World-class animation studio Nathan Love (www.NathanLove.com) is very proud to detail its collaborations with directors Nick Carbonaro and Ben Leavitt (collectively known as Nick&Ben, www.nickandben.tv) and Hopr (www.hopr.tv) in producing a high-profile cinematic brand film for Partners and Napier (www.partnersandnapier.com) and their clients at Kodak. The visually stunning :105 film is a key part of the cross-media “Digital Without Compromise” campaign kicking off this week for the KODAK PROSPER Press Platform. nnOther breaking facets of the business-to-business campaign include print and online ads, as well as PR and social media initiatives aimed at directing marketers, commercial printers, and publishers to www.kodak.com/go/wewantchange. This site presents content on marketing and additional Kodak printing solutions, and is designed to serve as a hub for graphic arts professionals to discuss the technologies and trends fueling the rise of marketing service providers and one-to-one marketers. Today marks the launch of the website, the debut of the film and the kick-off of the first elements of nationwide media campaign, all of which will be presented by Kodak’s executives at tomorrow’s Advertising Age Idea Conference in New York City.nn
KODAK “Prosper” from Nathan Love on Vimeo.
nFor the campaign’s brand film, Schwartz and his colleagues set out to evoke the tension present in the industry regarding the changes necessary for success, and then position Kodak as a partner and solution-provider that understands those needs. Nick&Ben used these words to describe their creative approach: "We wanted to create a sense of urgency and a feeling of anticipation as the film developed. A dark industrial environment provided the perfect backdrop for this world where technology is regularly in competition with antiquated ideas. The crowd is agitated and emotional, incensed by a broken system. But through all the chaos, a new forward-thinking solution is introduced, literally silencing the crowd. Our goal was to shroud the Prosper Press in mystery until the final reveal."nn"Nathan Love understood what we were trying to achieve in our treatment from the very first meeting," began Partners and Napier creative director Jeremy Schwartz. "The process was extremely collaborative. Their ability to realize our vision for the project and pour it onto the screen was astounding. We couldn’t have asked for a more seamless execution."nnThe directors and their creative partners chose Nathan Love to produce and supervise the project’s 29 visual effects shots, and create the dramatic CG world for the live-action elements to live within. Nathan Love then engaged Hopr to VFX supervise the live-action shoot and composite the film. "Chris DiFiore and his team at Hopr brought their vast VFX experience to the production and worked with us to develop the darker look and mood of the film," said Joe Burrascano, Nathan Love’s executive creative director. nn"The project’s live action-elements captured by Nick&Ben and director of photography Matt Workman were critical in reaching our end goals with this film," explained agency producer Barry Sonders. "By working with Nathan Love to meticulously plan each step, and having Hopr VFX-supervise the entire live-action shoot, we were able to bring this project to life in all the right ways."nn
KODAK “Prosper” Behind-The-Scenes from Nathan Love on Vimeo.
Nathan Love and Hopr’s visual artists on this campaign used countless tools, digital and traditional. In their digital toolkit, Adobe Photoshop was used for design and matte paintings, Autodesk Maya for 3D modeling and animation, Pixologic’s Z-Brush for additional modeling, Adobe After Effects for compositing and animation, The Foundry’s Nuke for additional compositing, and Temerity’s Pipeline for rendering and project management.nn"Along with all the other main facets of our workflow, we feel we’ve gained a huge advantage by incorporating Temerity Pipeline," said Burrascano. "This is a powerful solution that gives us total control over all our available data, software and hardware resources, and on a project like this, it gave us the invaluable reassurance everything was being handled in the most efficient and streamlined ways possible."nn"Partners and Napier and Kodak were dream clients to work with," added Mike Harry. "They supported and contributed to a creative design that was very ambitious, and their level of trust, patience, and collaboration really made this production extremely enjoyable. Barry Sonders was also instrumental in assembling and leading our team through a successful production. This project gave us a great chance to show what we’re capable of on live-action and VFX-integrated work, and we’re very proud of the end result."nnComplete project credits are available upon request.nnAbout Partners and NapiernPartners and Napier is an independent, mid-sized agency that liberates the promises of brands wherever they live. They bring branding, advertising, interactive and retail all together – without silos and with passion and agility. They love and believe in the power of brands. And they know that today more than ever consumers engage with brands in entirely different and more "real time" ways. And that with this, many brands hold unrealized potential to connect with, inspire, and engage consumers even more than they have historically. Partners and Napier is headquartered in Rochester, NY, with a full service office in Atlanta, GA and field offices in New York, NY and San Francisco, CA. For more information, please visit www.partnersandnapier.com.nnAbout Nathan LovenBreak out the crayons and beer, because Nathan Love is ready to play! This world-class animation studio is known for creating memorable characters, detailed worlds and engaging narratives, making it a party and inviting your whole crew. Driven by a passion for storytelling, their creative, technical and production capabilities are constantly evolving. Equally at home creating sensational 2D and 3D animation, the studio’s talents span all aspects of project creation and production. They are creators of commercial campaigns, original films, super-fun web content, video game projects, merchandise and more. Besides their extraordinary craftsmanship Nathan Love is also fun and inviting to work with, enjoying daily collaborations with leading creatives, live-action and CGI directors, sound designers, composers, web developers and other artists. So next time you’re dreaming-up a project, drop your briefcase and join the fun at www.NathanLove.com, or call +1.212.925.7111.nnAbout HoprnHopr is an award-winning design studio, creating content for commercials, feature films, installations, and video game cinematics. The studio’s principals include Chris DiFiore, Rodrigo de la Parra, and Makoto Sato. For more information, please visit www.hopr.tv.
