Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/19885
postings ALL-KERNEL CAST N EW YORK— Nathan Love (www.NathanLove.com), here, completed work on a third animated spot for Pop Secret premium popcorn. When Harry Met Sallywas conceived by agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, and follows The Dark Knightand Caddyshackspots, which debuted last December. In each, pop- corn kernel characters are caught up watching their favorite movies at home. The excitement gets to be too much, and in each spot one kernel pops, creating an awkward moment. Joe Burrascano served as executive creative director for Nathan Love, and Mike Harry was executive producer. The studio’s team called on numerous tools to execute the spots, including Adobe Photoshop for design and matte paintings. Au- todesk Maya was used for 3D modeling and animation, and Z-Brush was em- ployed for additional modeling. Compositing and animation was achieved using After Effects. The Foundry’s Nuke was also used for compositing. Temerity Pipeline handled rendering and project management. SWEEEET 16 N EW YORK — Merola Productions (www.merolaproduc- tions.com) designed and animated a character-driven spot for Old Navy that promotes the clothing store’s 16th anniversary. The spot is aimed at price-conscious, fashion-wise teens and adults who can score $16 deals throughout the sale. Merola implemented a photo-collage 2D-style that features shoppers making fashion wishes. As each wish is granted, the respective characters are magically outfitted in the clothes of their dreams. Super Sweeeet 16 was developed through Nick- elodeon Creative Advertising and runs 15 seconds. The commer- cial began airing nationally on all Nickelodeon-related channels. Designer/director/animator Eric Merola says Nick’s agency wanted a new, silly and somewhat wacky spot for the 16th birthday promotion. The agency had a completed script and pro- vided photos of the interior and exterior of an Old Navy store. Merola and team created a stylized shopping environment and then cast a mix of characters. The cast was shot in different poses and with different expressions. Then, digital puppets were created of each character. The initial work was executed in Photoshop and imported into After Effects for the completion of the animation. The studio used PowerMac G5s and Apple 22-inch monitors. Roy Harter of SkinnyMan handled the sound design and mix. BANKING BASICS P HOENIX— Blade’s (www.bladecuts.com) Mark Trengove cut three spots for Mid- First Back that employ a painterly approach with intimately-framed shots. The commer- cials — Cake, Kiteand Fishing— were con- ceived by agency Riester and produced by Di- rectorz’s Jeff Bednarz. Bednarz and director of photography Mark Thomas captured portraits of American life to emphasize the core characteristics of Mid- First Bank: basic, strong and secure. The spots were all shot in Dallas. Trengove edited the project using an eight- core MacBook Pro with Final Cut Pro and Color. AudioEngine|West in Phoenix handled the audio post with Bob Giammarco mixing and Jason Camiolo composing an original acoustic guitar track that appears in all three spots. IN THEIR WHEELHOUSE L OS ANGELES— Wheelhouse Creative Production (www.wheelhousecreatives.com) produced and posted a documentary that focuses on the five-piece band The Airborne Toxic Event and a show they played last winter at the Disney Concert Hall alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The documentary — All I Ever Wanted: Live From Walt Disney Concert Hall— recently held its pre- miere and was also released on DVD. Commissioned by Island Def Jam, the doc covers the grueling re- hearsals leading up to the show, as well as the live, sold-out performance. Wheelhouse Creative partner Jon Danovic, who directed the band’s Happiness Is Overratedmusic video, approached the artists about documenting the rehearsals and live performance. Brian Girard, co- partner and executive producer of Wheelhouse, also lent his talents to make the project happen. More than 100 hours of footage were shot for the film and nearly 300 man-hours were invested before it received the green light. All footage was shot with Canon 7D cameras — eight total — and without audio assistance, giving it a raw and artistic feel. The 100 hours of footage was culled down to 88 min- utes by Danovic over a three-month period using an Avid editing system. 50 Post • November 2010 www.postmagazine.com