The John Lewis/Waitrose Xmas ad, a perennial, much anticipated piece of work each year, took on an even more ambitious creative reach by enlisting different talents and animation styles from around the world to tell a heartwarming pay-it-forward story for the holidays. This tour de force piece meshing varied animation disciplines, live action and visual effects headlines SHOOT's last quarterly Top Ten VFX & Animation Chart of the year.
Also in the quarterly Chart mix are: Argos' Xmas ad in which two young aspiring female magicians wow an audience; an inspired contemporary take on "Singin' in the Rain" for Burberry; Christmas-caroling sheeps herded by Wallace & Gromit for DFS; Santa's village–headed by Steve Carell as St. Nick–trying to come up with "The Greatest Gift" for Xfinity; and the return of Bruce Willis from the Die Hard movies to give a marketing jump start to Die Hard Batteries at Advance Auto Parts.
So take a look at the best animation and VFX work the 4th quarter has to offer.
1: Top Spot of the Week: Director Oscar Hudson, adam&eveDDB, Animation Ensemble Give A Little Xmas Love For John Lewis and Waitrose
Client John Lewis, Waitrose Agency adam&eveDDB, London Richard Brim, chief creative officer; Matt Gay, Feargal Balance, creative directors/creatives; Genevieve Grandsen, Selma Ahmed, creatives; Sally Pritchett, TV producer; Nia Maclean, Adaeze Ndakoji, assistant producers; Simon Adamson, executive content director; Jessica Taylor, head of content; Lauren Booty, social media director; Phoebe Wright, social media manager; King Henry: Scott Silvey, Danny Tompkins, Paul Knowles (John Lewis) & Alex Fairman (Waitrose), designers/typographers; Anthony Falco, chief production officer; Ben Sharpe, Cave Ellson, head of integrated production; Martin Beverley, chief strategy director; Hugh de Winton, strategy director. Production Pulse Films Oscar Hudson, director; James Sorton, exec producer; Neil Andrews, producer; Ben Burdock, production manager; Anthony Farquhar-Smith, animation consultant; Daniel Landin, DP; Luke Moran-Morris, production designer; Selina Wong, costume designer; Kharmel Cochrane, casting director. Music “A Little Love,” performed and written by Celeste; Celeste, Jamie Hartman, songwriters; Leland Music, music supervison; Polydor, record label; Warner Chappell Music/Reservoir Media, publishers. Sound Design & Mix Factory Anthony Moore, Jack Hallett, sound designers/mixers; Deborah Whitfield, audio producer. Editorial Trim Paul hardcastle, Elise Butt, editors; Polly Kemp, offline edit producer; Ben Elkaim, assistant editor. Postproduction/VFX Untold Studios, London Neil Davies, ECD; Bruno Fukumomthi, VFX supervisor; Ian Berry, EP; Ellie Joseph, producer. Tom Humphrey, Emre Aypar, Jack Fisher, Antony Allen, Aurelien Ronceray, Leandro Vazquez, Lee Matthews, Thiago Vilas Boas, Richard Harris, James Pratt, Felicia Petersen, Solveig Lynde, Untold Post Production artists. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, Photoshop, Houdini, Maya, Z-Brush, Mari, Substance, Arnold) Animation Production HUSH London Sylvain Chomet, animation director; Ru Warner, Lydia Russell, producers; Ed Roberts, lead animator; Aaron Lampert, animator. Animation Production Not To Scale, London Anthony Farquhar-Smith, animation director, stop motion animator; Dan O’Rourke, EP; Marcela Ferri, sr. producer; Malcolm Hadley, Matthew Day, DPs. Andy Biddle, Steve Warne, stop motion animators. Animation Production Black Dog/Jacknifefilms, London Chris Hopewell, animation director; Rosie Brind, producer; Jon Davey, DP; Cadi Catlow, animator; Holly Jo Beck, set designer; Harry Jenkins, Jonathan Minto, modelmakers. Animation Production Passion Animation Studios Anna Mantzaris, animation director & animation; Lisa Hill, producer; Belle Palmer, EP; Donna Wade, DP; Hugo Vieites Caamano, VFX supervisor (shot at Arch Film Studio); MegaComputeur, animation director; Belle Palmer, EP, Mike Turoff, head of production; Anna Cunningham, producer; Jason Nicholas, head of CG; Dave Walker, VFX supervisor; Tim King, editor; Colin Perrett, SIM. Animation Production Anete Melece, character & background design; Stefan Holaus, animation. Animation Production Shotopop Casper Franken, illustrator/designer; Dipankar Senguptak, animation director (motion) and cel animation; Carin Standford, art direction; Samantha Friend, illustrator; Jong-ha Yoon, cel animator; Leo Evans, compositor; Georgi Chalakov, animator; Eliza Bone, Donna Marie-Howard, producers. Puppets Arch Model Studio Andy Gent, puppets; James Ward, character design.
2: Director James Rouse, Framestore, The&Partnership Get Their Magic Act Together For Argos’Â Xmas Campaign
Client Argos Agency The&Partnership, London Yan Elliot, executive creative director; Matt Wood, Tom Loveless, creative team; Charles Crisp, head of integrated production; Andy Roberts, producer. Production Outsider James Rouse, director; Benji Howell, producer; Tim Steele, production manager; Antonio Paladino, DP. VFX & Color Framestore, London William Bartlett, VFX supervisor; Saruta Puff Pisanwalerd, 2D lead; Adam Smith, 3D lead; Tim Gregson, Erik Weaver-Pronk, Henrique Campanha, Muzaffer Korkut, Timothee Maron, David Cattermole, Thomas Ashby, 3D artists; Sherrine Byfield, Ollie Bersey, Owen Braekke-Carroll, Raphael Beyaert, Suzanne Jandu, 2D artists; Grzegorz Zolnowski, paint & roto; Andrew Salter, Flame; Simon Bourne, colorist; Helen Hughes, exec producer; Sian Jenkins, Alexia Paterson, producers; Emma Hughes, production coordinator. (Toolbox: Nuke, Hiero, Baselight, Flame, Maya, Houdini) Music Soundtrack: Gary Barlow's "Incredible" Audio Post Factory Anthony Moore, Jon Clarke, engineers; Lucy Spong, producer.
3: Megaforce, Riff Raff, MPC Get “Festive” With Contemporary Take On “Singin’ in the Rain” For Burberry
Client Burberry Ricardo Tisci, chief creative officer; Rod Manley, chief marketing officer; Rachel Crowther, VP, creative; Al Watts, Sean Bell, art directors; Rose Percy, director of production; Asha Joneja, sr. producer; Cara Gillies, producer; Rebecca Haddaway, production coordinator; Luke Stazaker, sr. manager, postproduction; Susie Miller, styling editor; Fran Dyke, jr. styling editor; Jake Clements, assistant stylist. Agency & Production Riff Raff Films Megaforce, creative & direction; Matthew Fone, exec producer/owner; Nick Goldsmith, producer; Hannah Fowles-Pazdro, Georgia Mills, production, managers; (La)Horde, choreographer; Ben Gill, first assistant director; Katelin Arizmendi, DP; Ib Kamara, stylist; Marco Puig, production designer; Lucy Fewell, stylist; Paul Mann, Neil Gawthrop, SFX. Editorial Final Cut Joe guest, editor. Postproduction/VFX Moving Picture Company (MPC), London Ryan Hancocks, VFX producer; Alex Lovejoy, creative director and 2D lead; Fabian Frank, Rob Richardson, 3D leads; Matthieu Toullet, colorist. (Toolbox: Nuke, Flame, Houdini, Maya, Arnold, Ftrack, Baselight) Sound Design/Audio Post 750MPH, London Sam Ashwell, sound designer/mixer. Song/Music “Singin’ in the Rain,” written by Herb Brown, Arthur Freed; published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd; vocals by Dreya Mac; produced and arranged by Lank and Tank for Twenty Below Music; Emily Pritchard, music producer at Twenty Below Music Cast Zhane Samuels, Kevin Bago, Robinson Cassarino, Chantel Foo.
4: Top Spot of the Week: Goodby, Director Craig Gillespie, Steve Carell Give “The Greatest Gift” For Xfinity
Client Comcast/Xfinity Agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners Jeff Goodby, Rich Silverstein, co-chairmen; Margaret Johnson, chief creative officer; Jim Elliott, executive creative director; Jon Wolanske, Jon Wyville, creative directors; Justin Ralph, associate creative director; Hans Schenck, Stevan Chavez, art directors; Mike Gallucci, copywriter; Ryan Self, design director; Benny Gold, Pedro Zuccolini, designers; Bonnie Wan, head of brand strategy; Kelly Evans-Pfeifer, Katie Coane, group strategy directors; James Horner, executive producer; Kateri McLucas, producer. Social team: Bob Cohen, creative director; Ross Fischer, associate creative director; Shareina Chandler, copywriter; Katy Wells, art director; Gemma Edward, executive producer. Production Company MJZ Craig Gillespie, director/DP; David Zander, president/exec producer; Emma Wilcockson, exec producer; Martha Davis, producer; Adam Arkapaw, DP; Jamie Vickers, production designer. Editorial Rock Paper Scissors Haines Hall, editor; Kevin Goolsby, assistant editor; Shada Shariatzadeh, exec producer; Kevin Gottlieb, post producer. Sound Design LSD, Santa Monica, Calif. Michael Anastasi, sound designer, Kai Paquin, sound design assistant. Audio Post Lime Studios, Santa Monica, Calif. Adam Primack, mixer; Ian Connie, audio assistant; Susie Boyajan, exec producer. VFX a52, Santa Monica, Calif. Patrick Murphy, VFX supervisor; Andrew Romatz, CG supervisor; Andy McKenna, Urs Furrer, Stefan Gaillot, Matt Sousa, Richard Hirst, Adam Flynn, Michael Vaglienty, Kevin Stokes, Chris Riley, 2D VFX artists; Ariana Ziae Mohseni, lead CG lighter; Dustin Mellum, Aemilia Widodo, Josh Dyer, Jun Kim, Weiyo Sha, Miguel Salek, Derek Friesenborg, Mike DiNocco, Jaemin Lee, Quinton Woodson, Joe Paniagua, Jose Limon, Bryan Cox, Jade Smrz, Joe Chiechi, Michael Bettinardi, Joey Bettinardi, 3D artists; Nick Hiatt, Jie Zhou, matte painters; Chris Riley, John Valle, online editors; Everett Cross, Andrew Rosenberger, producers; Patrick Nugent, Kim Christensen, exec producers; Stacy Kessler Aungst, head of production; Michael Steinmann, head of CG production; Jennifer Sofio Hall, managing director; Daniel de Vue, colorist; Dylan Bursick, Corey Martinez, color assistants; Jenny Bright, color producer; Thatcher Peterson, exec producer. Design Studio Elastic Nadia Tzuo, art director; Trix Taylor, Lucy Kim, Chad Danieley, animators; Mitchell Fraser, coordinator; Zach Wakefield, deputy head of production; Luke Colson, exec producer; Kate Berry, head of production; Luke Colson, exec producer; Kate Gerry, head of production. (Toolbox: Flame, Maya, Vray, Houdini, Ornatrix, Marvelous Designer, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Photoshop, Nuke) Music Company Songs for Film & T.V. David Fisher, music supervisor; “Dreamer” performed by Roger Hodgson and written by Roger Hodgson, Richard Davies; Eric Kinny, Bruce Driscoll, composers.
5: Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit Take Sheeps Xmas Caroling For DFS, krow
Client DFS Agency krow, London Darryl George, creative director, copywriter; John Mitchell, creative director, art director; Emma Rookledge, producer. Animation Aardman Animations, Bristol, UK Will Becher, director; Merlin Crossingham, Wallace & Gromit executive creative director; Nick Miller, producer; Lee Wilton, Jo Fenton, Sean Gregory, Arnua Godia, animators; Kate Anderson, Kevin Wright, Gary Roberts, Will Harding, Gina Ellison, Jimmy Young, Jim Smart, head of puppets and modelmaking; Rich Edmunds, Nicola Everill, Andy Brown, Hannah Greenhouse, Lynne Hunter, art directors & set dressers; Sam Morris, DP; Amy Cattell, floor manager; Dan Williamson, Ben Craske, editors; Vlad Ilescu, Jordanne Richards, Dan Blore, Bram Thweam, postproduction (Toolbox: Photoshop, Nuke, Dragon, Premiere, Resolve) Postproduction Aardman (Vlad Ilescu, Jordanne Richards, Dan Blore, Bram Thweam) + The Mill. Telecine The Mill, London Thomas Mangham, colorist. Sound Design Wounded Buffalo (Jonny Crew) & Jungle Studios (Chris Turner)
6: Director Andreas Nilsson, Droga5 London Iron Out An Epic Death Scene For Alexa
Client Amazon/Alexa Agency Droga5 London David Kolbusz, chief creative officer; Shelley Smoler, executive creative director; Jonathan Thake, copywriter; Ethan Bennett, art director; Peter Montgomery, producer; Manon Rees, assistant producer. Production Biscuit Filmworks Andreas Nilsson, director; Rupert Reynolds-Maclean, managing director/exec producer; Lee Groombridge, producer; Luke Thornton, production manager; Lasse Frank, DP; David Lee, production designer; Selila Wong, costume designer. Production Services Unit+Sofa (Prague unit). Editorial Cut+Run Ben Campbell, editor; Chris Hutchings, assistant editor; Ruth Minkley, producer. Postproduction/VFX The Mill London Misha Stanford-Harris, exec producer; James Beck, Nicola Simmons, producers; Jonathan Westley, creative director/shoot supervisor; Ben Turner, 2D lead artist; Peter Hodsman, Declan Andrews, 2D artists; Dan Yargici, 3D lead artist; Finlay Crowther, Jiyoung Lee, Paul Donnellan, Biswajit Tarafder, Bethan Williams, Murali Krishna Reddy, Roman Vrbovsky, 3D artists; Seamus O’Kane, colorist. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, Maya, Houdini, Baselight) Sound String and Tins Lawrence Kendrick, supervising sound editor; Jim Stewart, sound effects editor; Eimear Ni Ghuaire, audio post producer.
7: The Best Work You May Never See: Sweetshop Director Mark Albiston, FCB NZ, Blockhead VFX Listen To Inner-Meerkats For WorkSafe
Client WorkSafe Agency FCB New Zealand David Shirley, Melina Fiolitakis, creatives. Production Sweetshop Mark Albiston, director; Ben Dailey, exec producer; Larisa Tiffin, producer; Marty Williams, DP. Editorial Luke Haigh, offline editor. Character Design, Animation & VFX Blockhead VFX, Auckland, NZ Blockhead, character design, animation & VFX; Stefan Coory, Nigel Mortimer, creative directors/partners (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, Yeti, Maya) Music & Sound Design Cam Ballantyne
8: DiMassimo Goldstein, Bonfire Connect For Partnership to End Addiction
Client Partnership to End Addiction Agency DiMassimo Goldstein Mark DiMassimo, creative chief; Paul Fix, executive creative director; Chris Martin, creative director; Claudia Mark, head of design/creative director; Katheryn Renfroe, associate creative director/art director; Trevor Hickey, associate creative director/writer; Ernest Chan, jr. art director; Matt Peters, associate design director; Karen Tomlin, director of integrated production; Quentin Webb, studio director. VFX Bonfire, New York Aron Baxter, creative director; Brendan O’Neill, co-creative director; Jason Mayo, managing director; Tierney Farrell, sr. producer. CG Partner (Juice) Hanna Czyzewski, art director; Jakub Wrzalik, supervisor; Olga Rabiecka, producer. (Toolbox: Unreal, Quixel, Megascans, Maya, Flame, After Effects, Premier Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator) Music Supervision & Sound Design JSM Music Joel Simon, chief creative officer/CEO; Jeff Fiorello, VP/exec producer; Nathan Kil, sound design. Music “Salt and the Sea” by The Lumineers
9: Top Spot of the Week: “Die Hard” Returns–This Time With Batteries As Bruce Willis Reprises Role For Advance Auto Parts, The Marketing Arm
Client Advance Auto Parts--DieHard Batteries Agency The Marketing Arm, Dallas Andrew Robinson, CEO; Trina Roffino, president; Will Clarke, EVP, creative; Leo Santos, Harris Wilkinson, SVPs/creative. Rob Neatherlin, sr. creative director/art director; Stu Hill, sr. director, concepting. Nick Cernoch, associate director, concepting/copywriter; Steve Hinckle, creative director; Shelly Williams, associate creative director; Ida Brown, sr. art director; David Fox, sr. copywriter; Zach Phillips, art director; Kathleen Colditz, EVP, strategy; Chris Lee, VP, strategy; Stephen Bellinger, strategist; Diana Schroeder, VP, production; Matt Williams, sr. producer. Production Natural Selection John Suits, director; Amanda Mortimer, Nicole Flores, exec producers; Will Stone, DP; David Dean Ebert, production designer; Anthony Tran, costume designer; Hugo Villasenor, makeup; D’nelle Almanza, hair. Casting 5th Street Studios Bobby Stephenson, casting. Editorial John Suits, Adam Grabarnick, editors. VFX Ghost VFX, Burbank, Calif. Matt Von Brock, VFX supervisor; David Brown, VFX producer; John Nelson, CG supervisor; Tom Connors, VFX supervisor; Ryan Smolarek, compositing supervisor; Sean Cox, compositing lead; Matt Lefferts, CG lead. (Toolbox: Nuke, 3ds Max, Vray, Phoenix, Tyflow) Graphics Flawless Post Howard Shur, Rik Michul, Adap Petke. Voiceover Ashton Smith.
10: SMUGGLER’s Allie Avital Directs Kai Music Video “Fade Away”
Production SMUGGLER Allie Avital, director; Elizabeth Doonan, exec producer; Jeff Kopchia, producer; Sonja Tsypin, DP; Olga Nesvetaylov, production designer; Toogie Barcelo, choreography; Preston Wada, hair; Brooke Hill, makeup; Jasmine Benjamin, styling. Postproduction Lindsey Naldowski, editor; Loren White, beauty editor; Kaitlyn Battistelli, color. VFX Erik Ferguson, animator, creature designer. (Toolbox: Zbrush, Houdini, Nuke)