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 In this :30 titled “The Round Up,” Jessie gets an SOS from a town bar keeper imploring him to “come quick– a band of outdated light-sources is terrorizing the town.”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.
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