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www.postmagazine.com 36 POST AUGUST 2014 POSTINGS SNEAKY TURTLES CULVER CITY, CA — Visual effects studio Zoic Studios (www.zoicstudios.com), and its senior editor Dmitri Gueer, recently took the lead on the creative editorial for a :30 spot that re-launches Pizza Hut's "Cheesy Bites." Sneaky Turtles not only marks the resurgence of the Cheesy Bites, but also the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who cross-promote the Paramount film, produced by Michael Bay. The spot, produced by Bullitt Branded and directed by Anthony Leonardi III, finds a chef calling it quits for the day in the Pizza Hut test kitchen. He flicks off the lights and locks the door as the turtles quickly sneak their way in through the ceiling tiles. Zoic had to convey a fun sense of mischief and ninja skills. Gueer cut the spot on an Avid. To complete the project, Zoic worked on the edito- rial up until the day before delivery. This meant the studio worked in parallel with VFX instead of locking the edit. Zoic had to integrate VFX plates that weren't shot to be in a Pizza Hut commercial and send the temporary comps to ILM, which did the VFX. The comps were then put back into the edit and were adjusted as necessary. A WARRIORS JOURNEY DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES/NEW YORK — It's a familiar 'against-all-odds' story about a scrappy boxer who gets his one shot at the championship. Only this time it's Transformer arch-enemies Megatron and Optimus Prime bat- tling in the ring in a new, :90 3D animated spot from Clockwork VFX (www.clockworkvfx.com) for Hasbro's new Transformers Battle Masters game and agency Uproar New York. A Warriors Journey opens with a tracking shot of a fireworks-strewn city skyline toward an arena moments before the big fight. Inside their dress- ing room, the fighters reflect on their respective paths. The backstory then builds to a dramatic showdown in the ring. Set in a high-tech arena, the choreographed boxing sequences employ fast-swinging camera movements and visceral slow-mo impact shots. Clockwork VFX employed LightWave and the latest version of Nuke. For the crowd, Clockwork animated 30-plus unique characters, each per- forming :04 movement. Those characters were then duplicated numerous times and composited into the final scenes. WHITE RIVER LOS ANGELES — Imaginary Forces (www. imaginaryforces.com) created a new promo for FX Networks that was designed to build interest for the premiere of Season 2 of its crime-thriller series The Bridge, starring Diane Kruger. The :17 White River promo was directed by Grant Lau and follows a razor blade as it slowly drops onto a satellite image of the Rio Grande River. As the razor strikes, viewers see that the river has actual- ly been recreated with powdered cocaine. The promo serves as an alluring tease for what was promising to be a thrilling second season. The Bridge returned in mid-July to FX. A Red Epic Dragon was used to shoot the cocaine. The satellite imagery was created in Photoshop. Final Cut Pro was used for the edit. Compositing was performed in Flame, and Maya was used to create the 3D razor blade. Imaginary Forces credits include EP, Sarah Roebuck; head of production, Claudina Merca- do; producer, Brian Butcher; and designer, Arisu Kashiwagi. Tim Salikov served as 3D animator. Heath Belser was the editor and Rod Basham served as Flame artist. THE OYSTERCATCHER CATCHER MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Gasket Studios (www.gasket.tv) recently produced a stylized, 3D-animated sponsor reel for the 16th Annual Provincetown Film Festival (PFF). Written and directed by Alex Boatman, The Oystercatcher Catcher was inspired by the film noir theme of this year's festival, and Peck- er, the official PFF mascot. Staying true to the original Pecker illustration in the festival promotions, as well as portraying his irreverent personality, the animated story reveals that Pecker is no ordinary fedora-wearing pri- vate-eye. He is actually a thief. Boatman first researched the tradition of film noir — vintage and modern — to create a reference library of images and videos for inspiration. Aspiring to translate the instantly-recognizable aesthetics of film noir though animation, she imagined a painterly 3D world. A restrained color pal- ette, which was desaturated to virtually black and white, maintains the film's vintage look. Heightening the mystery and atmosphere, Gasket, through the use of such tools as Maya, Mudbox, Photoshop and After Effects, employed digital lighting and shadows to create fog, mist, street and sign lighting. Feather-textured vignettes enhance the dark, grungy mood of the story's bird-infested world. The models for the characters and cars were designed with exaggerated features and rendered in a hybrid cartoon style. After executing the anima- tions fairly quickly, a majority of the production was spent on matte-paint- ing backgrounds and texturing 3D elements.