Animal Logic, the Sydney-based visual effects/animation house, has expanded its commercials and short form studio in Southern California, staffing up and relocating to larger quarters in Santa Monica.
Recent additions to the Santa Monica shop are art directors Ben Walsh and Fletcher Moules, and associate creative director Kevin Fitzgerald. Walsh moved over from Animal Logic’s Sydney studio in June and has directed Toyota Prius’ “Ripple,” an ecologically themed global spot for Dentsu New York in which a digital water droplet hugs the contours of the car before ending up in a stylized CG lake below.
Art director Moules rejoins Animal Logic after two years with Nexus Productions, London. And Fitzgerald came aboard the Santa Monica studio following a five-year tenure as associate creative director at Cartoon Network. Walsh, Moules and Fitzgerald join a core Animal Logic stateside team of VFX supervisors and producers headed by exec producer Maury Strong.
This team of artisans in the Santa Monica boutique-style operation can via a company pipeline tap into the talent and resources of Animal Logic’s headquarters in Sydney, which has some 450-plus artists
Besides the Toyota Prius assignment, Animal Logic’s Santa Monica studio has also recently turned out visual effects for a pair of high profile projects, both directed by Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles: Kaiser Permanente’s “”Emerald Cities” and “Connected” TV spots for Campbell-Ewald, Warren, Mich.; and HBO’s “Imagine,” a multi-faceted marketing campaign–online, outdoor, TV and digital–out of BBDO New York.
The latter included an outdoor video installation located in New York’s Meatpacking District. A couple of two-minute short films, Open Doors and Heist, are projected onto a large scale video cube. As the scenes unfold, each side of the cube reveals a different camera angle providing the viewer with four unique vantage points.
Animal Logic VFX supervisor Nick Ponzoni, said, “For Heist, the key challenge was to match the action and timing for each of the four panels since each side of the cube was shot separately. To finesse the final images, some of the characters and actions were digitally removed, replaced and re-timed to create the final seamless effect. In Open Doors, the action was shot for each side of the cube simultaneously so set extensions were placed into the scene to hide cameras and act as a point of reference for the viewer to track the unfolding storyline.”
The Animal Logic team also provided post and visual effects for three TV :30s in HBO’s “Imagine” campaign: “Trapped,” “The Big One” and “Happy Kid.” BBDO New York launched the HBO campaign on Sept. 17.
Animal Logic’s commercial/short form division is now being repped on the East Coast and in the Midwest by Andy Arkin and his indie firm BLAH! blah? (Blah…). Exec producer Strong handles the West Coast and Texas.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More