Even though "The Best Work You May Never See" is now in its sixth year, the positive charge still resonates for SHOOT when a spot initially recognized in that gallery goes on to gain wider-spread attention. That’s exactly what happened when the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood) unveiled its nominees in the TV commercial category for the 30th annual Annie Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in animation (see story, p. 7).
Included among the five Annie-nominated spots was "Every Move You Make," a :30 for the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore. In "Every Move You Make," a human skeleton made of salt appears and then disappears into a wave of blue, purple and white salt. Throughout the commercial, the salt shifts to form colorful skeletons that walk, dance, perform gymnastics and do yoga.
A soothing female voice relates that there are 206 bones in the human body. "The Rubin Institute is the next step in the science of keeping you in motion," she says, "with a cast of the best and brightest—world-renowned specialists in joint preservation and replacement, pediatric orthopedics, who choreograph everything from diagnosis to recovery." The waves of salt yield a woman’s feet wearing bright yellow high-heeled shoes, underscoring healing and recovery, and the voiceover continues, "Advanced orthopedics at Sinai—it’s a great leap forward." Finally, the salt forms a rainbow and the Rubin Institute logo appears, concluding the spot.
Ad agency Carton Donofrio Partners, Baltimore, selected animation director Aleksandra Korejwo of Acme Filmworks, Hollywood, for the assignment. The animation was achieved by using actual colored salt that she manipulated with a condor feather. Each frame of animation art was rendered and shot under a top-lit Oxberry camera.
The Carton Donofrio creative team consisted of creative director Margie Weeks, copywriter Ken Majka and producer Judy Wittenberg. The Acme Filmworks contingent included director/animator Korejwo, executive producer Ron Diamond, head of production/senior producer Peter Barg, technical assistant Scott Ingalls, associate producer Holly Stone, production coordinator Rosa Grossman, offline editor/post supervisor George Khair and digital matte/compositing artist Michael O’Donnell.
"The Best Work You May Never See" gallery was created to give exposure to worthwhile spots that might otherwise be relegated to relative obscurity. With the Sinai Hospital project, for example, it wasn’t likely that an ad promoting a Baltimore-based orthopedics operation would gain national attention. That’s why "The Best Work You May Never See" is so gratifying for us.
"Every Move You Make" appeared in "The Best Work You May Never See" section more than a year ago (SHOOT, 11/9/01, p. 11). The spot earned an Annie nomination in ’03 because ASIFA moved its annual awards ceremony from November to early February. The last Annie Awards took place in November ’01, so next month’s transition-year gala will recognize stellar work over an 18-month eligibility period. Starting in ’04, the Annie Awards will annually cover animation achievements in the prior calendar year.
The shift from November to February was made to mirror the judging period of the Academy Awards, which introduced an animated feature category last year. ASIFA-Hollywood expects the Annies to act as a prelude to—and perhaps an accurate predictor of—the annual feature animation Oscar winner. In that same vein, this is the second consecutive year that "The Best Work You May Never See" proved to be a telling precursor for a spot to become an Annie nominee.
