Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/137897
Thenewblank creates So You Think You Can Dance promos S EATTLE — Design-driven production company Thenewblank (www.thenewblank. com) teamed up with Fox Broadcasting on a campaign that promotes the 10th season of the hit competition show So You Think You Can Dance. The campaign features the show's most popular all-star dancers. Images of the all-stars offer a center point of balance from which the studio developed the package. Thenewblank used a combination of rotoscoping, hand painting and CG techniques to create an appearance of over-cranked movement to the still photographs so they appear to jump, pivot and twirl across the screen with a fierce intensity. A vibrant powder treatment punctuates the action and is a visual metaphor for new beginnings. The studio called on Adobe Creative Suite 6, including Photoshop and After Effects, in creating the promos. Maxon's Cinema 4D R.13 was also employed. This is the second So You Think You Can Dance collaboration between Fox and Thenewblank. The studio also crafted campaigns for Fox's Fringe and Bones. For more on the latest in Broadcast Design, turn to our feature on page 22. Right Now: AMOLED displays I By Jason White Executive CD Leviathan (www.lvthn.com) Chicago am always excited about the convergence of motion graphics and the art world. As we grow and collide, we're constantly looking for new display forms and there have been some major strides recently. Up until now, we've had to rely on projectors, LED flat screens, and monitors, all of which bring weight and capacity issues. New media artists have a need for something lighter, flexible and versatile. This led to my interest in AMOLED curved displays, and I've been really excited to track the recent progress. Samsung is blazing the trail in these new displays that bend for mobile devices. Curved OLED TVs are in the works as well. This new "flexible AMOLED" technology is lightweight, transparent and paper thin. In the near future, it could be malleable and maintain a very high resolution. Multi-layered transparent video pages will be in our future. I'm already thinking of ways to use this technology once I can get my hands on these display screens because it fits so perfectly with the interactive experiential work we create at Leviathan. I'm thinking of ways to layer it, like vellum, and make art pieces. Ad agency RPA in Santa Monica has promoted Jason Sperling, previously SVP, group creative director, to the position of SVP, executive creative director. While at RPA, Sperling guided the Honda brand image and most recently played a big role in helping RPA retain the Honda business. Sperling helmed Honda's Matthew's Day Off Super Bowl spot, part of the larger CR-V Leap List campaign. He has been with RPA since 2010, joining from Media Arts Lab where he worked on the "Get a Mac" Apple campaign. Recently, his grad school alma mater, the Academy of Art, awarded him its first-ever Distinguished Alumni Award. at a glance Zoic Studios (www.zoicstudios.com), with locations in Culver City and Vancouver, has signed veteran VFX supervisor and Flame artist Robert Moggach. He brings his expertise in assembling teams of A-level talent for big VFX projects to Zoic's commercial division. Moggach has over 15 years of VFX experience and has worked for Asylum, Method, Digital Domain, The Mill and Smoke & Mirrors. He comes to Zoic from his own Toronto-based creative studio, Dashing Collective. Portland, OR's Red Giant (www.redgiant. com) is offering a free public beta of its BulletProof media prep and delivery solution. BulletProof combines all back-up, organization, color and delivery tasks while handling footage from multiple cameras and media cards. The BulletProof workflow is presented in a series of five views, arranged in a left-toright flow that mirrors what filmmakers do on set: Import, Organize, Review, Refine and Export. The final V.1.0 Mac OS release will be available this summer for $199. A Windows version is also in development. Smith Micro Software (http://poser. smithmicro.com) has introduced Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014, the latest versions of its 3D software applications. Poser enables users to easily create full 3D scenes with digital humans, animals and props. In addition to an extensive library of pre-loaded characters and content, Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014 come equipped with new features such as subdivision surfaces for improved bending fidelity, bullet physics for adding increased realism to animation, and live simulation mode for previewing dynamics in realtime. Special pricing until June 20 is $239.99 for Poser 10 and $399.99 for Poser 2014. www.postmagazine.com Post • June 2013 5