Hasta La Creative!

NEW YORK – June 6, 2011 – The artists and producers from international production company and design studio Brand New School (BNS, www.brandnewschool.com) are very proud to announce their role in designing and producing several key artistic elements debuting June 7 at the 2011 AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the American Commercial. The annual program, hosted by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), premieres each year at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), before travelling on to high-profile venues in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Miami, and Richmond over the weeks to come.

For 2011, BNS art director Christopher Palazzo and his colleagues created the show graphics packaging for this year’s 20th anniversary AICP Show, while developing and programming the thematically related, 40-foot interactive installation set to debut in MoMA’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at the June 7 event.

“Since this is the 20th anniversary AICP Show, we thought it would be fun to highlight some of the best moments throughout the years,” Palazzo began. “After spending just ten minutes in the footage archives, it was clear that we needed the graphic design of the package to take a back seat to the 20 years of seminal content. We wanted to remind people of these achievements, framing it through a design that — like the content itself — broke some rules but felt very modern.”

For the rich media installation, BNS developed a proprietary machine-vision application, programmed by its very own School of Interactive Media (BNS/SIM) interactive director Justin Bakse, along with lead developer Greg Schomburg and others. The installation instantly delivers excerpts from hundreds of AICP archive spots to all who approach it. “The wall presents an animated attract loop that spans the full canvas of 40 displays,” said Bakse. “As guests walk up to the installation, individual monitors near them display reels showing iconic AICP Show moments from each year.”

The display system for the interactive installation designed and fabricated by McCann Systems of Edison, NJ, features the award-winning Christie(R) MicroTiles(TM) from Christie Digital Systems USA. This is the second year that these two cutting edge companies have joined forces using the MicroTiles System to showcase work for AICP and the advertising industry at MoMA.

“A benchmark year like the 20th anniversary of the AICP Show is bringing out the very best in everyone, as evidenced in the submissions and honorees for this year’s Show and Next Awards. The enthusiasm at this time in our industry, with all of the possibilities on the horizon, gives the perfect opportunity to take a moment to reflect on the evolving craft of the motion image in marketing communications,” said Matt Miller, AICP President and CEO. “Watching the creations of BNS come together over the last months for this year’s titles, and experiencing the interactive installation, is a dream-come-true for those of us who love and honor American Commercials, and the AICP Shows. These works of art from BNS are wonderful tributes to everything the AICP represents, and their collaboration with McCann Systems continues to be an amazing experience.”

At the BNS studio in New York, Palazzo and editor Eli Marvos artfully drew from the AICP Archives to create poignant, entertaining sequences using Final Cut Pro, while designers Freddy Arenas, Scott Balles and other artists created original graphics and animation using Adobe Creative Suite and After Effects.

“The guys at Sacred Noise came through with an incredible custom track for the open,” Palazzo said. “They loved what we were up to. It’s great when people can meet on the same turf and create amazing results.”

After tomorrow night, the BNS/SIM interactive installation will travel on to select AICP Show venues. Also worth noting, last year BNS designed the visual identity system and presentation graphics for the Next Awards, a featured presentation of the AICP Show honoring and examining the best in marketing communications, while also earning top honors in the Next Awards Experiential category for their innovative project promoting Monday Night Football on ESPN.

In addition to Palazzo, Bakse, Schomburg, Arenas and Balles, credits for BNS also include founder and executive creative director Jonathan Notaro, managing director Danny Rosenbloom, executive producers Devin Brook and Jason Cohon, producers Madison Brigode and Joe Balint, animators Hye Sung Park and Raymo Ventura, and production coordinator Zoe Beyer.

For more information on AICP and the AICP Show, please visit www.aicp.com.

About Brand New School
With offices in New York, Los Angeles and London, Brand New School is a vertically integrated production company and design studio that delivers extraordinary media on all platforms. Offering a new model for creative digital production, we are filmmakers, developers, designers, animators, editors, illustrators, and producers dedicated to driving communications to new heights. Akin to leading academic institutions, our guiding philosophies prize experimentation and learning, and our commitment to discovering the best ideas for our clients is absolute. For more information, please visit www.BrandNewSchool.com.

Working closely with Scion, ATTIK’s creative leaders for this project included co-founder and executive creative director Simon Needham — who directed the campaign’s broadcast spots and a series of behind the scenes shorts starring Zeus — as well as creative director Ron Lim, digital creative director Jacob Ford, art director Michael Cornell and copywriter Andy Sciamanna.

“When we looked at all the unique features of the High Voltage tC, we felt like it was something Zeus could have made,” said Needham. “Luckily, he was into it and available… so we set out together to show off this stunning tC in fun and humorous ways. This is the biggest campaign in history for any Scion Release Series model, and we are very grateful to everyone at Scion for trusting us and supporting our ideas on this scale.”

The campaign’s spots and the behind the scenes shorts recently debuted at www.YouTube.com/Scion and www.facebook.com/scion, and the spot is scheduled to premiere on television tonight. It stars a very lighthearted Zeus on his Mount Olympus throne, who describes himself as the God of Awesome — and then creates the High Voltage tC using his legendary lightning bolt. With the help of a lovely Muse, Zeus has a great time driving the tC and highlighting its features.

“The 2011 tC is one of our best selling vehicles, so we know this limited edition is something young buyers will be especially excited about,” explained Jack Hollis, Scion VP. “Our creative partners at ATTIK continue helping us connect with our target audience with fun, colorful and engaging content, while presenting Scion’s new releases in very smart ways.”

TV placements will air “High Voltage” well into September on Adult Swim, CBS Sports, Current, Comedy Central, FX, FUEL TV, G4, IFC, and other targeted networks, including many MTV channels. Radio, print, online and outdoor placements will also target young men. The brand’s YouTube and Facebook fans will continue to be the first to see behind the scenes spots, plus other materials and offers to be released over the days ahead. Zenith Optimedia handles media for Scion.

“I’m psyched that Zeus made time in his schedule to promote his tC. He’s got a pile of endorsement offers as high as Mount Olympus,” added Ron Lim. “This Scion campaign would not be the same without the majesty that only a Greek God can provide. And this is just the tip of lightning bolt. We’ll be seeing more of him in the coming weeks.”

ATTIK’s campaign credits also include account director Katie Stout, account manager Jenni Lucero, and senior account executive Abby Green. Among the agency’s many project partners for this campaign, top credits go to director of photography Jordan Valenti, production company Hazel, editor Patrick Sheffield at Pistolera Post, animation, VFX and finishing company Brewster Parsons, music and sound effects company Music Collective, and composer Scott Liggett. Full project credits are available upon request.

More information on the Scion tC Release Series 7.0 is available at www.scion.com/rstc.

About ATTIK
ATTIK (www.attik.com) is a global creative agency focused on developing integrated advertising, digital and branded experiences. Specifically, the agency’s expertise in strategic planning, design, advertising, production, client service and research has driven extraordinary success across most consumer product and service categories. Articulating corporate brand strategy and designing creative solutions for advertising, below-the-line and online media, ATTIK ensures target audiences are vitally connected to client brands. For inquiries, please call Ric Peralta (Ric@attik.com) at +1-415-284-2600.

About Scion
Scion, from Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., was developed with a new generation of youthful buyers in mind. Scion’s mission is to provide distinctive products, the opportunity to personalize, and an innovative, consumer-driven process at the retail level. The brand features three ground-breaking models with a wide array of standard features: the xD urban subcompact five-door, the iconic xB urban utility vehicle and the tC sports coupe. Scion will launch the all-new, premium micro-subcompact iQ in 2011. The Scion brand often applies new practices in all aspects of its business and pushes the creativity envelope with non-traditional advertising and marketing to engage young consumers. Scion also supports originality through its programs in the artistic community. For more information, visit www.scion.com.

The campaign contributions from BNS include three :30 spots in total, including this latest one entitled “Dawson’s Kid.”

Jonathan and BNS producer Toby Sowers provided this summary of the project’s unique production approach:

Together with director of photography Eric Treml, Jonathan and the BNS team used the ARRI Alexa digital camera system to capture their HD source footage during three days of production on-stage.

“We essentially painted animation on people’s skin, using a fusion of digital and practical techniques,” Jonathan explained. “After exploring different ways of accomplishing the desired effect, we filmed people with real paint on their skin, then we animated artwork using traditional cel animation techniques, where we matched the practical paint used in the live-action shoot. The animation was then composited onto their skin using seamless digital visual effects.”

BNS artists tracked the form of the human body using mocha, then animated what they wanted on the body using cel animation with hand-drawn artwork. They then projected their animation onto the tracked body and composited the work in Nuke to make it feel like actual paint. Final color was handled in Autodesk Flame.

Several high-res stills and much more campaign information are available with the campaign press release, which you can find here: http://bit.ly/PitLove

The spot’s credits follow below. Thanks very much for your interest!