Cincinnati studio Polymath Motion celebrates the minimalist beauty and thoughtful utility of Hay’s 100% recycled color crates with an elegant in-house exercise in form, light, and composition.

Kevin Gautraud co-owner at Polymath: “We are inspired by thoughtful design. Simple things made with excellence have their own beauty, even the humble crate. Considered details and smart use of materials inspired us to create this small piece that tells the story of recycling and giving new life to old things.

“Our biggest creative challenge was finding the right balance between evocative vs literal imagery. My goal was for this piece to feel very much like it was filmed in a simple studio with practical lights and to be grounded in the real world.
 

“Hay as a brand is simple, beautiful and practical, we wanted to honor that spirit and at the same time push the visual expression to the edge of reality.”

 
“In CGI it’s really easy to do things that completely break reality, which is a huge strength of the medium, but at the same time it can make the viewer feel disconnected. Hay as a brand is simple, beautiful and practical, we wanted to honor that spirit and at the same time push the visual expression to the edge of reality. We approached the structure of the ‘narrative’ in broad strokes and allowed experimentation and exploration to guide the rest.

“We wanted to keep things fairly simple from a technical standpoint and lean more on composition, lighting, and animation to make the visual impact. Houdini, Cinema 4D, and X-Particles were used for the simulation work, all rendered in Octane. I have to also shout out Echoic for their original score and sound design. It truly transformed our work and felt like it took it to another level.”
 
 

 
Production: Polymath Motion
Director: Polymath Motion

Sound Design: Echoic Audio