Sometimes, Rick Hassen is frustrated. As managing director of the Los Angeles-based A52, he is proud of the work his visual effects company does—yet often the special effects are so special—so subtle and realistic, that the potential client, after looking at a reel of work, says, "So, what is that you do?"
Realistic-looking special effects have never looked better. Just ask Chris Byrnes, president of Charlex, New York, about Cingular Wireless’ "Taxi Dance," out of BBDO New York, and directed by Alex Weil, CEO/ executive creative director of Charlex. In it, a fleet of taxis fills the screen, driving in what could have been a circular dance line choreographed by Busby Berkeley. The sounds of the driving cars are punctuated by pulsating street sounds, by honking horns—done in unison—and by two moments where all the cabs open and close a door at the same time. It soon becomes clear that the grinding wheels and honking horns are playing the tune, "New York New York." It is an extraordinary rendition. The cabs are last seen in an overhead shot, driving in different circles to form the Cingular Wireless logo. "It’s all computer-generated," says Byrnes. Visual effects artists’ work has become so sophisticated that it is often hard to differentiate fantasy from reality. In fact, these days visual effects are not just about making a man fly or a dog talk. They are now about creating realistic sets where a budget won’t allow you to build one. They are about placing you in Paris without having to leave New York. Bottom line, they are about spending money to save money—and visual effects house producers are saying that these are the best of times and the worst of times to be in the business.
Technologically, it is the best of times. Work can be done faster, more efficiently, and with more subtlety than ever before. "There is a shift in technology," says Sally Kapsalis, managing director at Spontaneous Combustion, New York. "Where in the past, every effect seemed to rely on Infernos, which was expensive, now a lot of the work can be done faster on Apples with Photoshop and Illustrator. That also keeps costs down."
"Three years ago, it might take three weeks to do a CGI tracking shot," notes Richard Cormier, managing director of R!OT Santa Monica. "Now it takes three days. Things change. I look at a spot we did three years ago and I say, ‘I can do that thirty percent faster’ because of new technology."
Financially, however, it is, if not the worst of times, certainly not the best. A sluggish economy has meant that budgets are getting tighter even as the competition is getting stiffer. "Things seems to be on a fairly even keel now but it’s been a rough time for advertising in general," relates Alan Barnett, visual effects supervisor at Sight Effects, Venice, Calif. "We’re not perceiving an upswing or downswing. When there is work, the pieces of the pie get gobbled up fairly quickly. Things can be rough. I got word recently that one of our competitors has laid off half its staff."
"In terms of the advertising industry overall, it has been in a decline for the past year," reports Jerry Cancellieri, co-founder of Method, Santa Monica. "The last six months have been especially soft and there isn’t much visibly going forward. Concerning the visual effects market, it has more to do with an industry in transition as opposed to a decline. One trend in particular is client hesitation. More and more projects are being put on hold or downscaled. There doesn’t seem to be any major industry driving the commercial visual effects market at the moment. There is usually an industry that is prospering and marketing their products aggressively." Recent credits out of Method include the Lee Jeans spots "Emu" and "Cheese," directed by Dante Ariola of bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ), through Fallon Minneapolis.
Growth
Despite the sluggish market, some visual effects houses are increasing staff and opening new offices. Digital Domain, Venice, Calif., recently added several new staffers, including digital effects supervisors Simon Scott and Jean-Marc Demmer, as well as Flame/ Inferno artist Julian Meesters. The company additionally added visual effects producer Baptiste Andrieux and finalized an agreement to handle the U.S. representation of Paris-based Flame/Inferno artist Christophe Richard. At the time of the signings, Ed Ulbrich, senior VP/general manager of the commercial and music video division at Digital Domain, noted that in today’s marketplace, it makes sense to have access to international effects artisans.
And three former staffers at Radium, which has offices in Santa Monica and San Francisco, launched Zoic Studios, Los Angeles. The company, headed up by executive producer Steve Schofield and creative directors Chris Jones and Loni Peristere, will provide effects and CG animation for commercials, music videos, features and episodic TV.
Earlier this year, The Mill, London, opened an office in New York. The Big Apple satellite has been busy since its inception, working on spots for such clients as Levi’s, Nike, Land Rover and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Among its recent credits is a Kenneth Cole commercial called "Stir The Air," directed by the Snorri Brothers of bicoastal Smuggler, out of TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York.
And several post and editing facilities have diversified more meaningfully into visual effects, opening divisions and bringing on artisans and resources. Nice Shoes, New York, launched Guava earlier this year, while Jump, New York, formed Manic.
Indeed the key is talent—simply adding a machine or piece of software isn’t enough. "If someone says, ‘Now we have a visual effects division,’ and in reality, all they have is an Inferno, that’s not a visual effects company," relates Rick Wagonheim, partner/executive producer at Rhinoceros Visual Effects and Design (RVED), New York. (RVED is part of the New York-based Multi-Video Group of companies, which also includes Rhinoceros Editorial, Rhinoceros Post, Tonic, and Meccanica.) "A visual effects company is one that provides a solution for any job. Do you have the manpower or the talent to solve the problem? To decide what is the best and most efficient way to do it? You’ve got to have what it takes."
Test Market
Executives at visual effects shops that SHOOT spoke with noted that clients and potential clients are demanding more. It is becoming common, for instance, for a facility to "do the job to get the job"—well, almost. "Tests are a mandate," states Wagonheim. "If I don’t do a test, I don’t get the job. One of my competitors put eight different tests in front of them. You need to have the capacity to do multiple tests as well as the jobs on hand."
"You are often producing a section of the board to show how you will handle the job," agrees Byrnes of Charlex. "You do a piece of the spot on spec. It’s the cost of doing business."
Some argue that such testing can help later if they get the job. That was the case with "Slugs," an adidas spot directed by Frank Budgen of Gorgeous Enterprises, London, and bicoastal Anonymous Content, with effects work by A52. The commercial, out of TBWA/180, San Francisco, features two adidas A3 sneakers apparently running on their own (it is later revealed that two CGI-created slugs are manipulating the footwear). "We went out and built a [CGI] model of the shoe," Hassen recalls. "We did that on our own; the client didn’t request it." Having the work done in advance saved time later on when scheduling got tight on the 10-day job.
Facilities view the demands for tests as not likely to change anytime soon because competition from around the U.S.—and in some cases, from other parts of the world—is getting more intense. "It is a challenging time," notes Wagonheim. "The SAG [Screen Actors Guild] strike was highly successful in showing clients they can successfully go overseas and shoot jobs. That is having a domino effect. They can also go abroad for effects work. It is a global industry now. And that is more challenging for our industry. A production house can send a director overseas; but I can’t send all my artists and computers overseas. And we can’t easily set up offices in Paris, Australia, or South Africa."
All of which means facilities have to be more ingenious with how they budget their work. "With the understanding that budgets are tighter, people are working better," says Cormier. "You need to quantify things more, and deliver more for a smaller budget. Also, the layers of [client] approval have become more streamlined. There used to be seven layers; now we’re down to three or four because everyone is more educated about the way we do effects."
Creative control
Some see a silver lining in the budgetary cloud, as well: budgets may be tighter, but at least the agency producers are more honest about what they can afford to spend. "Clients are more upfront with their budget constraints," Kapsalis observes. "It’s a better way of working because you know the confines of the job and can work around it, rather than presenting a creative idea the [budget can’t accommodate]."
And those tight budgets can mean more creativity: once the job has been landed, it is common for facilities to get involved much earlier in the process. "You get to the point where you’re often doing fifty percent live action, fifty percent effects," says Schofield of Zoic Studios. "So you need to get together with the live action director earlier to talk about how it will all work."
"Much more commercial work is being completed in postproduction nowadays than in the past," agrees Cancellieri. "This is due to the fact that, in many cases, it is more cost efficient to perform the work in a studio, and the clients gain more creative and technical control.
Shaky market conditions have also forced some to hedge their bets, diversifying into other arenas, such as film and episodic television. During the summer, for instance, Method worked on the feature, One Hour Photo, and recently completed a large-scope film project, The Ring, directed by Gore Verbinski, who helms spots out of Anonymous. "This certainly helped us bolster our revenues during a very precarious time in the advertising industry," reports Cancellieri.
"In the coming years," predicts Barnett, "we have to look at what the economy does and how it affects advertising. Will lost advertising regenerate in complexity and quantity and remain our core business, or will we have to look at other avenues? I don’t know. And then, if there’s a war, that throws another wrench in the works."
