This spot centers on the improbable yet amusing scenario of a giant dinosaur playfully slipping and sliding across a frozen pond. A stirring classical number runs in the background as the brontosaurus crashes, struggles, pirouettes, and ultimately topples back to the ice.
The commercial ends with a superimposed graphic: “Dinosaurs. Ancient Fossils. New Discoveries. Coming this winter to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.”
Sean Broughton of visual effects house Smoke & Mirrors, New York, was the overall director of “Dinosaur.” His Smoke & Mirrors colleague Steven Parrish directed the live action. Agency was Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis.
The Carmichael Lynch team included chief creative officer Jim Nelson, senior writer Ellie Anderson, senior art director Brad Harrison, executive integrated producer Brynn Hausmann and director of integrated production Joe Grundhoefer.
Broughton also served as creative director and editor on the job for Smoke & Mirrors, heading a studio ensemble that also included: Parrish who additionally served as a lead senior CG artist as well as handling the lighting; lead CG artist Michael Donovan, lead animator Serkan Ertekin, CG artist Wei Louis, lead modeler Greg Calas, senior Flame artist Nic Seresin and exec producer Celest Gilbert.
Music was the famed “The Nutcracker” composed by Tchaikovsky. Sound designer was Carl White of Brahmstedt White Noise, Minneapolis.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More