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November 2007

ZOIC HELPS SEARS POP WITH NEW FALL FASHIONS

To highlight the Sears' new Fall fashions, Agency Y&R turned to the talents of visual effects house Zoic Studios to transform the Sears Book into an animated pop up experience.

To accomplish this unique presentation, fashion models were photographed on green screen in the latest looks of the season. Additionally, thousands of still photos were taken by Director Joel Pront of Believe Media, and turned into the magical environments by the Zoic team that fill the book pages so that as the pages turn, the environments change. The unique blending of 2D photographs and 3D environments is a contemporary interpretation of the childhood delight of pop up books in a truly breakthrough commercial package.

Zoic Executive Producer Steve Schofield notes, "As a Chicago native whose family business dates back to that of Sears, I love that these spots add a new level of hipness to a store that is both a hometown classic and a national brand with the latest offerings."

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KABOOM'S BRANDON DICKERSON ROCKS WITH SPOT FOR UBISOFT'S JAM SESSIONS

To showcase Jam Sessions, the music experience that transforms the Nintendo DS™ system into a portable guitar, Ubisoft's in-house agency sought the directing talents of kaboom's brandon dickerson.

dickerson was approached based on previous spot work for Microsoft and his music video for Sixpense None The Richer - both examples of the single take illusion Ubisoft desired. The actual execution required a series of complex calculations and precise planning to deliver a journey of three groups of Jam Session enthusiasts in various environments rocking out to successive parts of the song Santeria by Sublime.

dickerson let the location dictate the flow of the one-shot move: He began this process by creating an animatic built from performances from the audition and still photographs of the actual locations in synch with the Sublime track which would serve as his audio/visual roadmap. Speed ramps and time changes added an extra layer of calculations so that the actors - none of them professional singers - would be singing the right part at the precise moment the camera moved in for a close up. The shots were then married in post via hidden transitions so that viewers experience a flow from one place to another throughout the song.

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FINAL CUT EDITOR JD SMYTH HELPS CREATE STREET ART IN HIGH-OCTANE SPOT FOR XBOX "PGR 4" GAME

Final Cut Editor JD Smyth was recently commissioned by TAG, the young adult marketing division of McCann-Erickson, to work on an adrenaline-driven spot for Xbox's latest game offering, "Project Gotham Racing (PGR) 4."

An eerily quiet city provides the setting for this :30 spot, which opens on curious individuals gathering around a fenced-off street, perched on top of fire escapes and peering out their office windows. They collectively wait. The silence is suddenly shattered by the roar of engines as sports cars and a motorcycle careen down the barricaded streets. Serious rubber is burned as a variation of vehicles including a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Ferrari, and even a Tesla electric car take the corners with marked style and skill, dancing around each other. As the camera pulls back for an overhead view, we see the skidmarks have created a visual abstract art. "The pavement is your canvas," says the voiceover, as the Xbox game footage exactly mirrors the heart-pounding action of the live scene.

"This spot was appealing because there was an integrated approach with the game footage," explains Final Cut Editor JD Smyth. "For me, it was about building anticipation and catching the excitement in the faces of the spectators. The car action was shot for real so the people are actually reacting to it. It was nice to work with that kind of palpable energy in the crowd."

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