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.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More