San Francisco-based Wild Brain heads the field of spot nominees in the 29th annual Annie Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in animation. The Annies are presented by the Burbank-headquartered International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood).
Wild Brain copped two of the five nominations in the commercial category, with "Beat Box" and "Urban Hip Hopper" for Wrigley’s Winterfresh chewing gum via BBDO Chicago. "Urban Hip Hopper" was directed by Wild Brain’s Ed Bell. John Hays and illustrator Marcos Sorenson co-directed "Beat Box."
The latter—animated by Dave Feiss—shows a high-energy character jumping, break-dancing and gum-chewing to a hip-hop beat, while a background consisting of a layered pattern of object line-art surges and changes colors behind him. The supered tag line: "Whatever comes out. … It’s cool."
The same super tags "Urban Hip Hopper," in which a young girl recites poetry on a street corner, in time to music coming from a nearby nightclub. She pauses on a wrong word, pops gum in her mouth, and starts again with a renewed sense of confidence. The camera moves to her reflection in a rain puddle, at which point the spot takes us to an alternate reality: The girl is now onstage at the club, accompanied by a live band and performing for an audience. The animation combines figure drawing, a painterly look and a photo collage-type treatment. Animators were Aaron Sorensen, Brad Rau and Roger Dondis.
Acme Filmworks, Hollywood, garnered a nomination on the strength of its Earthlink spot, "Darwin," for TBWA/ Chiat/ Day, Los Angeles. Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbes directed "Darwin." Animators were Max Graenitz, Claire Armstrong, Jane Doyle and Robert Simmons, with rendering by Rick Potts and Anne Ashton.
The process of evolution unfolds in "Darwin," as a voiceover observes that a proactive Internet user can change his or her life for the better while positively impacting the lives of others. From a technical perspective, "Darwin" evolved in a unique manner. The images used in the ad were repeatedly photocopied until the image degradation became artistically interesting. The Xerox images were then reworked, repositioned and modified to animate smoothly. Renderers worked with watercolor, acrylic paint and art chalks directly on the resulting stack of artwork. The same technique was used to create the boiling/panning backgrounds. After scanning, the layers were composited in After Effects. An orange tint was added during the Avid finishing session.
New York-based design/visual effects house PSYOP, through MTV Commercial Productions, New York, scored a spot nominee with "Brain" for the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA), out of Atlanta ad agency Sawyer Riley Compton. The public service piece features an animation technique in which colored inks are poured over carved-glass illustrations and filmed at high speed. "Brain," which was given a sepia finish, depicts an abstract animated head sniffing inhalants as the words "Sniffing can toast your brain" circulate around it. The head desperately wheezes until it is engulfed by a wave of black ink that symbolizes the devastating, often irreversible effects of inhalants. The message, "Yes, you have a brain" also appears in inky type. A voiceover warns, "Be nice to your brain; one day you might need it. Don’t use inhalants to get high."
"Brain" was directed by PSYOP’s Todd Mueller. Todd Akita served as lead animator/ technical director. At the time of the job, PSYOP was repped through MTV Commercial Productions. (PSYOP is now represented on the East Coast by Patricia Claire of art.fx, a division of Claire Alden, New York.)
And rounding out the field of spot category nominees is a Cartoon Network interstitial called "Passing the Baton," in which new school characters meet their old school compatriots when the Powerpuff Girls rescue Wonder Woman and Aquaman from the Legion of Doom. The piece was created and produced at Cartoon Network Studios, Atlanta, with Craig McCracken directing.
The Annie competition encompasses various entertainment disciplines, including commercials, feature films, TV programs and interactive media. The feature Shrek from PDI/DreamWorks, Palo Alto, Calif. and Los Angeles, scored big with 12 nominations, including outstanding achievement in an animated theatrical feature and outstanding individual achievement for feature directing, as well as nominations for writing, male voice acting, feature character animation, effects animation and production design. (PDI/DreamWorks also maintains a longstanding commercial production operation.)
Right behind Shrek with 11 nominations was Walt Disney Feature Animation’s The Emperor’s New Groove.
Spot nominees also figured in other Annie categories. For instance, Wild Brain garnered three nominations recognizing best animated production produced for the Internet with "Graveyard" "Groove Monkee" and "Mantelope." The studio’s Hubert’s Brain also was nominated in the animated short subject category. PSYOP scored in the special project category with My VH1 Music Awards. And Cartoon Network’s On-Air department came up with a nominee in the same category, on the strength of the open, close and packaging for The Chuck Jones Show.
ASIFA is the French acronym for Association Internationale du Film d’Animation, an organization founded 44 years ago in France by a group of professional animators. ASIFA was chartered by UNESCO in 1960 to encourage the art of animation and further international understanding and goodwill through the animation medium. Curently, there are ASIFA chapters in nearly 30 countries. The Hollywood chapter founded the Annie Awards in ’72.
This year’s Annie Awards ceremony and reception will be held on Sat., Nov. 10, at the Alex Theatre, Glendale, Calif.
