Todd Mueller and Kylie Matulick of Psyop directed this animation PSA designed to educate automobile, SUV and truck drivers about the effects they have on each other. Animated icons were created to follow and express the emotions of drivers as they commuted.
New Zealand’s Transportation Authority wanted to connect drivers to more than just their roads. Psyop and Clemenger BBDO Wellington, NZ, took viewers along for the ride.
“The painterly qualities of this world really appealed to the team, and we were thrilled to be working on a purely animation project,” noted Matulick. “The story is one that all audiences can relate to, whether they’re road warriors or casual commuters.”
“Emoticons” endorses friendly driving etiquette by showing how courteous driving habits can yield positive effects on the roadways and lead to fewer accidents. Promoting this kind of respectful driving through the use of visual cues, the Psyop design team worked closely to finesse the handmade aesthetic throughout the spot.
“Representing certain driving experiences was an exciting creative exercise,” said Matulick. “We were able to craft these little, individual stories about how driving by yourself is really a social experience and that happiness begets happiness, especially where driving is concerned.”
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More