Breathing life into art isn’t an avocation confined to educators. It also applies to visual effects houses, in this case literally to Harrison, N.Y.-based Blue Sky Studios for Mannington Floors’ "Mosaics" out of Charlotte, N.C. agency Loeffler Ketchum Mountjoy. As a camera moves from one room of a museum to another, the focus becomes a hanging ancient tile mosaic featuring several Romanesque characters. A toga-clad woman in the mosaic bends down to admire the museum’s Mannington flooring. She reaches out of the mosaic’s frame to run her hand across the floor.
The only possible human witness to this amazing event is a not so watchful security guard who is oblivious to what’s going on. A voiceover explains what attracted this ancient, artful admirer-Mannington’s Natureform, "the first resilient flooring with the look and texture of real ceramic tile."
Slow on the uptake but finally sensing that something’s amiss, the security guard turns to check out the situation. But by that time, he’s too late. He finds a loose tile from the mosaic on the museum floor-a discovery that only seems to puzzle him further.
For Blue Sky, the trick was to simulate a 3-D look through the movement of CGI characters-made from hundreds of two-dimensional tiles-on a two-dimensional plane. "For example," related Blue Sky animation director Jan Carlee, "if one of the mosaic characters turns from a profile to a head-on view, the surface space of the character changes, so the number of tiles on that surface needed to change. Since we didn’t want new tiles just popping into place from nowhere, we had to find a way to fill that space without being too obvious. The solution was to create an elaborate computer layering of tiles so that as surface tiles moved, there was a new layer of tiles underneath that could subtly slip into place."
The Blue Sky team shot a live action video of actors in order to get a precise sense for the pacing and editing of the :30 (with a :15 lift). The video was used as a reference by Blue Sky animators who sketched each character, hand-animating the piece frame by frame to create a template for the computer animation. Alex Levenson, the lead modeler on the job, said that "the crew was so meticulous, it was almost like creating an actual mosaic. "
Meanwhile, Blue Sky’s technical team had to develop new software that would act as the computer equivalent of grout so that all the sliding tiles would "stick" to the correct surface area.
Blue Sky’s artisans included: Carlee and Levenson; producer Michael Feder; senior technical directors Lutz Muller, Cliff Bohm and Dave Walvoord; technical directors Rob Cavaleri and Kristi Hansen; senior animators Jim Bresnahan, Nina Bafaro and Doug Dooley; animators Dean Lennert, Dan Whiting and Mike Thurmeier; technical animator Mark Piretti; modelers Mike DeFeo, Danny Williams and Shaun Cusick; production coordinator Leslie Schor; digital paint artist David Mei; technical assistants Tim Speltz and Chris Burrows; and editor Fritz Archer.
For Loeffler Ketchum Mountjoy, the creative director/art director was Jim Mountjoy, with Ed Jones serving as copywriter, Laura George producing and John Steele the technical advisor.
The live-action portion of the spot was directed by Bryan Elsom of Boulevard Films, Charlotte. Boulevard’s executive producer was Billy Patete, with Lisa Patete the production manager, Jeff Rogers the line producer and Angela Street a co-line producer. DP was Casey Nelson.
Colorist was Cassandra Fore of Film Group, Atlanta. Online editor was David Donovan of The Tape House Editorial Company, New York. Audio mixer/ sound designer was Brian Klump of Jump, New York.
-Millie Takaki
Director Jack Begert Joins Biscuit For His First Commercial Representation In U.S. & U.K.
Biscuit Filmworks has added filmmaker Jack Begert to its roster in the U.S. and U.K. This marks Begert’s first representation in advertising, building upon his acclaimed work in music video and film. He is best known for his striking aesthetic and surreal use of visual effects, displayed in his feature film debut Little Death, which won the NEXT Innovator Award at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The film stars David Schwimmer, Gaby Hoffman, Dominic Fike, and Talia Ryder, and was produced by Darren Aronofsky.
Miami-born and L.A.-based, the USC Film School graduate began his career in VFX and as an editor. Begert has worked with iconic musical artists including Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Flying Lotus, Childish Gambino, and Olivia Rodrigo, and has independently directed international campaigns for brands such as Apple, Converse, New Era, and Reebok.
Shawn Lacy, founding partner of Biscuit Filmworks, said of Begert, “We are such fans of his work--and of him as a creator, thinker, collaborator, and great guy.”
“My creative approach is often about trying to discover something unexpected in the filmmaking process,” said Begert. “Biscuit is a place where I can bring my own perspective to the work and still feel supported. That philosophy is clear from the talent they represent, and I’m excited to join their roster.”
“Jack’s work blew me away the moment I first saw it,” said Rupert Reynolds-Maclean, managing director at Biscuit Filmworks UK. “He is a modern young director who clearly cares deeply about both craft and the necessity for it in his storytelling. Everything always pushes the narrative forward. We’re looking forward to making great work together.”
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