For the third time in the competition’s four-year history, talent from London and New York-based Framestore-CFC has won the Visual Effects Society (VES) Award for outstanding visual effects in a commercial. An estimated 800 attended the VES Awards black-tie ceremony and gala on Feb. 15 at the Hollywood Palladium.
Framestore’s latest win came on the strength of the entertaining and effects-laden Guinness ad “noitulovE” (“Evolution,” spelled backwards) from London-based agency AMV BBDO, directed by Daniel Kleinman of Kleinman Productions, London. Recognized for the visual effects work were Framestore’s visual effects supervisor William Bartlett, visual effects producer Scott Griffin, CG supervisor Andrew Boyd and CG artist Dan Seddon.
Indeed this honor continues Framestore’s spot category domination; the company earned VES Awards for XBOX’s “Mosquito” in 2003 and Johnnie Walker’s “Fish” in ’04, and an ’05 nomination for Johnnie Walker’s “Tree”.
“NoitulovE” (“Evolution”, spelled backwards) essentially starts at the end, as it were, with three men in a bar raising their pints and enjoying their first sip of Guinness. The men move in backwards-motion out of the bar and into the street. We follow them a few paces, noticing that their clothing has already become Edwardian. Scenes continue to shift backward and down the evolutionary chain where viewers see prehistoric flightless bird creatures, dinosaurs, and finally mudskippers.
King Kong visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri of Wellington, NZ-based WETA, presented the commercial award. Before announcing the winner, he said that commercials represent “the essence of what we [the visual effects industry] do–you have to tell a story fast, and make it click.”
Jon Collins, managing director of Framestore’s New York office, and Sarah Dowland, visual effects producer of Framestore’s work on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, accepted the award. On stage, Collins congratulated the team and thanked the agency, saying, “good effects rely on a good creative idea.”
Backstage in the press interview room, Collins elaborated on his on-stage message, saying, “If you have a great creative idea and great effects, then you have a great spot. It’s about the amount of risk an agency is willing to take in support of an idea…I hope to work on a lot more of that– effects that support a strong idea.”
Collins also lauded the talent of director Kleinman, whom he described as “a great guy, a pleasure to work with, hard working and very focused.”
To win the category, “noitulovE” bested another Framestore spot, Esuvee’s “Keep it on all Fours” from the effects studio’s Bartlett, Griffin, Boyd and Jake Mengers for BBH, New York; and Venice, Calif.-based Digital Domain’s “PEBL” for Motorola and agency 180 Communications, Amsterdam. Digital Domain’s lead artisans on the latter were Eric Barba, Lisa Beroud, Janelle Croshaw and Greg Teegarden.
“ONLY”
Digital Domain, however, did not leave empty handed. Moments before the commercial award was presented, DD’s visual effects supervisor Barba, producer Beroud, CG supervisor Jay Barton, and technical director Jim Gaczkowski were honored with the VES Award for outstanding visual effects in a music video. The award was presented for Nine Inch Nails’ “Only”, a photoreal CG clip where objects on a desk begin to react to the Nine Inch Nails song playing through the computer’s speakers. David Fincher of bicoastal Anonymous Content directed the clip.
On stage, Barba thanked Fincher, Digital Domain’s senior VP/general manager Ed Ulbrich, and additional members of the DD team.
“It feels fantastic,” said Barba backstage. He would soon be relating the news to Fincher. Barba is working on visual effects for the director’s upcoming feature, currently titled Zodiac.
Rounding out this category was, coincidentally, a clip from Framestore, The Chemical Brothers’ “Believe” from effects studio artisans Boyd, Ben Cronin, Rebecca Barbour and Jamie Isles; as well as Bert Yukich of Los Angeles-based Kroma for the visual effects on Rob Thomas’ “Lonely No More.”
With the Academy Awards approaching, the feature categories were also closely watched. Oscar nominees in the visual effects category King Kong and War of the Worlds each earned three VES wins; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, despite multiple nominations, came up short.
King Kong earned accolades in the categories of outstanding visual effects in a visual effects-driven motion picture, outstanding animated character in a live action motion picture, and outstanding created environment in a live action motion picture. War of the Worlds collected awards for best single visual effect of the year, outstanding compositing in a motion picture, and outstanding models and miniatures in a motion picture.
Two honorary awards were also presented during the evening. VES founding chairman Jim Morris received the Board of Directors Award and John Lasseter–a founder and current executive VP at Pixar–received the George Melies Award for his pioneering, significant and lasting contributions to the art and science of the visual effects industry.