Reel of the Month Club (Dec. 2024): Coat of Arms
December 21, 2024
Fun variation on the lyric video by Finnish director/animator/illustrator Kalle Kotila based on the work of UK illustrator Jon Boam for TJH87’s new single “Good Life ft. Gamble & Burke.” [Watch]
Just how epic can mineral water get? Pretty freakin’ epic according to this new spot from the all-Paris team of Gang Films and VFX house Digital District for Volvic through Y&R. [Watch]
Mr. Trollbäck and crew untangle the complexities of carbon pricing for We Mean Business, a coalition of companies dedicated to promoting a low-carbon economy. The video, which employs a “minimal graphic language system built on color and iconography” screened before Apple CEO Tim Cook’s presentation at Climate Week in NYC yesterday. [Watch]
Balls-to-the-wall 2D motoring madness from São Paulo animation house Birdo in collaboration with Gabriel Nóbrega from Vetor Zero/Lobo thru Leo Burnett for Fiat “telling stories about good people who transform into evildoers in traffic.” [Watch]
PostPanic director Fons Schiedon’s talent for creating visual calamity takes a darker turn in this CG music promo for the first single from Wonder Where We Land, the new album from UK producer SBTRKT.
Fons Schiedon: “The music has a tremendous dark undertone and a sort of untouchable quality. It pushes on with force, but at the same time remains mysterious and illusive. I wanted to reflect that in the visual direction, which is moody and noir, but also quite synthetic.
“It’s unapologetic about being a digital representation. We refer to elements from the New York area and cultural lexicon, but have them appear quite isolated and reduced, as if observed by alien eyes. There is a gradual shift of focus embedded in the visual direction that aligns with the change of the creature.
“The creature is shown in silhouette for more than half of the video. We only have him step into the light halfway through, which gives him a certain power and triggers a sequence that is at first bold and aggressive, but ends in tranquility.” [Watch]
Lee Minhyung, a student at VDAS in South Korea, creates an ambitious and exhilarating integrated brand design assignment inspired by Copenhagen audio design company AIAIAI. “I was motivated by AIAIAI’s identity that has Scandinavian design foundation and their philosophy that delivers value far beyond trends.
“Focusing on finding an expression between AIAIAI’s design values that represent the visual and the essence of the company that is producing audio products, I made the slogan; SEEING THE SOUND, and I created integrated brand designs such as webpage, mobile app, and posters to extend the slogan’s use-case.” [Watch]
Outsider directors Dom & Nic re-team with MPC for more fun with CG fauna (a frill-necked lizard and his tarsier housemate) in this follow up to last year’s brilliant “Platypus” spot for UK bank first direct. [Watch]
Zena Barakat‘s talent for commissioning touching, thoughtful, low key motion work based on the urban relationship narratives found in The New York Times’ Modern Love column continues uninterrupted with the release of this insightful three-minute piece by director/animator Scott Wenner, aka the CD at motion504 in Minneapolis.
Scott Wenner: “The challenges were the aggressive schedule (approx. 4 weeks total) and finding unexpected ways of complimenting the VO instead of just illustrating it. The biggest challenge was the daunting task of having complete creative freedom: which you always think you want, until someone gives it to you.
“With the days ticking down and panic setting in, I went down multiple roads and had many false starts before finally landing on a look and feel. I even spent some significant time on a photorealistic route until the final cut-down of the audio interview made it clear that it was the wrong direction.” [Watch]
Issue 107 adds another 1.5 hours of inspiration and insight to the Stash Permanent Collection of over 4,000 outstanding animation, VFX and motion design projects including behind the scenes features and exclusive interviews with the talent behind the brilliance. [Watch]
Director Genndy Tartakovsky‘s animation test for Sony’s upcoming Popeye feature pushes the physical comedy he brought to Samurai Jack, Dexter’s Laboratory and Hotel Transylvania to a crazy new level with some of the snappiest timing and extreme exaggeration since Tex Avery.
Tartakovsky’s revealing intro and the BTS scenes of him cracking up his team as he narrates animatics are also well worth your time. [Watch]
More of a pre-lobbying volley for hydrogen-powered vehicles than a proper automotive spot, this all-CG work for the new Toyota FCV (the world’s first production car to run on a hydrogen fuel cell) was directed by ATYP in Brighton with post and animation handled by London’s current go-to shop, Analog.
ATYP: “The brief called for simplicity, elegance, and sophistication whilst ensuring a palpable sense of a human hand in the visual storytelling. This felt like an incredibly refreshing and inventive way of marketing a new car.
“Our response was to craft a rich visual journey that breathes life into the film’s dialogue in a variety of visual ways, whilst maintaing a seamless flow and coherent aesthetic.
“The line was used as a repeat motif and the visual element that leads us through the film. Beginning with the carbon line representing our current use of archaic fossil fuels, through the crumbling carbon city until it is finally reborn as the blue ‘hydrogen paved highway’; Toyota’s vision for the future of car propulsion.”
This vibrant and frenetic animated short from Mill+ thru Brothers and Sisters agency gently reveals the good-for-all corporate values of children’s eco-fashion brand The Fableists. Narrated by UK comedy goddess Jennifer Saunders
Mill+ animation director Ivo Sous: “We gathered as much inspirational material as possible. This was followed by a real hands on approach creating character designs, mood boards, style frames, storyboards and animatics.
“Style frames were drawn up in Photoshop, the character animation was drawn frame by frame in Flash, with other elements being completed in Cinema 4D before the whole piece was composited together in AFX and Premiere.” [Watch]
Reset TV claims their “Letris” formatted TV product “combines the intensity and strategy of Scrabble and the excitement and quick pace of Tetris.” Hmm, not sure I’ll be watching anytime soon but the frenetic CG title sequence by Physalia ranks as possibly the coolest game show open ever. [Watch]
Feel-good self-promo from the “audacious gathering of artists, animators, scientists, writers, designers, producers, and marketers” who formed Brazen Animation in Dallas in 2013 to work on commercials while they develop their own feature projects.
The fluid, monochrome, one-minute romp follows the character-hopping exploits of studio mascot Ignatius. [Watch]
