Reel of the Month Club (Dec. 2024): Coat of Arms
December 21, 2024
Another standout from season 5 of Motionpoems: “Western Civilization” by poet/author Peter Jay Shippy (channeling Hunter S. Thompson) as interpreted by director/animator Alicia Reece of Minneapolis motion house Neighbor with a compelling and appropriately unsettling mix of live-action and 2D work. [Watch]
1stAveMachine‘s Aaron Duffy and Bob Partington share directing credit with OK Go’s Damian Kulash Jr. and conjure all manner of tricky, one-take, in-camera optical trickery to nudge the video for “The Writing’s On the Wall” (from the upcoming album Hungry Ghosts) into the land of How-the-crap-did-they-do-that and I-need-to-watch-that-again.
The often cloying and predicable genre of breakfast-cereal-animation gets a refreshing graphic update in this snappy and exhuberant :30 mix of 2D and 3D talent from directors Emile Rademeyer and Phil Meatchem at FSM Create thru JWT Sydney. [Watch]
Matias Vigliano and Dante Zaballa (aka Parquerama Studios) create psychotropic and loop-filled animated worlds blending pencils, markers and After Effects. Much to our delight, they just sent us their latest collaboration: a non-sensical, vibrant and amorphous tale called “Big Bang Dog.” Vigliano and Zaballa: “Cartoons [Watch]
Powerful and ambitious new full CG spot driven by motion capture for Amnesty International directed by Onur Senturk, co-produced by Troublemakers.tv with post and animation handled by studio One More all via TBWA Paris, “Pens” keeps up the battle to inspire communities to defend their fundamental human rights [Watch]
Directors Todd Mueller, Laurent Ledru and a massive Psyop crew continue Samsung’s World Cup sci-fi adventure treating us to the first half of “The Match” to save Earth written by feature writers Brian McCauley Johnson and Marc Hyman and called by famous football broadcaster Martin Tyler. [Watch]
Fresh off a successful run on the festival circuit, German 2D animator Merlin Fluegel‘s latest short “ECHO” brims with peculiar behavior and unexpected scenarios.
According to Fluegel, the film “is about how childhood reverberates; about complicated relationships, and a departure to pastures new.” Sound design: Jonatan Schwenk. [Watch]
Brooklyn director/designer/animator Freddy Arenas spins an engaging mix of metaphors and illustrative vignettes into a short animated tale of devotion in the face of adversity for the Modern Love column of the New York Times. Sound design by Jocelyn Gonzales, senior producer: Zena Barakat. [Watch]
Lord of Barbès director/animator Jeremy Guerrieri and Ivory Coast football star Didier Drogba help the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ride World Cup fever to further the fight against malaria.
Drogba narrates the story of his childhood battle against malaria-carrying mosquitos calling attention to the disease still claiming more than half a million lives every year, mostly pregnant women and young children living in sub-Saharan Africa.
Drogba: “I have been a victim of malaria and have witnessed first-hand the devastating effects it has on individuals and families. Luckily I was treated in time and that saved my life. Today we have effective and affordable tools to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria. But we have to work together to make sure everyone has access to them.”
World Cup hype officially hits full stride with Nike “The Last Game,” an epic five-minute, full-CG branded short by Passion director Jon Saunders and development CD Pete Candeland thru Wieden+Kennedy, Portland. In production for seven months, the film required a peak crew of over 300 including 101 artists and 25 animators. [Watch]
Here’s director/designer (and former Superfad co-founder) Justin Leibow on his new trio of feel-good live action/animation spots for PayPal: “The agency, Havas Worldwide, brought me in as the director through Wild Plum. But, also additionally hired me as the CD for the design and post-production handled at their [Watch]
How good can CG medical animation look? How inspiring can a story about cancer cells be? The Mill and Wieden+Kennedy answer those questions with this Fantastic Voyage-like glimpse at the destruction of chronic myeloid leukemia for Oregon Health & Science University. Robert Sethi, director/CD: “This [Watch]
Newly signed to Division for representation in France and the US, music video mavens Jonas & François team with Paris VFX/animation studio Mathematic for the title track from Jack White’s new solo project called “Lazaretto” releasing June 10th on Columbia. [Watch]
Fast and fun new CG character and VFX work from London’s Gramercy Park Studios (launched in 2013) and Academy director Walter Stern for the repositioning of Betfair, the world’s largest internet betting exchange. GPS handled all post duties from VFX supervision and the CG octopus, thru to grade, sound design [Watch]
