Paul Harrod of Bent Image Lab directed this spot deploying felt animation in which a newlywed man receives from his bride a gift he doesn't want–a mounted singing fish. The gent fumbles with his words as he tries to fake that he's thrilled over the present. In the foreground, Boston Pizza spokesperson Phil explains that giving Boston Pizza gift cards is a great way to avoid "Festive Fakery."
Harrod said he was drawn to the concept from Toronto agency Taxi for the overall "Festive Fakery" campaign (for which he directed all six spots). Harrod observed, "The felt lent itself to the idea of that Christmas gift that you really don't want but you're kind of stuck with. Creating this project in felt, so it had the look of a craft project was absolutely ideal."
Harrod designed the flat felt sets, with character design by lead animator Jen Prokopowicz. The sets were cut into geometrical felt shapes and carefully layered into the set. The characters were created by hinging together the character's limbs with sticky wax at various joints to allow for animation. All of the elements in the spots are felt, with the exception of the Boston Pizza gift card which is practical and a cat who is made of faux fur and hair sprayed for an erratic effect. The sets and characters were side lit to define texture and create shadow. Everything was shot on a down shooter in 5K resolution. Bent's compositing team used Nuke to meld the backgrounds and characters together and scaled the felt puppets to provide depth to the scene, shrinking Gary and Cindy for background placement and enlarging Phil for stronger foreground appearance.
The six spots are intended for the web, with one spot also going to broadcast. The spots will live on Boston Pizza's "Festive Fakery" website which was also redesigned in felt to match the spots (http://festivefakery.com/).
"The tactile nature of the spot takes us back to our stop motion roots," said Bent executive producer Ray Di Carlo.
New York Film Critics Select “The Brutalist” As Best Film of 2024
The New York Film Critics Circle has named director Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist as the year’s best film. The Brutalist additionally earned best actor distinction for Adrien Brody who portrays a Hungarian Jewish architect remaking his life in Pennsylvania after World War II.
Also garnering a pair of New York Film Critics Circle honors was Nickel Boys with RaMell Ross garnering best director and Jomo Fray best cinematography.
Writer-director Sean Baker won best screenplay for Anora.
Flow was named best animated film while All We Imagine as Light was picked by New York Film Critics as the best international film.
Here’s a category-by-category rundown of the winners:
2024 Winners
Best Film:
The Brutalist
Best Director:
RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys
Best Actor:
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Best Actress:
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths
Best Supporting Actor:
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Best Supporting Actress:
Carol Kane, Between the Temples
Best Screenplay:
Sean Baker, Anora
Best International Film:
All We Imagine as Light
Best Animated Film
Flow
Best Cinematography:
Jomo Fray, Nickel Boys
Best Non-Fiction Film: