SHORT CUTS
Mixin Pixls, Santa Monica, provided visual effects and post services to a Honda three-spot campaign via La Agencia de Orci, Los Angeles. "Reflections" and "Parallel Youniverse" spotlight the Honda Civic Sedan and Accord Sedan, respectively. "Night Life" proved to be the most challenging for the Mixin Pixls team, as the goal was to create colorful light streaks in the night sky that mimicked what the young adults were doing with their light sticks while dancing around a Honda Civic. Mixin Pixls’ Henry/After Effects artist Mark Dennison eventually discovered a techique within an Adobe After Effects plug-in that accomplished the task. The clips were processed in After Effects, then further manipulated in Henry, where the effect was polished. CGI artist Harri Paakonen added to the effect by creating a starry sky for the scene. The result was fluid streaks in the night sky that follow the dancer’s movements. Additional Pixls included executive producer Dan Filice and rotoscope artist Brian Obee.
New York-headquartered Spontaneous Combustion designed and conformed :30, :15 and :05 promos for ESPN’s 10th anniversary special, Outside the Lines: Ten Years Later. The show, which began airing on Dec. 13th, revisits the stories, the people and the issues covered in the last 10 years. The Spontaneous team included executive creative director Tony Robins, who handled the Inferno assignment; executive producer/producer Marc Schwartz, and assistant producer Tricia Chatterton.
Class-Key Chew-Po Commercials, an animation firm based in Hollywood, created two spots for Saatchi & Saatchi Kid Connection, New York, and client General Mills/Cocoa Puffs. "Election: Part I" and "Election: Part II" feature Cocoa Puffs icon Sonny campaigning against "Elephant" and "Donkey." For Class-Key, John Andrews and Liz Seidman were executive producers, Nathalie Mesmer was producer, director Bonita Versh, and CG animator/compositor Dave Foss.
MUSIC NOTES
Eric Eckstein of One Union Recording Studios, San Francisco, mixed and recorded "Parked Car," a :30 for BlueNile.com and Leagas Delaney, San Francisco. "Parked Car" features two frustrated men waiting for a parking space while a woman sits in her vehicle, admiring the earrings she received via BlueNile.com. Eckstein used Euphonix S5 and Pro Tools Pro Mix 5.1 for the the ad.
