Director Mark Voelpel, an eight and a half year veteran of R/Greenberg Associates (R/GA), has joined New York-based Black Logic, which is part of The Tape House family of companies. Voelpel arrives at Black Logic just as New York-based R/GA has started to wind down operations (see separate story above), Voelpel said he decided to leave R/GA before he knew that the longstanding division was going to close.
Voelpel began at R/GA as a technical director, animator and software engineer. He became an animation director in ’93. For the past three years, Voelpel has been a spot director at R/GA, working in CG, effects and live action, often meshing the different disciplines.
Karen Stewart, VP/executive producer at Black Logic, said that the company would benefit from Voelpel’s experience. "He’s got a great amount of focus and attention to detail," she said, citing Voelpel’s visual sense, "his ability to think in three-dimensional space" and to tell a story cinematically.
Stewart said that with Voelpel’s addition, Black Logic becomes a company that offers clients "different directorial viewpoints supported by a very high-end sophisticated design and compositing entity.
"Black Logic has built its reputation on doing high-end visual effects work, mainly in the 2-D compositing realm as opposed to the 3-D realm," she continued. "Mark has built his reputation on doing the high-end 3-D directorial work. I think that the combination of his work and ours, with our ability to support his desires to branch out into some other areas of production, provides opportunities for both of us."
Stewart said that Black Logic’s initial targets for the director would be car spots, CG animation and visual effects work. But she added that she wanted to help Voelpel explore other areas of spot directing.
Voelpel joins VP/creative director/director Michel Suissa, who has been at Black Logic since the company started in ’92. Stewart said that Black Logic now plans to increase its staff by 10 animators in order support its directors’ endeavors. Voelpel has already been awarded his first directorial assignment under the Black Logic banner: a Visine spot entailing CG and live action for Wolf Group New York (formerly Partners & Shevack/ Wolf).
Voelpel related that the resources available to Black Logic as a Tape House company provided "all the support" for the work he wanted to do in the CG, photorealistic, visual effects, and live-action realms. He added that he could contribute to a growing enterprise while he developed his own directorial career.
Voelpel said that he would direct spots that involved live-action, CG, visual effects, or a combination thereof. He noted that his creative philosophy remained the same regardless of the specific production approach. "Whether I’m working in live action or some combination, the crux of what I do is to use visual storytelling to connect with the audience," he observed.
Voelpel said that he tried to bring an understanding and appreciation of cinema to his spotmaking. Voelpel, who has an MFA in film and television production from NYU, mentioned that he had spent time both formally and informally studying films of cinematic heroes such as Alfred Hitchcock. "I love studying the techniques, film language and editing rhythms of the great filmmakers," he observed.
In terms of his own approach, Voelpel said that he wasn’t really interested in maintaining "a consistent style" from job to job. Rather, he wanted to "find the style and the visual approach that will best suit [each project]." He added that while he liked his spots to be "simple and direct," he also attempted to incorporate layers and details that make commercials worthy of multiple viewings.
When working on spots, Voelpel said that he also remained involved throughout the entire production and postproduction process. "Every spot I’ve ever directed I follow through from the beginning until it’s delivered," he noted.
Recent directorial credits for Voelpel at R/GA included Orkin’s "Spy Guy" and "War On Pests," a pair of 3-D CG commercials via J. Walter Thompson, Atlanta; Primeco’s "Intro" through The Richards Group, Dallas; and Bell South’s "Bump" for WestWayne, Atlanta.
Voelpel noted that he had "repeat customers" while at R/GA. These included seven commercials through BBDO Detroit, Southfield, Mich.; four spots over the course of three years with J. Walter Thompson, Atlanta; and nine spots for The Richards Group. Voelpel added that he gained a tremendous education while at R/GA since he did such a variety of CG and visual effects work and also had the opportunity to observe other spot directors in action.
During his tenure at R/GA, Voelpel also worked on visual effects shots for numerous feature films, including Last Action Hero, Demolition Man, and The Shadow.
Ivan Molomut is national head of sales for Black Logic. Alfie Schloss, Black Logic’s VP/director of marketing, also handles sales. The company is currently in discussions to shift responsibility for Midwest and West Coast sales to independent reps.