SHORT CUTS
Broadway Video DesignLab, New York, designed the logo, main title open and show graphics package for Roker on the Road, a new series on the Food Network. The show features Al Roker—best known as the weatherman on NBC’s Today—who takes his love of food and fascination with people across America. For the animated open, DesignLab creative director Gary Keenan developed the show’s logo from the word "Roker," using the "o" as a tunnel through which a road stretches. The logo is framed within a license plate that is also used for each of the different parts of the show. The audio post work was completed by engineer Ralph Kelsey of Broadway Sound, New York, a subsidiary of Broadway Video. To create the show package, CG artist Floyd Gillis of AFCG, New York, used a 3-D Houdini animation software package running on Silicon Graphics workstations. Artists Eric Freeland and Mark Posillico finished the work in Smoke. Inferno artist was Claudia D’Enjoy, with Lisanne McDonald executive producing for DesignLab.
Minneapolis-based Hi-Wire and sister company BWN recently contributed to a spot for Timberland Pro work boots via Fallon, Minneapolis. "Human Foot" (:30) explains, "It’s a foot, a single body part containing nearly one quarter of all bones in the human body. When simply walking, the foot endures nearly four times one’s body weight." The ad goes on to point out the fragility of these bones, and how Timberland’s 24-7 technology helps one perform on the job. "Human Foot" was color-corrected by Hi-Wire’s Oscar Oboza, with additional color correction in Fire by Tony Mills, who also added custom vignettes to each scene. BWN’s Carl White created the sound design track and final mix. Tom Foley directed the commercial via Independent Media, Santa Monica.
MUSIC NOTES
New York-based hsr/ny completed the audio mix for the :30 "Goose," which promotes the new "Set for Life" game from the New York Lottery. The spot was created by DDB Worldwide, New York, and directed by Allen Coulter of bicoastal/international Hungry Man. "Goose" points out that even with a lifetime of golden eggs, living with the bird presents its own set of challenges. The commercial shows a family trying to enjoy dinner at home being bombarded by food flying into frame from off camera. Strange noises emanate from the goose, which is sitting at the dinner table and tossing food at the hapless bunch. Obviously, one would be better off playing the "Set for Life" game, which gives players 15 chances to win $5000 a week for life. For hsr/ny, mixer Steve Rosen utilized a Soundtracs DPC-II digital console and an Avid AudioVision to mix the spot.
Stephen Arnold Music, Dallas, provided a new music branding package for The Weather Channel, creating a distinctive new musical signature for the all-weather network. Led by founder/composer Stephen Arnold, the company’s Sonic Branding Division captured the emotional spirit of the network and expressed it within a four-note musical sound. Each of the network’s 11 shows were also given a distinctive musical open and close, built around the network’s overall musical re-branding. The music for the individual programs expresses both the themes of those shows, as well as the dayparts during which they air. Arnold’s approach to the music for The Weather Channel was to develop an organic, multi-dimensional feel. Original musical scores were combined with natural sounds found within the environment and nature. The compositions range from calm and serene, to the drama of a storm.
Composer Steve Dancz of Oasis Recording scored the PBS special Inside Mecca for National Geographic. Inside Mecca follows three Muslims from very different backgrounds as they embark on an epic five-day reaffirmation of faith and quest for salvation. The original score combines elements of Middle Eastern, Asian, African and American music. Inside Mecca marks Dancz’s 15th score for National Geographic. His four most recent scores The Filmakers, Africa’s Dinosaur Giants, Great White: Deep Trouble and The Raising of the Hunley are all available on home video from The National Geographic Society.
IN GEAR
Osprey Production Group, a full service production company located in Charleston, S.C., has purchased Panasonic Broadcast‘s AJ-SDX900 dual-mode DVCPRO Cinema camcorder. Osprey will be utilizing the camcorder for various production assignments, including work for the Golf, Discovery, History, and National Geographic Channels, as well as imaging/marketing programs for higher-end international resort facilities. Over the past year, Osprey has used the Panasonic VariCam HD Cinema camera on several assignments for its luxury clientele. Renting the camera from W.H. Platts, Charleston, Osprey has taken the VariCam on shoots for the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament and the Golf Channel, among others. Now equipped with the AJ-SDX900, the company is using it as its main camera for a surgical documentary to be shot over the next six months. Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is located in Secaucus, N.J.
CLIPLAND
The Syndicate, a visual effects/telecine studio located in Santa Monica, completed work on "Gravedigger," a music video for the Dave Matthews Band. Directed by Mark Pellington for Merge@Crossroads, Los Angeles, The clip opens on a truck driving slowly down a dirt road, which grinds to a stop. For two minutes, Dave Matthews, pensive and unshaven, paces as he regards a distant church steeple, then pauses briefly to inspect a cloth star, a remnant of an American flag. As the sun begins to set, Matthews makes his way to the church’s graveyard and begins to sing his the song, "Gravedigger." The song and video depict the lives of the graveyard’s dead, a slave being mercilessly whipped by his master, yet surviving to the age of 103, an old woman who lost her two sons in World War II, and an eight-year-old boy out riding his bike before he died under the wheels of a truck. Each story is punctuated by Matthews’ plaintive chorus: "Gravedigger, when you dig my grave, won’t you dig it shallow so I can feel the rain?" Pellington and colorist Beau Leon of The Syndicate opted for an extreme Ektachrome look, which gives Matthews a lush but hard-edged appearance that makes a striking contrast to the patchy vignettes of the departed in his song. In addition to the Ektachrome look of the present day shots, Leon imbued each of the vignettes with a look evocative of its period. The conform and online were done in the Flame by The Syndicate’s Kevin Prendiville, who served as digital effects supervisor and Flame effects/artist. Additional credits for The Syndicate go to digital effects producer Jonathan Stone, executive producer Kenny Solomon, and Flame effects/artist Christine Goldby.
