OddBeast Adds Gracie Markus, Ups Liam Conway
March 31, 2025
In her debut work with London prodco BlinkInk, director Renee Zhan mixes heavy metal and horror tropes in a puppet-driven appeal to Austrians to exterminate the old and inefficient furnaces hulking in their basements. [Watch]
With a series of jarring miniature vignettes, Zauberberg directing team Dorian & Daniel make the case that the future of climate change is “In Our Hands” for Austria’s Erste Bank thru agency Jung von Matt/Donau. [Watch]
Directors Fabrice Le Nezet and Dan Tobin Smith at Optical Arts in London leverage the language and tone of modern smartphone ads to deliver an unsettling message for UK domestic abuse charity Refuge. [Watch]
The Netflix feature-Length animated special Hilda & The Mountain King opens with these titles by Giant Ant, a “software-agnostic” mix of 2.5-D and cel designed to “give the audience a taste of what’s to come without any big spoilers”. [Watch]
Barcelona director/animator and CG artist Andrés Reisinger teams with Portland-based musician/producer André Allen Anjos (aka RAC), and British poet Arch Hades for a 10-minute “journey through our collective 21C existential crisis.” [Watch]
The cel and CG animation crews at Bliss in Barcelona partner with directors Pau López, Gerardo del Hierro, and Tomás Peña (aka Manson) to craft a message of hope in response to the Cumbre Vieja volcano eruption in the Canary Islands. [Watch]
In the right hands, the superpower of digital visual effects allows the impossible to be recast as reality. When thoughtfully integrated with live-action to support (rather than upstage) the narrative, the results can be magical. [Watch]
From classic cartoon comedy by a Pixar veteran to a nine-minute photoreal post-apocalyptic epic, these eight very different films produced for the gaming industry all feature strong character development and exceptional attention to detail. [Watch]
Magically transforming a dry (often arcane, and potentially dull) topic into an intriguing and engaging piece of visual content requires a special type of motion design alchemy known as the explainer video. [Watch]
Offering creative freedom to balance the lack (or total absence) of budget, music videos provide directors, animators, and VFX artists with rare encouragement to prove new techniques and indulge eccentric ideas. [Watch]
While the bulk of advertising produced each year may induce yawns or irritation, if you look long and hard enough you will find exceptional work that combines creative and technical innovation to deliver emotional engagement. [Watch]
Removing client briefs and budget concerns from the creative equation can result in paralyzing indecision or, in the case of these eight short films, it can spark a confident quest for narrative and visual innovation. [Watch]
If you need a reminder of just how energized, diverse, and engaging character design and animation were in 2021, take a quick peek at these eight projects, including brand videos, advertising, and short films. [Watch]
Few design assignments demand more nuance than setting the tone for what an audience is about to see. Whether in real life or on a screen, the goal is to create the perfect balance between anticipation and revelation. [Watch]
