Reel of the Month Club (Dec. 2024): Coat of Arms
December 21, 2024
Although best known for their striking 3D animated work, London’s ManvsMachine rebrand the film domain of UK broadcaster Channel 4 with an intriguing mix of live action, stop motion (the logo) and digital post production (provided by Analog).
MvsM say they developed “a contemporary take on a classic film strip / projector effect… to give the package a visual signature beyond the logo.
“The idents see the technique applied to cinematic live action compositions, presenting the Film4 logo in various locations. Each location/scene carefully crafted to elicit a variety of different moods.
“Idents begin ambiguously before seamlessly branching off into one of three possible endings, making minimal adjustments to shift the mood dramatically.”
Watch the finished IDs with all three of their alternate endings:
[Watch]
London’s Marshmallow Laser Feast call their sombre yet startling all-CG clip for Duologue’s cerebral “Memex” track “a 3D study of mortality exploring new photographic processes, in this case photogrammetry,” and view the project as the beginning of a deeper study into VR filmmaking.
MLF: “We worked with FBFX and their amazing 94-camera high resolution scanning rig, to create a full body scan of model Beryl Nesbitt. The scans then went to MLF’s long-term VFX collaborators Analog where they snatched a magical moment of the sunset through a window (the Analog Studio toilet), as a spherical panoramic HDR photo.
“These two photographic processes combined in 3D software where the toilet sunset illuminated Berlys Photo scanned form. We wanted to go beyond the limits of the audience’s eyeballs – using 3D to reveal different perspectives on the human form.”
Arvid Niklasson, director at Analog in London: “After we received the high res models from FBFX we started to build realistic shaders for the skin. Obviously the eyes are extremely important in making a 3D person look realistic so we built our own layered eyes and tear duct.
“Another thing we added was subtle hairs on the body. Since beryl is ‘transitioning to death’ we also had to sculpt alternative versions where she was covered in an ash like material.
“Extra to the main model, we also created all the additional pieces for the video like cloth and the rose. Once we’d decided on camera moves together with MLF every scene was lit, rendered & comped in house at Analog.” [Watch]
The Mill‘s post crew help Rogue director Sam Brown highlight homegrown talent from across Africa in this spectacular centerpiece of Guinness’ high-energy assault on the continent.
In development for over a year and part of the global Guinness “Made of More” platform, the two-minute film premiered during a four-hour sponsored takeover of MTV Base. The #madeofblack campaign was conceived by AMVBBDO in London with BBDO offices in Africa. [Watch]
The first of four new TalkTalk ads thru Chi&Partners finds Nexus directors Smith & Foulkes applying their signature charm and wit to unlikely 3D heroes on an epic mission.
Smith & Foulkes: “The initial idea for this spot started as a mantra shouted by a crew of household objects demanding better and cheaper TV.
“But the challenge was not just about incorporating the emotional connection seen in previous TalkTalk spots into the script, but also about providing pure cinematic entertainment – so we took a slightly different approach, using the cinematic potential of a group of friends setting out on an epic quest to find a house with TalkTalk TV.
“This gave us the comic scope to show our heroic group’s most over-dramatic adventures in a quiet corner of suburbia.” [Watch]
This extended two-minute 3D animated clip for Renault’s diminutive rear-engine Twingo called “Go Anywhere, Go Everywhere” shows off the signature playfulness of the directors, French visual artists Kuntzel+Deygas who you may remember as the talent behind the stand out “Catch Me If You Can” opening title sequence from way back in 2003.
Produced by Kuntzel+Deygas’ Paris prodco called Add a Dog for Publicis Conseil Paris with music by Beck. [Watch]
At first glance, Patrick Clair‘s tasteful, minimalist and dark aesthetic seems a strange design choice for programming as crass and loud as the MTV Video Music Awards, but the contrast between packaging and content is just what this show needed to keep it from spiraling into a rabbit hole of hubris and inanity.
The title’s circular forms extended into the show content as they “exploded into vibrant, crazy generative turbines of color, form and movement – each a unique sculptural signature of the video they represent.”
Antibody and Elastic handled the design for the show’s branding and broadcast design. [Watch]
If you appreciate the power of data-driven animation you’ll love this new view of history tracking the births and deaths of 120,000 people from 600 BC to the present day: “using them as a proxy for skills and ideas, the map reveals intellectual hotspots and tracks how empires rise and crumble.” [Watch]
When Melbourne digital artist Andy Thomas pushes beyond his insanely intricate print work into motion, he creates what he calls “audio life forms” – complex and unexpected particle-driven 3D abstractions reacting to sound.
In this latest piece called “Nightingale and Canary,” he visualizes bird call recordings found in the archives of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum.
Thomas’ toolkit includes 3ds Max, Realflow, Quantum force, Fume fx, Krakatoa, Frost, Phoenix fd, V-ray, After Effects, Photoshop and Zbrush. [Watch]
Patrick Clair and his prolific studio Antibody continue rolling out smart, clean, striking work at a record pace. Check out their four latest projects including the promo for WXD Wired By Design, “a two-day live magazine exploring the intersection of culture and design” presented by Condé Nast: [Watch]
With their senior film “Listen,” recent Ringling College of Art and Design grads Marisabel Fernandez and Alexander Bernard take on the challenge of “envisioning a reality that we have never experienced,” interpreting the world of an autistic child through a fractured mix of abstract and illustrative animation. [Watch]
Following up Dvein’s spectacular 3D work on Terminix (here and here) is no easy task but New York commercial prodco Dress Code and the Havas Worldwide Chicago team give it a solid shot with this 2D retro-fun animated treatment anchored by Ron Perlman’s resonant VO. [Watch]
MPC say they channeled Samuel L Jackson, John Travolta, Michael Jackson and Beyoncé to choreograph the moves of a funky 15-foot African bull elephant strutting the streets of Vancouver for Money Supermarket thru Mother.
MPC 3D Supervisor Fabian Frank: “The biggest challenge was creating an elephant that could pull out the moves with the best of them, yet was also believable and true to life. We solved this by ensuring his dance moves stayed within the realms of what a real elephant could do.”
“The second challenge came with integrating the elephant into the shot footage. Matching the interaction between Graeme and the elephant were key, so Graeme was tracked and rotoscoped back into the shots – using select takes to perfectly match the elephants walk cycle.”
Watch the VFX Breakdown and the finished spot below:
Agency: Mother
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Guy Shelmerdine [Watch]
London animation collective Plastic Horse follow up the enigmatic weirdness of their “Able to Maximize” video for Crookers with a dense and graphic fever dream for the The 2 Bears track “Money Man” they summarize as: “Our favourite fun-loving Bears, having had enough of this sleazy and morally corrupt world, [Watch]
Anthony Francisco Schepperd, Philidelphia’s own master of hand-animated mayhem, kicks down the doors with this double-shot of punk-driven action for the Offspring tracks: ‘Dividing by Zero’ and ‘Slim Pickens Does The Right Thing and Rides the Bomb to Hell.” [Watch]
