director Grady Hall of production company Motion Theory dramatizes a young woman’s life story as an imaginative visual journey for Camparisoda. Via ad agency Euro RSCG, the epic :45 commercial titled “Welcome to Giulia” represents the launch spot of Campari’s major marketing push for the iconic aperitif brand in 2011.

“Welcome to Giulia” opens as a bartender flips the cap off a Camparisoda bottle. The opening triggers the life story that Giulia shares with a handsome stranger, who so vividly imagines her tale that the pair is transported into her daydream world. A series of intricately linked adventures reveal Giulia’s past as a ballerina, peace protester, and princess whose heart is broken by a knight in shining armor. Subsequent vignettes show her exploring the world by horseback, motorcycle and hot air balloon, before finally returning to the present day at the bar as she shares her story over a drink. Each vignette creatively segues into the next through various in-camera and visual effects, with each transition providing a key storytelling element as Giulia travels effortlessly through time and space in the scenes.

Euro RSCG wanted a visual representation of the brand concept “We are all worlds to explore” and the tagline “Nice to meet you”. Hall, who specializes as a story and character-driven director with an ability to weave in highly filmic and conceptual visuals, worked closely with the agency to further develop and refine the life journey of Giulia.

“This huge, round-the-world visual adventure is really about the simple idea of getting beneath the surface – beyond the small talk – with both friends and strangers,” said Hall. “I wanted to evoke that sense of a deeper personal connection, but also show how the imagination can run wild when interpreting someone’s story.”

Hall and his Motion Theory production team shot the commercial on location in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The highly technical shoot involved wire and stunt work of the lead actress, who had a background in dance and horseback riding, so was physically capable of carrying off the spot’s various stunts. This was all captured as live-action footage with a RED One camera fastened to a Locomoco motion control rig. To achieve the Viewmaster-like effect as seen in the spot’s final travel vignettes, Hall spearheaded the engineering of a custom crane arm weighted on a pendulum that allowed DP Martin Coppen to spin and shoot at the same time. The visual effects team back at Motion Theory sister company Mirada then contributed extensive CG, matte painting and compositing work to give the spot its final polish.

Bi-coastal production company Stardust created the 2012 AICP Sponsor Reel, which premiered during an exclusive screening at last night’s Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

“The team at Stardust did an amazing job showcasing the AICP Partners and Sponsors,” said Matt Miller, President and CEO of AICP. “This use of image and sound to acknowledge – and convey our appreciation – to our supporters is so important, and sets the tone for the evening. The look and feel of the piece is very much in keeping with the AICP Show’s relationship to art and cultural institutions.”

Every year the AICP features stand-out design teams to create artful video treatments to present their show open and sponsor loop; Stardust was chosen to produce this year’s sponsor loop introducing the AICP Show sponsors and the AICP Partners. Stardust first met with the AICP in January and followed the group’s direction to showcase partner logos in a way that celebrates the artistry of the advertising industry. Stardust founder and director Jake Banks approached this project as a fine art piece, exploring deconstructed logos against natural and urban landscapes, moving in and out of frame with a bevy of abstract design elements that range from exploding shapes to streaming trails of objects from nature. The beautiful juxtaposition of imagery is complemented by a modern, sound design-heavy track by Stardust collaborators Squeak E. Clean. Footage for the loop was provided by Corbis Motion.

“We aimed to design a video short that was equal parts sponsorship reel, equal parts art piece—since the work debuts at the MOMA in New York,” said Banks. “We didn’t want the animation to be too clean or too perfect, and went for a look that was a little more abstract—exploring movements in particle streams, reconstructing and deconstructing logos to integrate them into the design.”

Award-winning animation and visual effects studio Hinge Digital recently teamed up with BVK to create a clever series of advertisements for Carrington College. The integrated campaign includes two animated and live-action broadcast spots, as well as three online outtakes, 24 print ads, plush toys and more, which all showcase original character designs by Hinge Digital’s talented team of artists. “Carrington College Squirrel,” the first :30 campaign promo, introduces new Carrington bird mascots, Goldie and Blue, and is now airing on TV, with a live-action spot to follow in September. Comedic outtakes from the project are also available to view online here: http://hingedigital.com/work/#carrington.

Under the direction of Hinge Digital’s Alex Tysowsky, a 30-person crew delivered multiple pieces of the campaign from concepting and storyboarding to character design and modeling, animation, VFX, editing and more – all within less than three months. The team faced a number of complex animation challenges throughout, especially in making the characters stand out without dialog and adapting design elements to ensure they would work across all facets of the campaign.

“Truly unique, the first ad introduces Goldie and Blue for the first time without any dialog, so our animation really had to drive the story. The success of the entire campaign hinged on our ability to visually convey the story through our animation on this first spot,” said Alex Tysowsky, director, Hinge Digital. “Adding to the challenge, we had to carefully design the characters to work graphically across multiple platforms: TV, twitter, pens, plush animals, billboards.”

In “Carrington College Squirrel,” an amiable squirrel atop a tree sees three other squirrels on a neighboring tree indulging in acorns – representative of the student demographic. Intent on joining them, he edges out to the end of the branch, but one look down below petrifies him, and he returns to the base of the tree defeated. Goldie and Blue, symbolizing Carrington career counselors, appear and encourage him to take a leap of faith. After confiding in Goldie and Blue, he musters the courage to leap across – joining his friends. Outtakes of the spot, which started airing at the end of August on Carrington’s website, offer an uncut, insider’s look behind the shoot.

“The creative process on this project ran smooth. BVK came up with the initial concept but gave us the freedom to design these characters and bring them to life in an interesting way that would translate across the campaign; it was pure magic,” said Hinge Digital VFX Supervisor Michael Kuehn. “When you run through dailies with a client and receive a genuine positive, passionate reaction to the characters you’ve worked so hard to create, that’s a great feeling.”

BVK Art Director Ryan Smith shared, “Hinge Digital offers the right mix of creative talent, artistry and technology that this sort of campaign requires. They were there for us throughout the entire creative process and played an integral role in developing loveable, believable characters that carry this campaign.”

Hinge Digital leveraged a variety of technology throughout the project including proprietary plug-ins, Maya for 3D animation, Shave and a Haircut, Mari for 3D painting, Nuke for compositing, Mudbox and ZBrush for modeling, headus UVLayout, mental ray and SquidNet for rendering, as well as Shotgun, Revolver, Tweak RV and cineSync.

About Hinge Digital
Based in Portland, Oregon, Hinge Digital is an award-winning animation and visual effects studio providing comprehensive creative services across the film, television and commercial industries – from strategy, concept design and storyboarding through to animation, visual effects and more. Home to more than six decades of feature film and commercial talent from prestigious studios such as Walt Disney Feature Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks, LAIKA Entertainment and Double Negative Visual Effects, Hinge Digital comprises an accomplished team of passionate creatives and solution-oriented technical artists, industry standard tools and a robust infrastructure.

Hinge Digital has collaborated with agencies like BVK, draftfcb, Doner, Razorfish, AKQA, CAHG, BooneOakley, and Zimmerman Advertising to deliver broadcast, interactive and print work for clients such as Carrington, Carfax, Nike, Merck, Adidas, Minute Maid, Microsoft, The UPS Store, COX Communications, Target and more. For more information, please visit http://www.hingedigital.com/.

For Mid West Sales contact Mary Ida Bonadio (missmib@earthlink.net), for everywhere else contact Ramiro Gomez (Ramiro Gomez ramiro@hingedigital.com).

Mathew Cullen of MTh (Motion Theory) directs the latest Target spot, featuring top music act No Doubt.

Ad agency WDCW recently created and executed the “Your Logo Here” commercial for Free Speech For People, a national non-partisan organization working to overturn the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission allowing unrestricted political expenditures by corporations.