Winter Olympians breaking through barriers–literally and figuratively–for BBC's coverage of the Beijing Games topped SHOOT's first quarter VFX & Animation Chart for 2022.
Also in the quarterly VFX/Animation mix are: a tigers' tale ushering in the Chinese New Year for Coca-Cola; a Super Bowl spot in which the animal kingdom discovers the flamin' hot deliciousness of Doritos and Cheetos; another Big Game commercial in which Dr. Evil returns for General Motors; and a dystopian music video for Pink Noise.
So give a look-see to the best visual effects and animation fare that the first quarter of 2022 has to offer.
1: Top Spot of the Week: Blinkink Director Balázs Simon, BBC Creative Get “Extreme by Nature” For Winter Olympics
Client British Broadcasting Corporation/BBC Winter Olympics James Cross, Tim Jones, Reuben Dangoor, creative directors; Stuart Gittings, creative; Liz Dolan, producer. Production Blinkink, London Balázs Simon, director; Bart Yates, exec producer; Alex Halley, producer; Rebecca Little, producer; Theo Cassels, production manager; Max Halstead, DP; Andy Biddle, stop motion animator; Andrew Spradbery, stop motion animator & rigger; Jennifer Kidd, art director; Beattie Hartley, art department assistant. (Toolbox: Volo motion control crane, Dragonframe, Maya, Houdini, Flame, Nuke) Studio Clapham Road Studios Daisy Garside, studio manager. Blinkink 3D Printing Jennifer Kidd, art direction, set dressing. Props Scale Model Studios Elliot Spencer Colley, clear prints. White Prints 3M BIC Janine Downs, Anastasis Constanti, Stephen Knowles; Georgina Kipling, 3D printing technician. VFX/Post GYAR Mate Barbalics, Andras Piroska, VFX producers; Aron Hargitay, VFX supervisor; Sandor Garaczi, head of CGI; Adam Marihazi, CGI lead artist; Zoltan Marko, Istvan Bori, CGI generalists; Bernadett Dian, 3D modeling; Robert Toth, rigging; Bea Ujj, Zoltan Zahorszki, Gyorgi Fabos, Zsolt Merey Kadar, 3D animation; Gabor Abbas, FX artist; Shahab Hosseini, lead compositor; Aron Nemeti, sr. compositor; Andras Pflum, compositor; Balazs Lublovari, Victor Miltenyi, Ivan Voros, clean up. Rendering Fox Renderfarm Postproduction Company Feature Films for Families Peter Barbalics, exec producer. Color Glassworks Jonny Thorpe, colorist. Sound Company GAS
2: Top Spot of the Week: Director Yves Geleyn Ushers In Chinese Year of the Tiger With Father-Son Story For Coca-Cola
Client Coca-Cola Agency Unlisted x Ogilvy Production Company Hornet, New York Yves Geleyn, director; Hana Shimizu, managing director; Kristin Labriola, head of creative development; Hanna Smith-Ide, producer; Madeline Metolius, production coordinator; Anita Chao, sr. editor; Cole Bannick, assistant editor; Stephanie Dere, storyboard artist; Benjamin Piouffe, environment design; Alejandro Diaz, character design; Tristan Menard, matte painting & design; Kaycee Nwakudo, Hannah Kim, jr. design support; Natalia Perez, CG lead; Angeline Rivera, CG generalist; Joseph Chen, jr. CG generalist; Constance Benson, models & texture; Alvin Bae, textures; Cecilia Puglesi, additonal models; Josh Planz, rigging; Cody Chen, Mohamed Sinbawy, Nicole Noel, compositors and lighting & rendering; Hee Jin Kim, Tom Shek, Meg Oswalt, animators (Toolbox: Maya, Arnold, Nuke, Zbrush, Photoshop) Music/Sound Ambrose Yu, original score/sound design & mixing.
3: Goodby Silverstein, Director Tom Kuntz, Untold Studios Bring Creatures–and Their Taste Buds–Alive In Frito-Lay Super Bowl Spot
Client Frito-Lay Agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners Production MJZ Tom Kuntz, director; Editorial Whitehouse Russell Icke, editor; Joe Carugati, assistant editor; Katrina Kuss, producer; Joanna Manning, exec producer. VFX Untold Studios, London Ben Cronin, creative director; Tom Raynor, VFX supervisor; Alex Kulikov, compositing supervisor; Martino Madeddu, CG supervisor; Tim Van Hussen, animation supervisor; Chloe Dawe, creature supervisor; Mauro Giacomazzo, rigging supervisor; Tomek Zietkiewicz, Sophie Harrison, exec producers. (Toolbox: Maya, ZBrush, Substance, Houdini, Nuke) Color Company 3 Stefan Sonnenfeld, colorist.
4: W+K, Megaforce, KEVIN Team On “Printing Trees” For HP
Client HP Agency Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Eric Baldwin, executive creative director; Christen Brestrup, Bertie Scrase, creative directors; Brad Trost, art director; Titania Tran, copywriter; Matt Hunnicutt, director of production; Lindsay Reed, sr. producer; Christina Kim, creative operations; Lis Moran, design producer; David Chathas, Beth Schuenemann, Katie Custis, designers; Henry Lambert, Lauren Ivory, strategic planning; Erica Nikolaidis, copy editing. Production Iconoclast Megaforce, director; Valerie Romer, exec producer; Lisa Cowan, line producer; Greig Fraser, DP. Editorial Final Cut Joe Guest, editor; Evan Bluestein, Leah Burton, assistant editors; Taylor S. Rousseau, post producer; Suzy Ramirez, post exec producer; Ana Orrach, head of production; Justin Burkman, managing director. VFX KEVIN Tim Davies, executive creative director/partner; Mike Dalzell, head of CG; sue Troyan, sr. exec producer/partner; Jami Schakel, sr. VFX producer; Louise Bloomfield, VFX coordinator; Pete Smith, VFX shoot supervisor; Ben Smith, Dag Ivarsoy, Rob Winfield, 2D artists; Nico Sugleris, Kathryn Dougan, Kerry Graham, Matt Longwell, Carl Harders, Dan Santoni, Edwin Chiu, Igor Stefanovic, Michael Edland, Tom Allen, Shiv Dholakia, CG artists. Color Emiliano Serantoni, colorist. Voiceover Talent Angela Grovey Music Walker Sara Matarazzo, sr. exec producer/founder; Stephanie Pigott, exec producer; Ben Salisbury, Suvi-Eeva Aikas, composers. Sound Design & Audio Post 750mph Sam Ashwell, audio mixer/sound designer; Martin Critchley, exec producer.
5: Mike Myers’ Dr. Evil Is “Back For Good” In General Motors’ Super Bowl Spot From McCann Detroit
Client General Motors Agency McCann Detroit Chuck Meehan, Brad Emmett, co-chief creative officers; Rob Legato, Tony Kaurse, group creative directors; Michael Musallam, Nick Marine, associate creative directors; Hafeez Saheed, executive integrated producer; Diana Ceausu, global head of strategy & research; Tim Rocklage, sr. art director Anna Jacobs, copywriter. Production Bootleg Films, London Tim Kirkby, director; Giles Nuttgens, DP; Greg Jordan, exec producer; Ira Brooks, line producer. U.S. Production Support Rocket Film Sara Eolin, managing director; Marla Whittaker, EP/head of production. Editorial Cosmo Street Tom Scherma, editor; Yvette Cobarrubius, exec producer; Marie Mangahas, head of production; Yole Barrera, producer. VFX AFX Creative, Santa Monica, Calif. Chris Noellert, creative director/2D supervisor; Tom Connors, VFX supervisor/3D lead; Felix Thedeby, composite supervisor; Alex Michael, sr. producer; Giulia Rocca, production coordinator; Esther Minitser, head of production; Nicole Fina, exec producer; Mark Leiss, managing director; Derek Hansen, colorist; Zachary Hetlage, assistant colorist; Jessica Amburgey, color producer. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, 3DSMax, Maya, Substance Painter, redshift) Music “Opening Title” from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; music by George S. Clinton, courtesy of New Line Productions, Inc. Music/Sound Design JSM Music Joel Simon, CEO/CCO; Jeff Fiorello, VP/exec producer; Norm Felker, sr. producer; Andrew Manning, Sharon Cha, producers; Seamus Kilmartin, Cecil Campanero, composers; Nathan Kil, sound designer. Stock Music BMG Production Music Audio Eleven Sound Jeff Payne, mixer/sound designer; Andrew Smith, assistant mixer; Melissa Elston, exec producer.
6: Larry David, dentsuMB “Don’t Miss Out” On Super Bowl Spot For FTX
Client FTX Agency dentsuMB Menno Kluin, chief creative officer; Jason Stefanik, executive creative director; Andrew Hunter, creative director; Daniel Freeda, sr. copywriter; Christian Maine De Biran, sr. art director; Brian Gartside, group design director; Sophia del Plato, sr. graphic designer; Luis Valencia, Emily Thomas, graphic designers; Ed Zazzera, EVP, integrated production; Stacy Kay, Carissa Ranelycke, SVPs, integrated production; Andrea Rastogi, executive producer, integrated; Adrienne Darnell, sr. producer, integrated production; Jerry Krenach, SVP, global music production; Stephen Stallings, sr. music producer; Kaylyn Keane, music licensing producer; Jamie Shuttleworth, chief strategy officer; Ana Conroy, SVP, integrated strategy; Kathryn Saulitis, sr. strategist. Cultural Fluency Committee Kai Deveraux Lawson, SVP, diversity, equity & inclusion; Ross Patton, producer, integrate dproduction; Matias Martty, executive creative director. Production Company Partizan Jeff Schaffer, director; Lisa Tauscher, managing director/exec producer; Mike Lobikis, exec producer/head of sales; Raffi Adlan, producer; Ani Mikirdichian, head of production; Darren Lew, DP; Jeffrey Beecroft, production designer; Christina Mongini, costume designer; Yumi Mizui, Japanese translator. Editorial Mackcut Ian Mackenzie, editor; Cooper McLane, assistant editor; Gina Pagano, exec producer. Audio Heard City Keith Reynaud, mixer; Liana Rosenberg, sr. producer. Color Company 3 Kath Raisch, colorist; Cassidy Conway, producer. VFX Method Bennett Lieber, exec producer; Kristin Engdahl, supervising VFX producer; Olivia Vitagliano, VFX coordinator; Warren Paleos, Rob Walker, creative directors; Jesse Bradstreet, on-set VFX supervisor; Alex Cheparev, sr CG supervisor; Kyle Andal, Gerard Andal, compositing supervisors; Chihcheng Peng, lead Flame artist; Adam Rosenzweig, Orges Kokoshari, modelers; Cecilia Nguyen, 3D animator; Alejandro Echeverry, FX artist; Daniel Bayona, Celeste Caliri, digital matte painter; Claire Yawen Chang, Da Kim, lighters; Jeric Pimentel, compositing lead; Rodrigo DeLaParra, compositor; Andrew Paulus, designer; Michael DeCaprio, VFX artist. (Toolbox: Maya, Houdini, Mari, Nuke, Flame) Music JSM Joel Simon, CEO/CCO/composer; Jeff Fiorello, VP/exec producer; Seamus Kilmartin, composer; Norm Felker, Andrew Manning, sr. producers; Sharon Cha, producer. Graphics DIA
7: Mathematic Crafts Dystopian Auto Racing World for Pink Noise’s “Sky Cry” Music Video
Client Pink Noise, Viral (Pink Noise’s label) Production Phantasm, Paris Kim Chapiron, writer-director; Gary Farkas, Olivier Muller, Clement Lepoutre, exec producers. Production/VFX Mathematic, Paris Jehan Bouazza, co-director & CG supervisor; Guillaume Marien, exec producer; Jeremy Dumetre, post producer; Margerie Argentin, Benjamin Weil, montage; Valentin Soulard, Xavier Zahra, layout/previs; Camille Gurruchaga, character concept/lead character; Sebastien Hue, Dofresh, concept artists; Gregory Finsburger, Yann Glica, Francois Heysen, environment artists; Olivier Colchen, Maxime Delsart, Houdini artists; Thomas Van Maele, Houndini artist & crowd; Fabien Delavous, Nicolas Derory, Pierre Herzig, Anthony Lyant, compositing; Olivier Zibret, Flame; Cyril Cassaigne, Ornella Luzzi, animation; Yann Glica, 3D lead/environment lead/lighting artist; Axel Alvarez, Jordan Lorcet, François Heysen, Victor Martinez, lighting artists; Emiliano Serantoni, grading; Margerie Argentin, Benjamin Weill, editors; Beastmaster, rig; Mocaplab, mocap. (Toolbox: Zbrush, Maya, Houdini, Substance Painter, Nuke, Flame, Resolve, Arnold). Production Quiet Sol Guy, exec producer. Production Viral (Pink Noise’s label).
8: David&Goliath, Director Noam Murro, Robo Dog Lead A Fully Charged Life In Kia EV6 Super Bowl Spot
Client Kia Agency David&Goliath David Angelo, founder & creative chairman; Yumi Prentice, president; Laura Forman, chief strategy officer; Ben Purcell, chief creative officer; Frauke Tiemann, executive creative director/art director; Mark Koelfgen, executive creative director/copywriter; Mark Monteiro, executive creative director; Courtney Pulver, group creative director/copywriter; Robert Casillas, group creative director/ art director; Bennett Austin, creative director/art director; Nick Micale, creative director/copywriter; Paul Albanese, managing director, broadcast production; Peter Bassett, managing director, integrated production & technology services; Christopher Coleman, Juliet Diamond, executive producers; Allan de Leon, digital executive producer; Allison Minton, digital producer; Abigail Grinberg, associate digital producer; Meagan Steinkamp, sr. digital designer; Evon Forbes, digital designer; Bruno Cunha, group strategy director; Jasmine Spraglin, sr. creatist; Beka Tesfaye, strategist. Cara Nieto, executive art producer. Production Biscuit Filmworks Noam Murro, director; Shawn Lacy, partner/managing director; Andrew Travelstead, exec producer; Jason Groves, producer; Sean Moody, head of production; Eric Schmidt, DP; Brock Houghton, production designer. VFX Parliament, Los Angeles (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, Maya). Augmented Reality 14Four Jeff Oswalt, president; Avery McKee, producer; Brandon DeLauney, creative director; Madison Merica, lead designer; Eric Narad, director of 3D animation; Alex Michaluk, sr. front end developer/AR lead; Jared Darr, Coby Forrester, front end developers; Steve Wanless, technical strategy director. Augmented Reality SDK 8th Wall Editorial Spinach Damion Clayton, editor (courtesy of RPS); Adam Bright, managing director; Jonathan Carpio, exec producer; Nicole Haws, producer; Michael Shugarman, assistant editor (courtesy of RPS). Color Company 3 Jill Bogdanowicz, colorist; Matt Moran, color producer; Ashley McKim, exec producer Audio Margarita Mix, Santa Monica Nathan Dubin, audio mixer/sound designer; Whitney Morris, Paula Arnett, exec producers; Brian Frank, operations manager; Sean Melia, Mike Murzyn, Zach Olson, assistant engineers. Licensed Music “Total Eclipse of the Heart” Jim Steinman, writer; Edward B. Marks Music Company (BMI), Lost Boys Music (BMI), publishers; Round Hill Carlin, LLC, licensor; Bonnie Tyler, performer; courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment. Model Citizen Creative Rory Doggett, music editor/creative director.
9: Director Tobias Fouracre Brings Stop-Motion Whimsy To VanMoof’s “Hard Times For Super Thieves” Spot
Client VanMoof Colin Cornwell, creative director; Andrew Smith, chief marketing officer; Kim Buttery, producer. Production Company Rowdy, London Tobias Fouracre, director/animator; Daisy Garside, producer; Malcolm Hadley, DP; Mark Waring, Andy Biddle, animators; Rosie Tonkin, uppet maintenance/stand by art dept; Beth Jupe, Andy Bell, puppet design & fabrication; Amanda Thomas, Anthony Fallows, Beck Smith, Graeme Hall, Paul Davies, Mark Thompson, puppet fabrication; Hayley McKinney, props; Solomon Yossel Simpson-Little, set design & construction; Thomas Harnett O'Meara, animatics edit; Gustaf Lindstrom, rig removal & compositing. (Toolbox: After Effects, Premiere, Dragonframe, DaVinci Resolve) Digital Intermediate Escape Hatch Studio Nick Watson, colorist. Sound Design/Audio Post String & Tins, London Jim Stewart, sound designer/mixer. Music "Village Idiot" by Cavendish
10: The-Artery, Director Alon Seifert Go To School For Fiverr
Client Fiverr Tal Moravkin, creative manager; Nimrod Maiman, creative team lead; Ido Sapir, motion graphic designer. Production Company The-Artery Alon Seifert, director-writer; Vico Sharabani, chief creative officer; Keren Chika Gdalyhau, producer; Deborah Sulivan, exec producer. Edit/Animation/Post The-Artery Michael McCarthy, producer; Mark Grassia, editor; Dan Tomer, Flame artist; Yuval Levy, CG supervisor; Lucas Savarese, Ohad Bracha, animation; Victoria Carolina, CG lighting; Steve Picano, color grading; Asaf Bitton, sound designer; Daniel Lear, voiceover.