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.
How The Hollywood Awards Calendar Has Been Affected By The Wildfires
Hollywood's awards season has all but come to a rare halt as the wildfires continue to disrupt life and work in the Los Angeles area. There are near daily updates from the Hollywood guilds and organizations that put on awards shows as the industry navigates the ongoing crisis.
Here's an overview of the major upcoming awards shows, from the Oscars to the Grammys, including updated dates for nominations.
Producers Guild and Writers Guild award nominations
Postponed, no new dates announced
The Writers Guild of America nominations were to be announced Jan. 8, a date that was pushed to Jan. 13 and then postponed indefinitely. The Producers Guild of America nominations for feature films were to be announced on Jan. 10, which was pushed to Jan. 12 and then postponed to an unspecified date this week.
Academy Award nominations
Jan. 23
The Oscar nominations have been twice-delayed — they were initially slated for Jan. 17, then Jan. 19, before being delayed again. The delay in the announcement accommodates an extended voting deadline, as many Academy members have been affected by the wildfires.
The nominations will be announced via a "virtual presentation," eschewing press on site.
Critics Choice Awards
Jan. 26
Originally slated for Jan. 12, the awards were set to take place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, only miles from the Pacific Palisades neighborhood where fire was raging.
The awards will be broadcast live on E!, hosted by Chelsea Handler.
Grammy Awards
Feb. 2
By virtue of announcing their nominations back in November, the Grammys' schedule has largely been unaffected by the wildfires. Some... Read More