Hasta La Creative!

A new campaign for Regions Bank, directed by STORY’s David Orr, takes a metaphorical approach in articulating the bank’s role in driving the wheels of progress. Conceived by Birmingham, Alabama agency Luckie & Company, two spots employ truck tires, industrial gears, hay bales and an assortment of other rolling and spinning objects to make the point that Regions partners with businesses, large and small, to keep them “moving forward.”
Each spot features a series of close-ups of circular objects representing different types of businesses, with one spot skewed toward smaller businesses (an architect’s compass, a wheel barrow tire) and the other targeting large enterprises (a forklift wheel, an assembly line roller). The first wheels are frozen, as the voice-over admits that “the wheels of progress haven’t been very active lately,” but the next few begin to turn. The last wheels move full throttle as the narration describes Regions’ business expertise. The final shot pulls back from a tire into a wide shot of people riding the green bicycles that are Regions’ trademark.
“As the economy slowly gathers steam, we wanted to take advantage of the positive momentum and create work that celebrates businesses role in it,” observes Luckie & Company Chief Creative Officer/Managing Director Brad White. “Wheels of Progress not only leverages the positive momentum in the economy, but also perfectly marries the idea of wheels of progress to the wheels of the Regions green bike.”
Orr notes that he and Luckie’s creative team thought of hundreds of circular metaphors and then pared the list to the 40 scenarios he ultimately shot. “It was a great collaboration,” he says. “Everyone had ideas, and by the end, we were seeing circles everywhere. The trick was to find unexpected scenarios that felt fresh, yet continued the feeling of kinetic forward motion.”
Orr spent a lot of time scouting locations and devising interesting ways to shoot spinning objects. It was important that each scene appear distinctive and different from all the others, he notes, yet it wasn’t practical to shoot 40 separate locations. “We found ways to condense the shooting schedule by selecting locations that we could repurpose,” he recalls. “We found a farmer who had all sorts of vehicles, all of which worked, so we dressed different parts of his farm to represent a workshop, a construction site and a warehouse.”
For smaller objects, including a turnstile and a roof turbine, Orr designed and built small sets that could be assembled at a location site. “The client was very supportive and encouraged us to shoot as much as possible,” he says. “No one wanted to be at the airport wishing we’d gotten one more shot.”
“David had a vision for this right from the start,” adds White. “We could have shot ten spots if we had used all of his ideas.”
STORY is represented on the East Coast by Laura Zinn (212) 741-0909; in the Midwest by Dawn Ratcliffe (312) 491-9194, in the Southeast by Miller + Associates, (954) 563-6004; in the Southwest by Gossip!, (214) 288-2813 and on the West Coast by Susan Bennett (310) 827-8441.

Madheart director Jan Gleie portrays the lives and fashion sense of two young women in a pair of new ads for T.J. Maxx and Grey, New York. The spots are part of the retailer’s on-going Maxxinista campaign and sequels to a group of spots directed by Gleie last year. Each takes the form of a loose documentary of a free-spirited young woman who is both a fashion trendsetter and someone who appreciates a bargain.
One of the new spots features stylist Cate Sheehy from the TLC series What to Wear. She first appears in her studio and confesses that what she enjoys most is styling her friends. “They,” she notes, “all love the latest trends, but none of them wants to pay full price.” She takes them on a shopping trip to T.J. Maxx where they load up on designer fashions at discount prices.
The second spot takes a similar course through the story of young stylist assistant Jenny Salinas. Jenny, who recently arrived in New York City “with just a suitcase,” styled herself and her apartment at T.J. Maxx.
Gleie, who shot both spots in New York City, renders the stories in a way that feels genuine, lighthearted and affecting. Shots of Cate and her friends posing on a city street, with camera flairs and natural lighting, have the feel of a Facebook video. The women give warm, natural performances and when they pause to address the camera, it’s as if they are sharing a secret with a friend, which, of course, is the whole point.
Madheart is based in Los Angeles. For further information, call 213.995.4555 or visit http://www.madheart.com/. The company is represented on the West Coast by Lisa Gimenez Toliver (lisa@lisareps.com), Hot Betty in the Midwest (cat@hot-betty.com), and, on the East Coast, by Dana Dubay (dana@dubay.tv) and Kelly Flint (kelly@strikemedia.tv)

Madheart director Jan Gleie portrays the lives and fashion sense of two young women in a pair of new ads for T.J. Maxx and Grey, New York. The spots are part of the retailer’s on-going Maxxinista campaign and sequels to a group of spots directed by Gleie last year. Each takes the form of a loose documentary of a free-spirited young woman who is both a fashion trendsetter and someone who appreciates a bargain.
One of the new spots features stylist Cate Sheehy from the TLC series What to Wear. She first appears in her studio and confesses that what she enjoys most is styling her friends. “They,” she notes, “all love the latest trends, but none of them wants to pay full price.” She takes them on a shopping trip to T.J. Maxx where they load up on designer fashions at discount prices.
The second spot takes a similar course through the story of young stylist assistant Jenny Salinas. Jenny, who recently arrived in New York City “with just a suitcase,” styled herself and her apartment at T.J. Maxx.
Gleie, who shot both spots in New York City, renders the stories in a way that feels genuine, lighthearted and affecting. Shots of Cate and her friends posing on a city street, with camera flairs and natural lighting, have the feel of a Facebook video. The women give warm, natural performances and when they pause to address the camera, it’s as if they are sharing a secret with a friend, which, of course, is the whole point.
Madheart is based in Los Angeles. For further information, call 213.995.4555 or visit http://www.madheart.com/. The company is represented on the West Coast by Lisa Gimenez Toliver (lisa@lisareps.com), Hot Betty in the Midwest (cat@hot-betty.com), and, on the East Coast, by Dana Dubay (dana@dubay.tv) and Kelly Flint (kelly@strikemedia.tv)

Sonixphere, a global resource for everything connected to music and sound, was tapped by INNOCEAN USA Executive Creative Director Greg Braun to create the soundtrack for the agency’s high velocity, 360 branding video to be featured on the agency’s newly updated website.

Sonixphere was charged with the task of sonically tying many disparate images in edits lifted from a montage of TV spots, long form, online video, events, social, mobile and branded content created for INNOCEAN client Hyundai into a riveting brand identity video with maximum impact. They achieved this through an edgy dub step soundtrack that complements the razor-sharp editing and transforms nine separate car commercials into a dazzling consumer lifestyle and cultural statement.

“The goal of creating this new 360 branding video was to showcase our brand’s identity and diverse experience,” says Greg Braun. “The finished product needed to be big, bold and energetic with a musical soundtrack to match. The team at Sonixphere gave us just what we wanted with their music serving as the thread that ties the visuals and storyline together.”

The two-minute video, comprised of a montage of evocative images, lives on the agency’s website landing page at www.innoceanusa.com. Through the whole video, Sonixphere’s electronic track keeps driving on, shifting gears, scoring visuals, changing dynamics and intensity, forming an alliance with the visuals and making a connection with the viewer.

“This video is about connections and connecting,” says Sonixphere CEO and Creative Director Greg Allan. “We wanted the music to be that cohesive force that tied all the images and supers together and left viewers with a strong visceral feeling. Innocean is a progressive agency; they needed exciting music to represent who they are. The agency creative team knew what they wanted; we just had to execute it and execute it well.”
Choosing dub step with its hallmark heavy-duty programming, synthesizers and drum patterns matched the identity of the agency, which is modern, edgy and disruptive. “It’s one thing to write a killer dub step track, but then to take it to another level and heavily score it to picture? That was the challenge, and my team nailed it,” asserts Allan.

The video’s production was handled by INNOCEAN’s in-house Production team.

You can view the video here.

For more information, call (312)329-1310. Visit us at sonixphere.com.

Client: INNOCEAN USA
Agency: INNOCEAN USA
Executive Creative Director: Greg Braun

Music Composition: Sonixphere
Audio Mix: Sonixphere
Post Production: INNOCEAN USA
Producer: Chanel Boyd
Editing: Brad Wetmore
Visual Effects: Lara Pinella

In his latest contribution for Hallmark, Madheart’s Jan Gleie has directed a spot that captures the spirit of the holidays through a series of disarmingly simple vignettes in which people express their desire to connect with family and friends. It’s part of an ongoing campaign for the brand, out of Leo Burnett, Chicago, employing the theme “Tell Me” and showing how a Hallmark card can satisfy basic human emotional needs.

The spot is composed of a series of artfully crafted portraits in which the subject speaks directly to the camera as if to a loved one of his or her desire for connection. “Tell me that I did a good job.” “…that our traditions matter.” “Tell me you love me for who I am.”

As is typical of Gleie’s work, the vignettes feel authentic and unforced and the speakers connect with viewers because they express simple, human emotions that everyone shares. People engage in holiday activities in casual, natural ways that never feel staged or sentimental. They seem like people we know.

Blair Hayes of STORY has directed four spots for JBL in which the brand’s new wireless speakers give partygoers the illusion of attending a live concert by Grammy-winning rock band Maroon 5. The ads are the latest additions to JBL’s Hear the Truth campaign out of Detroit agency Doner, which features star recording artists and underscores the product’s quality sound.

Each of the new spots opens on Maroon 5 in what appears to be a live performance of their new hit song Daylight. However, when the camera pulls back, it reveals that the performance is actually happening on a playback device. The device varies with each spot with two cellphones, a tablet and a television featured—each spot also promotes a different type of wireless speaker.

“The spots reveal four different party situations each with a young crowd, but with a slightly different feel,” explains Hayes. “For Micro, a speaker about the size of a hockey puck, we staged a party in a kitchen with a 20-something crowd…another one takes place on a rooftop.”

The transition from the concert to the various party venues involved a cinematic challenge, Hayes notes. In each instance, the camera had to begin within the frame of the display device, then pullback quickly and smoothly to reveal the interior scene. “It required macro lenses and camera tracking, and the talent had to hold the device rock steady,” he says. “It is a lot to accomplish and tricky to pull off.”

STORY is represented is represented on the East Coast by Angelina Powers (646) 633-4578; in the Midwest by Dawn Ratcliffe (312) 491-9194, in the Southeast by Miller + Associates, (954) 563-6004; in the Southwest by Gossip!, (214) 288-2813 and on the West Coast by Susan Bennett (310) 827-8441.

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Filmworkers and Vitamin recently provided visual effects and post-production services for a new, national spot about a family of vampires who learn to love mornings thanks to Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain.

Conceived by Leo Burnett, Chicago, the spot opens on a vampire couple who are interviewed in their suburban home. Admitting they weren’t “morning people,” the couple tells how their lives have been turned upside down by the crunchy taste of Nutri-Grain Fruit Crunch Bars. The whole family is now rising early and accomplishing much more. Dad even has time to walk the family bat.

The visual effects crews from Filmworkers and Vitamin contributed a number of effects to the spot, including a 3D bat that the vampire dad takes for a stroll. Vitamin artists went to great lengths to make the creature as realistic as possible and also drew inspiration from classic Hollywood vampire films.
“Real bats are not all that interesting because they move too fast,” explains Vitamin Creative Director Danny DelPurgatorio. “Instead, we took our bat into a more theatrical world and gave it a playful movement, as if often done in movies.”

Filmworkers applied additional effects work and also completed final post-production. Colorist Fred Keller applied the final color grade, using a Baselight system to give the spot a slightly macabre cast. “We gave it a vampire feel,” Keller says, “There’s not too much skin tone, but it still has an interesting color palette.”

DelPurgatorio says that the cleverness of the spot’s concept made it fun to work on. “It was a great idea,” he observes. “Our work needed to be subtle and to blend into the overall vision.”

Filmworkers is located at 232 E. Ohio St. Penthouse, Chicago, IL 60611. For more information, call (312) 664-9333 or visit www.filmworkers.com.
Vitamin is located at 232 East Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611. For more information, call 312.664.6683 or visit www.vitaminpictures.tv

Director David Orr worked with a team of aquarists who encouraged the sea creatures, some no bigger than a contact lens, to hit their marks.

CHICAGO – The principals of design-focused production studio Leviathan (www.lvthn.com) are very proud to announce the debut of their collaborations with executives from integrated marketing communications agency Hoffman York in Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI). Two new :30 broadcast spots created by Leviathan recently began airing through targeted local cable, broadcast and online media placements, including “Science Rules!” which debuted this week.

Both can now also be seen online at http://www.youtube.com/msichicago.

The beautiful spots dramatically present all the updated interactive exhibits from Chicago’s popular attraction, in stunning original HD visual content created entirely in-house at Leviathan, under the direction of Hoffman York’s creative team and MSI’s VP of Marketing and PR Rob Gallas, Director of Marketing Maureen Sak and Marketing Manager Jackie Schubert.

As part of its briefing, Hoffman York’s Executive Creative Director Michael Rivera, Creative Directors Tony Bonilla and Eric Oken, Art Director Colin Quinn, Senior Copywriter Andy Tillman and Senior Producer Lisa von Drehle presented Leviathan with a mockup print ad showing exaggerated versions of unique MSI exhibits extending out of the Earth in 3D.

“The updated exhibits at MSI truly are dynamic experiences, and we saw this new brand campaign as a great opportunity to get more people excited about what MSI is today,” Rivera explained. “We partnered with Leviathan to literally create a world that brought the exhibits to life as imaginatively as possible, and to say the least, we were very impressed by their contributions.”

Further discussions with MSI executives identified many types of media and information available to help represent exhibits including the Museum’s “Science Storms,” “Smart Home,” “U-505,” “YOU! The Experience,” and many others in the new campaign. After careful consideration, Leviathan’s Executive Creative Director Jason White, Creative Director Bradon Webb, and Executive Producer Chad Hutson proposed creating all the historical and archival content highlighting the exhibits completely in CG.

“We spent a lot of time at MSI interacting with the exhibits and observing how visitors engaged with them, which allowed us to conceive the best ways to expand those experiences outside the Museum’s walls,” said Hutson. “We knew it would be a daunting task to create so much in CG, but we were confident it would pay off. As we progressed, we were able to share some computer models with the agency’s print design partners at Giannini Creative, which helped in a lot of ways and kept the design consistent across every medium.”

“To address everyone’s concerns about how the content would look in the finished spots, a detailed pre-vis and animatic we created with the agency was extremely important,” Webb said, clarifying that Autodesk Maya was Leviathan’s main tool for creating its custom models and animation. “The Museum’s collection is very specific and unique, so most of the details had to be created by hand, using references from the actual exhibits. We assembled a fairly large modeling and surfacing team to tackle each detail of every model. The waves, rain and tornado were major challenges, and we assigned separate simulation teams for each piece. Our toolset spans most applications, so it was all pretty seamless.”

Webb continued, “We were all concerned about the globe scene, with all its detail, rocket blast from the shuttle, spray from the ship, cloth simulations, and tornado simulation, just to name a few… especially because the zoom-in required us to use high-resolution models. We used mental ray and RealFlow for the natural phenomena, and V-Ray to manage our renders, and through a really great team of artists, it all came together quite well.”

To showcase human interactions with MSI’s interactive exhibits, Webb and White also led Leviathan’s crew in a meticulous green-screen production, where children and adults were photographed at play. While a Sony HDW-F900 CineAlta system recorded principal photography, a Canon 5D Mark II camera package captured footage the team used to re-create the exhibit’s video trace effect in post. To complete its post-production workflow, Leviathan’s digital artists exported diffuse, reflection, shadow, velocity, and matte passes, which ultimately were combined with the live-action plates in After Effects for color correction, grading and finishing.

“Since this amazing group of people invited us to help develop the “Science Rules!”campaign concept and design, we’re especially proud of the results, and feel it’s one of our best collaborations to date,” said White. “As a company, we’re also dedicated to innovation, and the spirit of MSI is what we’re really all about, so this was the perfect chance for us to collaborate with some of Chicago’s leading marketing executives, on behalf of one of our most important and exciting attractions.”

Hoffman York’s account team consists of SVP Client Services Mike Smith, Senior Account Executive Audrey Podor and Account Coordinator Catherine Guarnieri. Complete credits for both campaign spots are available upon request.

To learn more about the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, please visit www.msichicago.org.

About Hoffman York
Hoffman York is a fully integrated marketing communications agency offering a full suite of services that include advertising, public relations and interactive. The agency has offices in Chicago and Milwaukee with $90 million in annualized billings. For more information about Hoffman York, visit www.hoffmanyork.com.

About Leviathan
Leviathan is a design-focused production studio specializing in the creation of large-scale visual experiences across all media. The emerging studio’s leaders are champions of breakthrough design and branding who draw from experiences earned within the world’s leading digital agencies, production companies, VFX and motion studios. Also leveraging the talents of extraordinary storytellers, software developers, producers and artists, Leviathan develops cutting edge content that maximizes the greatest capabilities of today’s media platforms, from broadcast to experiential installations. Since launching in 2010, the studio’s collaborations with agencies, brands and leading filmmakers have resulted in sensational projects across all markets and industries. Further adding to Leviathan’s strengths, its shared resources and creative philosophies with digital creative agency eatdrink (www.eatdrink.com) add superior efficiencies in the development and delivery of original interactive content. To learn more about Leviathan, please visit www.lvthn.com, or call executive producer Chad Hutson at +1.312.878.1500.

Bully Pictures’ Gaute Hesthagen directed this spot for Burger King and Pitch, Los Angeles which features a clever tie-in to the Jack Black film Gulliver’s Travels. A team of pint-sized Burger King employees prepare a BK Kids Meal for a boy, using a huge mechanical crane to deliver a carton of fries, spear a juice box with a straw and draw the wrapping off a hamburger. As a finishing touch, they lower a paper crown onto the boy’s head. The spot, which also features colorful, theatrical backdrops, is driven by the whimsical energy for which Hesthagen is well known.