This CG spot from Digital Domain, Venice, Calif., for the Honda Fit out of agency RPA, Santa Monica takes us on a wild surreal ride. We open on a gas tanker barrelling down the highway towards a distant cityscape. Off to the side of the road, we see another huge tanker gutted by strange hybrid car/mosquito creatures who are dipping their stingers into the abandoned metal tanker, siphoning gasoline as a mosquito would siphon blood from a person.
The mosquitoes then see their next victims zipping down the thoroughfare–two other large tankers and a quick, nimble Honda Fit. The mosquitoes take flight and the pursuit is on. Some hop aboard the moving tanker and sink their stingers into the vehicle to suck out gas. But several other aggressive mosquitoes go after the Fit. One of the predators gets outmaneuvered by the Fit and winds up crashing on the highway.
Yet its mosquito colleagues continue the chase. From the POV of one of the mosquitoes we see that the 33 mpg-Fit is indeed elusive. Still the mosquitoes are on its tail, veering over and under a maze of highway overpasses–but they cannot get by what looks like a light tower.
The Fit escapes as in the background we see the mosquitoes getting fried in the tower which resembles a giant bug zapper.
Eric Barba and Brad Parker of Digital Domain directed and served as VFX supervisors on “Mecha-Mosquitoes.
The RPA team consisted of exec VP/exec creative director David Smith, senior VPs/creative directors Joe Baratelli and Pat Mendelson, VP/associate creative director/art director Curt Johnson, VP/associate creative director/copywriter Todd Carey, senior VP/exec producer Gary Paticoff, senior producer Shelley Eisner and broadcast production assistant Lyndsey Wilson.
The Digital Domain contingent included: Ed Ulbrich, president of commercials/exec producer; Karen Anderson, exec producer/head of production; David Rosenbaum, creative director; Richard Morton, CG supervisor; Alex Thiesen, VFX producer; Marc Perrera, animator; Andrew Eksner, compositing supervisor/Flame artist; Ron Herbst, CG lead; Brenaton Cottman, matte painter; and Hilery Johnson-Copeland, lead roto artist.
Michael Heldman of bicoastal Spot Welders ecited the spot.
Music composers were Jonathan Elias and David Wittman of bicoastal Elias Arts.
Sound designer was Eddie Kim of 740 Sound Design, Santa Monica.
TikTok’s Fate Arrives At Supreme Court; Arguments Center On Free Speech and National Security
In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information.
TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok's sale by its Chinese parent company.
Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a "political resolution" and avoid deciding the case. It's unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect's views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.
TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution's free speech guarantee.
"Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people," lawyers for the users and content creators wrote. Content creators are anxiously awaiting a decision that could upend their livelihoods and are eyeing other platforms.
The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule about a medium with which the justices have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech.
The Biden administration, defending the law that President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress, contends that... Read More