In a series of animated :30s for Efficiency Vermont, a nonprofit organization providing energy-saving advice to households and businesses across the state, we are introduced to Jessie “Fewer” Watts, a compact fluorescent light bulb hero character who saves the day (and energy) in varied cowboy western genre scenarios. In this :30 titled “The Round Up,” Jessie gets an SOS from a town bar keeper imploring him to “come quick– a band of outdated light-sources is terrorizing the town.” The thugs turn out to be three incandescent bad guys threatening the peace of the townsfolk. Jessie shows up and lassos the three thugs around their sockets and justice is served.
A voiceover advises, “Round up the six most used light bulbs in your home and replace them with compact fluorescents. You can save up to $200 in the long run.”
Animation/CG director of the three spots was Scott Matz of Thornberg & Forester (T&F), New York, for agency Kelliher Samets Volk in Burlington, VT.
Matz–who also served as editor and compositor–had a T&F support team that included executive producer Elizabeth Kiehner, producer Joe Glass, modeling/set design artist Dan Fine, animator/character rigger Nick Johnnides, animators Taryn McGlaughlin and Bradley McGlaughlin, and final lighting and rendering artist Paul Liaw.
The agency team consisted of chief creative officer Linda Kelliher, creative director/art director/copywriter Bill Stowe and producer Tamara Jones.
The Tales of Jessie “Fewer” Watts spots were created in Maya with compositing done in After Effects. The characters will also be incorporated into the dedicated Efficiency Vermont website (http://www.newbulbintown.com/meetJesseWatts/) and a print campaign.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More