From a martial arts tour de force music video featuring FKA twigs to Nike's inventive split screen spot featuring athletes at their best, this quarter's Top Ten VFX & Animation Chart is a cornucopia of stellar work.
Also in the mix is a Squarespace ode to the dreams–large and small–of everyday folks and budding entrepreneurs, a Hennessy salute to a chess Grand Master, a CG music video for The Living Tombstone, and a Moby music video which poignantly underscores the importance of preserving wildlife and the environment.
So have a look at the most outstanding visual effects and animation fare this qauarter has to offer.
1: MPC Teams With Director Hiro Murai On Martial Arts-Style FKA twigs music video “Sad Day”
Client FKA twigs/”Sad Day” track from her MAGDALENE album Production Doomsday Entertainment Hiro Murai, director/producer; Larkin Seiple, DP; Jason Cole, Danielle Hinde, Brad Weston, Anita Gou, Nate Matteson, Michael Stirton, FDA twigs, producers. Production Services Company (UK) FRIEND Editorial PARALLAX Luke Lynch, editor. Sound Design/Mix Trevor Gates. VFX & Grade MPC, Culver City, Calif., and Bangalore Michael Gregory, creative director; Elexis Stearn, exec producer; Nicole Saccardi, sr. VFX producer; John Edson, VFX coordinator; Sanchit Soi, production manager; Sririthika Iyer, production coordinator; Toya Drechsler, VFX supervisor; Corinne DeOrsay, CG supervisor; Zdravko “Zee” Stoitchkov, Jim Radford, VFX set supervisors; Siju Murugan, Bangalore head of 3D; Ragest Ramachandran, prep lead; Mahendranatha Reddy, roto lead; Siva Priyan Seetharaman, tracking lead; Jinguang Huang, FX artists; Mason Dash, lighter; Christian Sanchez, modeler; Andy Roberts, Navid Sanati, Hector Cabrera, Luis Artigas, Peter Ulukpo, Balakrishnan Ramadoss, George Gijo Peter, Nanda Kumar Perumal Pillai, Stevenson G, compositors; Alex J., Arulanandhan P, Jaswan Vishnu Prasath Balla Mohan Rao, Jayakumar R, Padmapriya K, Veerapandiyan Devendhiran, prep team; Gretchen Asmar, rigging; Ravisankar S, Suvojit Ghosh, roto; Ankit Dheraj Toppo, Gayathri Sakthivel, Muruganantham T, Muthyalakrishnaiah Doddi, Nithin T K, Sathya Narayanan, Shridhar Bhat, Sreenivasa Aditya, Tejashwini N, Vishal Bhaskar Darkunde, tracking; Ricky Gausis, colorist; Meghan Lang Bice, exec producer, color; Sasha Price, color producer; Sam Ziaie, color assistant. (Toolbox: Nuke, Nuke Studio, Keen tools, Baselight, Houdini)
2: Everyday and Elite Athletes Can’t Be Stopped In Nike Anthem Directed By Oscar Hudson For W+K
Client Nike Agency Wieden + Kennedy Portland Jason Bagley, Eric Baldwin, executive creative directors; Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’Rourke, creative directors; Dylan Lee, copywriter; Naoki Ga, art director; Matt Hunnicutt, director of production; Jake Grand, Krystle Mortimore, executive producers; Katie McCain, Byron T. Oshiro, sr. producers; Samson Selam, Shani Storey, associate producers; Saba Spencer, David Ramirez, creative operations managers; Andy Lindblade, Paula Bloodworth, global group strategy directors; Nathan Goldberg, AJ Blumenthal, brand strategy directors. Production Company Pulse Films Oscar Hudson, director; Logan Triplett, DP; Darren Foldes, Davud Karbassioun, exec producers; Hillary Rogers, managing director; Dennis Beier, line producer. Editorial JOINT Peter Wiedensmith, Jessica Baclesse, editors; Jasmine McCullough, JC Nunez, cutting assistants; Charlie Harrington, Kris Faris, Luke Buckley, assistant editors; Ben Corbin, Damian Riddell, After Effects; Izzie Raitt, footage researcher; Leslie Carthy, post exec producer; Kathleen Russell, post producer; Aubree VanDercar, postproduction coordinator. VFX a52, Santa Monica, Calif. Patrick Murphy, VFX supervisor, lead Flame artist; Andy Wilkoff, CG supervisor; Steve Wolff, Urs Furrer, Matt Sousa, Stefan Gaillot, Andy Rafael Barrios, Hugh Seville, Richard Hirst, Adam Flynn, Dan Ellis, Kevin Stokes, Chris Riley, Rod Basham, Michael Vaglienty, Enid Dalkoff, Susanne Scharping, Flame artists; Dustin Mellum, 3D artist; Joe Chiechi, Mike Bettinardi, Michael Cardenas, tracking; Kevin Stokes, Chris Riley, Sam Kolber, online editors; Andrew Rosenberger, Everett Cross, Jillian Lynes, producers; Patrick Nugent, Kim Christensen, EPs; Jennifer Sofio Hall, managing director; Daniel de Vue, colorist; Jenny Bright, color producer; Thatcher Peterson, color EP. (Toolbox: Flame, Photoshop, After Effects, Maya w/VRay, PF track) Elastic, Santa Monica (design studio) Jeff Han, art director; Paul Makowski, Adam Goins, producers; Nader Husseini, Julia Wright, Chad Danieley, Aziz Dosmetov, Trix Taylor, Lucy Kim, Alex Silver, animators; Zach Wakefield, deputy head of prodn.; Luke Colson, EP; Kate Berry, head of production; Jennifer Sofio Hall, managing director. Music Daylight by Cowboys in Japan Sound Design & Mix JOINT Noah Woodburn, sound designer, audio mixer.
3: RESET Director Ian Pons Jewell, Time Based Arts “Launch It” For Squarespace
Client Squarespace Agency Squarespace, in-house David Lee, chief creative officer; Gui Borchert, brand design director; Sandra Nam, creative production director; Marisa Wasser, freelance producer; Ben Hodgins, art director; JC Abruzzi, freelance copywriter. Production RESET Ian Pons Jewell, director; Mauro Chiarello, DP; Deannie O’Neil, exec producer; Jon Adams, line producer. Editorial Whitehouse Post Tobias Suhm, editor; Nick O’neil, assistant editor; Joanna Manning, exec producer; Jordan Stricklin, producer. VFX Time Based Arts, London Tom Johnson, exec producer; Jo Gutteridge, VFX producer; Sheldon Gardner, VFX supervisor; Jim Radford, shoot supervisor; Simone Grattarola, colorist; Leo Watson, Adam Paterson, Stephen Grasso, Will Robinson, Linda Cieniawska, Grant White, Manolo Perez, Matt Shires, Richie White, Ollie Ramsey, 2D team; Sam Osborne, Federico Vanone, 3D leads; Ben Cantor, Mike Battcock, Walter How, Zoe Sottiaux, Ihor Obukhobvskyi, Joffrey Zeitouni, Ian Baird, Emma Malric, 3D team; Stephen Ross, design. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, After Effects, Maya, Houdini, Syntheyes--tracking, Zbrush, Substance, Resolve) Music/Sound Design/Mix Q Department.
4: Hennessy, Droga5, Director Daniel Wolfe Delve Into The Mind Of A Black Chess Grandmaster
Client Moet Hennessy North America Agency Droga5 NY David Droga, creative chairman; Tim Gordon, Felix Richter, co-chief creative officer; Alexander Nowak, global head of art; Thom Glover, creative director; Ted Meyer, sr. copywriter; Kamal Collins, art director; Emily Berger, copywriter; Jason Gold, sr. art director; Ruben Mercadal, associate director of film production; Connor Hagan, associate producer, film; Mike Ladman, music supervisor; Jonny Bauer, global chief strategy officer. Production Somesuch, London and Venice, Calif. Daniel Wolfe, director; Diego Garcia, DP; Nicky Barnes, exec producer; Adriana Cebada Mora, producer. Production Services The Lift Jose Barrera, partner/producer; Fuad Abed Dalton, line producer; Helena Media, production manager. Editorial Cut+Run/The Quarry Paul Watts, editor; Beau Dickson, assistant editor; Ellese Shell, Tor Adams, exec producers; Lauren Hertzberg, managing director. Color Framestore Simon Bourne, colorist; Chris Anthony, sr. producer. 35mm Film Print Dejonghe NV VFX The Mill New York Andrew Sommerville, director of production; Heino Henning, production supervisor; Mandy Harris, sr. producer; Nathan Niamehr, associate producer; Roshni Kakad, Shivangi Mehta, production support; Dan Williams, VFX shoot supervisor, creative director; Ruben Vandebroek, shoot supervisor; Gavin Wellsman, creative director; Keith Sullivan, 2D lead artist; Yong Chan Kim, 3D lead artist; Fionna Lanning, art director; Michael Almodovar, Anton Anderson, Lucia Hill Barroso, James Cudahy, Ting Jung-Hsu, Nasser Mandavi, Dhruv Shankar, Prajeesh Chaliyam, Clive Donal Narcies, Naga Praveen Kumar Y, Neeraj Rajput, Nishith Thallasseri, Rahul Bhardwaj, Subodh Kumar, 2D artists; Pablo Estrella You, Song Eun Hwang, Aldo Martinez Calzadilla, Ciaran Moloney, Alek Vacura, Yimo Xu, Murali Krishna Reddy, Showber Shadik, Verru Ramesh, Bharat Ediga, Manoj Ravi, Netaji Paila, 3D artists; Dom Han, designer; Michael Davin, animation. (Toolbox: Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Flame, After Effects) Music & Sound Design Q Department, New York Audio Post Wave Studios, New York Aaron Reynolds, mixer; Vicky Ferraro, exec producer; Eleni Giannopoulos, producer. Voiceover Nas, artist/main VO; David Callahan, secondary VO. Chess Consultant Maurice Ashley
5: Top Spot of the Week: Zombie Studio, Blinkink Team On Moby’s “My Only Love”
Client Moby Animation & VFX Zombie Studio, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Blinkink, London Zombie Studio, animation & VFX; Paulo Garcia, writer/director; Daniel Salles, executive creative direction; Josef Byrne (Blinkink), Natalia Gouvea (Zombie), exec producers; Natalia Mamede, script adaptation (of an original script by Garcia); Andre Carvalho, animation producer; Wallan Oliveira, Rafael Segnini, CGI leads; Claudio Junior, CGI lead and lead look development; Wallan Oliveira, technical director; Isaac Buzzola, technical supervisor & lead composition; Saulo Brito, Gabriel Sao Marcos, storyboard & animatic; Patrick Botton, animation director; Mauricio Sampaio, lead modeler; Leandro Amorim, lead composition; Estevao Teuber, Anna Calado, Feppa Rodrigues, concept art. (Toolbox: Maya, Arnold, Zbrush, Nuke, Photoshop) Live-Action Estilingue Films Andre Lefcadito, live-action director. Color Grading Psycho n’ Look Marcio Pasqualino, colorist.
6: 72andSunny, Director Antoine Bardou-Jacquet Take Us On A “Fantastic Voyage” For Photoshop
Client Adobe Photoshop Agency 72andSunny Los Angeles Kristian Grove, Lauren C. Smith, creative directors; Bartolome Graziana, sr. art director; Scott Ready, associate creative director; David Lynch, sr. film producer. Production Partizan, Los Angeles Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, director; David Stewart, producer.VFX Mathematic, Paris Rebecca Rice, executive creative producer; Alan Portillo Moro, VFX producer; Jehan Bouazza, VFX supervisor; Francois-Xavier Pourre, VFX on-set supervisor; Fred Brandon, Clement Germain, lead Flame artists; Thomas Van Maele, lead VFX artist; Yann Aldabe, Emeric Samier, lead 2D artists; Sonia Ferreira, Laila Sonsino, Mathieu Malard, lead compositors; Stephane Rogeon, Philippe Gonzalez, Guillaume Kerfriden, Sandro Bertchi, Cyril Cassaigne, lead 3D artists; Mathieu Caplanne, colorist; Kervin Brisseaux, Gerhard Human, Virginie Krypriotis, Mau Lencinas, Leo Natsume, Oleg Shcherba, illustrators.(Toolbox: Photoshop, Nuke, After Effects, Flame, Houdini, Maya, Cinema 4D, Substance) Music Song: “She’s a Rainbow” by The Rolling Stones. Sound Design/Mix Lime Studios, Santa Monica, Calif. Michael Anastasi, sound designer; Matt Miller, mixer; Susie Boyajan, executive producer. Editorial Work Editorial
7: The-Artery “Chosen” For The Living Tombstone’s CG Music Video
Client Warner Music Group, The Living Tombstone band/”zero_one” album Production The-Artery Uri Schutzer, director; Vico Sharabani, executive creative director, Flame artist, editor, color grading; Deborah Sullivan, executive producer; Joe Gruntfast, CG supervisor & motion capture; Dave Stewart, CG supervisor; David Zung, storyboard; Grace Casas, C4D; Aarif Attarwala, Asaf Yeger, Flame artists; Jesse Johanning, title design; Ruben Gloria, producer; Thurman Martin, production coordinator. (Toolbox: 3DS, Houdini, C4D, Z-brush, Kinect, Redshift, Octane, Flame, Adobe Illustrator)
8: Studio AKA, Director Manddy Wyckens Team On “Taming Giants” For On Sportswear
Client On sportswear Creative Simon Brotherson, creative director (freelance). Animation Studio AKA, London Manddy Wyckens, design, direction & artwork; Sharon Titmarsh, animation producer; Ludivine Berthouloux, Lea Justum & Michelle Chan, animation; Ignatz Johnson-Higham, After-FX & compositing; Nic Gill, editor. (Toolbox: Photoshop, TV Paint, After Effects) Cast Katie Schide, Geremain Grangier. Live-action Sarah MacNeil, Vicki Bryson, Feliciano Robayna, producers; Matias Dumas, mountain guide & photography. Voiceover Stephane Cornicard. Audio Nick Rapaccioli. Editorial Work Editorial Hasani Franke, editor. Postproduction Pickled
9: Rubberband Duo Directs Lewis Del Mar’s “TV” Music Video
Client Lewis Del Mar Production/VFX/Animation SMUGGLER, bicoastal/international rubberband., directors/creative directors; James Stewart, co-director and lead animation; Ben Duff, Christine Pfister, Sofia von Haeften, animation; Kao Cheng Kai, post lead and finishing (Toolbox: After Effects)
10: The Best Work You May Never See: Motionpoems Captures Quiet Resolve in Animated Short “On Lockdown”
Production/Animation Calum Macdiarmid, director; Todd Boss, Roxanne Artesona, executive producers (Toolbox: Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, Premier) Creative Poem by Todd Boss Music Fionn Macdiarmid Sound Dugal Macdiarmid