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December 2009

ZOIC STUDIOS OPENS “EYES” WITH “V”: NEW BLOG PEERS INTO THE ART AND STORY OF VFX, LIFE AT ZOIC AND MORE

Zoic Studios has unveiled “I Design Your Eyes”, a new blog that provides a place for professional digital storytellers to share their love of the art and science of visual effects and filmmaking. Among the stories is a look at the ABC hit series “V.” The visual effects and digital production for the science fiction drama were created by Zoic.

The remake hews closely to the story of the original: mile-wide alien motherships appear above the major cities of the Earth. The aliens call themselves “The Visitors,” and appear to be identical to humans. They claim to come in peace, seeking to trade advanced technology for resources. But the Visitors are not what they seem, and hide sinister intentions. While much of humanity welcomes the Visitors, a resistance movement begins to form.

Another story from IDYE includes a short video produced by a team of interns from Zoic’s 2009 Internship Program titled, “Another Day at the Office in the VFX Industry.” Mixed with live-action and CG effects, this humorous film presents a typical day at the Zoic offices with hover seats, trains passing through the hallways, cloned interns, and hologram keypads.

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Süperfad SENDS MESSAGE FROM WYCLEF JEAN & VOILÅ FOR AGENCY GLG

The Garrigan Lyman Group tapped Süperfad to create a branding commercial that would embody the spirit and beauty of Haiti for Voila, a Haitian telecommunications company. At the heart of the campaign is Haitian-born superstar Wyclef Jean from whose hands spill the paint that creates an animated and colorful representation of the essence of Haiti.

Süperfad shot the live action performance of Wyclef Jean on location in New York and returned to Seattle where the animated world was created. This imaginary realm, stylized representations of Haiti, is an homage to Haitian Folk Art style – an aesthetic previously unknown to the Süperfad team and one that required copious and extensive research.

The goal was to integrate Wyclef into his narrative, which sparked the idea of having his actions deliver the visuals. Süperfad chose to use a mix of cel animation, 2d artwork and 3d animation to create the most dynamic visual presentation possible. The result is a commercial that reads as a love letter to Haiti and its people.

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PHOENIX PRODUCTIONS COMPLETES SECOND CAMPAIGN FOR VASELINE MEN

Phoenix Productions was tapped for a second year by Unilever to create and produce an integrated brand creative and custom advertising campaign for Vaseline Men and ESPN.

Phoenix Productions produced four HD television commercials as well as online and print media featuring "Brothers" star and former NY Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.

Phoenix Productions shot Strahan demonstrating various 15-minute workouts that conclude with the application of Vaseline Men fast absorbing lotion. In addition to the live action, Phoenix created graphic assets and stills for the print, TV and online media. The spots, which are airing nationally, can also be seen, along with behind-the-scenes footage, at strongerskin.com.

"We're very pleased to be working with Unilever for a second year in a row,” says Phoenix Productions Founder Chris Phoenix. “This year Vaseline allowed us to build the campaign from the ground up and infuse every facet of the campaign and its execution with our process and creative vision."

MRS. K DELIVERS PASSION AND BEAUTY IN A GLOBAL FOOTBALL CAMPAIGN FOR AL JAZEERA

Football’s ability to inspire and unite is a reoccurring theme in a new campaign created by Mrs. K for Al Jazeera Sport. The visually striking project fuses film and motion design, to speak to the passion of the global community of European professional football fans. Following a worldwide search, Al Jazeera selected Colorado-based Mrs. K for an extensive campaign to brand and promote the network’s new broadcast of the UEFA Champions League (the playoffs and Superbowl of European soccer). The campaign includes three promos and seven show packages airing throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The team - lead by Senior Creative Directors Mitch Monson and Jeanne Kopeck – was charged with creating the project in a hyper- intensive nine-week timeframe.

The live action spot concepts required a global feel, so with the project’s limited schedule, Director Jeanne Kopeck had to pick live-action locations carefully. She chose South Africa based on the extraordinary quality of its production crews and passion for the sport, Dubai for it’s Arabic talent and authentic locations, and the US for stadium shots and a “British Pub.” She and longtime DP Andrew Turman elected to shoot 35mm film for its unsurpassed ability to capture human emotion, and Kopeck asked for real kids to be cast from the townships in Soweto to bring an authenticity of experience to the “Dreams” spot.

The motion-graphics intensive program packages were shot Stateside and involved green screen mixed with extreme-high-speed shooting on the ITRONIX camera for player action and dynamic fluids. In order to successfully orchestrate the massive graphics and animation effort, Mrs K. brought on a number of additional designers and animators, selected based both on past collaborations and expertise. For work review and final deliverables, Mrs. K set up an exclusive online micro-site. This gave the Al Jazeera teams in Doha, Madrid, Milan and London immediate access to all of the work being created for the project.

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