Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/815991
W hat's the secret behind Barbie's half-century of success? That would be Mattel's ability to keep her "modern." For its latest move, Mattel gave its star her very own vlog; it was just up to House of Moves and CounterPunch Studios to bring her emotive webcam performance to life. Very few toy brands have enjoyed the same enduring impact as Barbie. 2017, in fact, marks the 58th year of her non-stop success. The secret behind Barbie's suc- cess is Mattel's ability to dely shi with the times, keeping Barbie rele- vant in a constantly shiing market. And how do you do that today? Give Barbie her very own vlog. With YouTube now effectively the television of a new generation – turning many users into stars, simply giving them an outlet to share their interests, activities, and personalities – Mattel wanted to create a series of short CG vlogs starring Barbie as a vibrant, fun-loving teen girl. The only problem? Webcam vlogs are all about the face; the emotive, engaging, and interesting window onto the personality that, in the world of YouTube, draws millions of viewers to online celebrities. With that in mind, Barbie needed to be more than a plastic facade – she needed to express all the range of emotion of a real YouTube star. To achieve that within the constraints of a short, weekly, episodic turnaround, production companies House of Moves and CounterPunch Studios were called in to help. STARTING A BLOG "Mattel reached out to several service ven- dors with a challenge – provide a full-con- tent deliverable from a pipeline capable of turning out multiple minutes of premiere animation in less than a week," says Andrew Egiziano, owner of CounterPunch. "When we found out that House of Moves had also been approached, it just made sense to discuss collaboration. We knew about House of Moves and its ground- breaking Helibug rendering technology, and we had the facial rigging and animation technology to complement it. It was a natu- ral partnership." Brian Rausch, CEO of House of Moves, agrees that the partnership was beneficial. "The Barbie project was such an aggres- sive project, with big demands and a short timeline, that having additional experienced production muscle available was simply a great opportunity," he says. And that extra manpower would be necessary, considering Barbie required true- to-life facial animation that would make her feel as relatable and likeable as any other vlogger, and all within an extremely tight one-week turnaround per episode. "Our aim was to make Barbie the cute and lovable character that Mat- tel has always focused on creating," explains Egiziano. "We needed to bring in the characteristics the audi- ence knows and loves from Barbie, while adding in the performance and personality of the actor we captured with mocap. We needed to make Barbie's personality truly connect with the audience." FACE-TO-FACE WITH BARBIE The animation in Barbie is incredibly subtle – she gives a slight hint of a smile when discussing something she find humorous, her eyes widen when she's excited, she glances upward when she's thinking – and all of this occurring directly into the camera, just as you would expect from any normal vlog. There was no hiding here. This facial animation had to be the best of the best, and all delivered to Chat with Barbie "Our aim was to make Barbie the cute and lovable character that Mattel has always focused on creating." CG TECHNOLOGY BRINGS THE POPULAR TOY TO LIFE IN HER OWN VLOG 30 cgw m a r c h . a p r i l 2 0 1 7