Nature appears in varied forms in this quarter’s Top Ten VFX & Animation Chart–from birds depicted artfully in animated watercolor for a PSA promoting the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to a turtle rollerblading through the streets of London, giving us a sense of how passengers feel on a speedy Avanti West Coast train journey.

SHOOT’s Chart also introduces us to an astute HP printer that other appliances/devices look up to, a hybrid Wonder Woman/Serena Williams for DirecTV, and a formidable “Fry Force” from Taco Bell. These are just some of the notable efforts on display in Q3.

So check out our Top Ten entries for the best that visual effects and animation has to offer this past quarter.

1:  Top Spot of the Week: Aardman Captures The Beauty of Birds In Animated Watercolor Film “Time Flies” For RSPB

Client RSPB Agency Catsnake--The Story Agency Edward Dark, creative director; Luzy Fazey, producer. Production/Animation Aardman, Bristol, UK  Bram Ttwheam, director, matte painter; Stephanie Owen, producer; Amy Davies, production coordinator; Jim Grant, matte painter; Trine Sorenson, modeler; Chuen Tsang, modeler & lighting; Tessa Mapp, technical director; Jono Candlish-Wilson,  Maciej Wojtkiewicz, animators; Chris Hawkes, Bram Ttwheam, Paule Quinton, Jeff Dillon, Daniel Blore, Jim Lewis, compositors; Greg Martin, rigger; Dan Wiliamson, editor. (Toolbox: Maya, Arnold, Photoshop, Fresco, After Effects, Houdini, Nuke, Resolve) Audio Matthew Loveridge, sound mixer. Music Michael Csanyi-Wills. Voiceover Jim Broadbent

2:  Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Director Lance Acord Get “Smart” For HP

Client Hewlett Packard (HP) Agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners Rich Silverstein, co-chairman/co-founder; Laura Petruccelli, executive creative director; Wes Dorsainvil, Joshua Hacohen, associate creative directors; Andrew Congleton, art director; Zak DeLange, copywriter; Leila Gage, director of production; Tess Kenner, executive producer/producer; Bonnie Wan, partner, head of brand strategy; Christine Chen, partner, head of communication strategy; Dong Kim, group communication strategy director; Matt Hudgins, sr. communications strategist; Kelly Evans-Pfeifer, group brand strategy director; Cassidy Wilber, brand strategy director. Production Company Park Pictures Lance Acord, director/DP; Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Scott Howard, exec producers; Anne Bobroff, sr. head of production; Caroline Kousidonis, exec producer/producer; James Chinlund, production designer. Editorial Exile Kirk Baxter, Zaldy Lopez, editors; Jennifer Chung, assistant editor; CL Kumpata, exec producer; Jennifer Locke, head of production; Toby Louie, post producer. VFX/Finishing a52, Santa Monica, Calif. Pat Murphy, Jesse Monsour, VFX supervisor; Andrew Romatz, CG supervisor; Matt Sousa, Stefan Gaillot, Michael Vaglienty, Patrick Poulatian, Chris Riley, Dan Ellis, Sam Kolber, John Valle, Kevin Stokes, Ujala Saini, Kirk Balden, 2D VFX artists; Bryan Cox, Ariana Ziae Mohseni, Ziyan Zhang, Mike Dupree, Josh Dyer, Jade Smrz, José Limon, CG artists; Ekin Akalin, Cindy SooHoo, Sky Bird, Laura Reedy, 2D designers; Jillian Lynes, producer; Stacy Kessler-Aungst, head of production; Patrick Nugent, Kim Christensen, exec producers; Jennifer Sofio Hall, managing director. (Toolbox: Flame, Maya, Vray, ZBrush, Substance Painter, PFTrack) Telecine Primary Daniel de Vue, colorist; Ale Amato, Corey Martinez, David Oh, color assists; Jenny Bright, color producer; Thatcher Peterson, exec producer. Music RNDM ORDR Robert Miller, composer; Rani Zarina Vaz, exec producer; Ayesha Hassan, producer; Marc McClusky, record & mix. Sound Design Martin Hernandez, M.P.S.E.; Jaime Sainz, assistant FX editor; Alan Riva-Palacio, Jaime Sainz, foley. Sound Design LSD Michael Anastasi, sound designer; Kai Paquin, sound design assistant. Audio Mix Lime Studios Matt Miller, mixer; Ian Connie, audio assistant; Kayla Phungglan, sr. producer; Susie Boyajan, exec producer.

3:  Traktor, TBWAChiatDay LA Bring Serena Williams and Wonder Woman Together To Save The Day For DIRECTV Stream

Client DIRECTV Agency TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles Erin Riley, president; Renato Fernandez, chief creative officer; Ariel Abramovici, Bruno Acanfora, creative directors; Mark Winters, Ryan Buckley, associate creative directors; Will Holmes, art director; Tyler Archibald, copywriter; Andrew Bae, jr. art director; Yashashree Samant, jr. copywriter; Bruno Regalo, head of design; Jake Skirving, sr. designer; Andrea Nazarino, jr. designer; Guia Iacomin, director of content production; Jack Cutler, sr. producer; Brandon Loftin, associate producer; Hashi Clark, executive art producer; Jen Costello, chief strategy officer; Jesse Unger, group strategy director; Jonathan Handy, associate strategy director; Krystal Hawkins, sr. strategist; Hannan Schweitzer, jr. strategist; Laura Mayer, data director.   Critical Mass Val Carlson, chief creative officer; Andrew Lavery, group creative director; James Maclean, creative director; Javier Olivares, Megahn O’Neil, associate creative directors; Ryan Mesnchuk, Megan King, sr. art directors; Taylor Lumley, art director; Ana Benitez Duarte, designer; Peter Lagosky, Melissa De Sa, sr. copywriters; Daisy Swain, copywriter; Jen Goldberg, group strategy director; Kyle Bottoms, strategy director; Sydney Woodman, executive producer; Audrie Sham, Ashleigh Fehmie, sr. producers; Vicky Patel, sr. producer; Christine Spitler, Lexi Scott, Sylvia Brach, Ethan Cole, producers. Production Stink Films Traktor, director; Daniel Bergmann, president, Mungo Maclagan, exec producer; Par M. Ekberg, DP; Leah Allina, line producer. Editorial Arcade Jeff Feruzzo, Brad Wasekwich, lead editors; Ryan Andrus, assistant editor; Alexa Atkin, exec producer. VFX JAMM, Culver City, Calif. Jake Montgomery, VFX supervisor/lead compositor; Andy Boyd, VFX supervisor/CG supervisor/lead CG; Patrick Muñoz, Lisa Kim, Flame artists; Brady Doyle, Jake Bohringer, Nuke artists; Stew Burris, animation supervisor; Zachary DiMaria, CG lead; Ben Martin, Connie Ho, Jonathan Chua, Anthony Thomas, Yuson Fuji, DeVon Beasley, CG artists; Ashley Greyson, sr. producer; Alexandra Rickards, production coordinator; Asher Edwards, exec producer; Adam Scott, colorist; Carver Moore, color assist; Anna Dood, color producer. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, Houdini, Maya, Baselight) Audio Post Lime Studios, Santa Monica, Calif. Matt Miller, head mixer; Ian Connie, assistant mixer; Susie Boyajan, exec producer. Sound Design String & Tins, London Culum Simpson, sound designer; Laura Leigh, producer. Music  South Music and Sound, Santa Monica, Calif.  Dan Pritikin, Matt Drenik, creative directors; Vladimir Berkhemer, Jon Darling, composers; Ann Haugen, exec producer; Ignacio Zax, producer

4:  Top Spot of the Week: Director Ulf Johansson, MPC Team On “Breakthrough” Game of Tag For Tech Company Leia

Client Leia Inc. Production Company Smith & Jones Ulf Johansson, director; Philippa Smith, exec producer. VFX/Postproduction MPC Kamen Markov, VFX supervisor/shoot supervisor/2D compositor; Marcus Dryden, shoot supervisor; Marj Verheij, Chanakya Chander, Rashabh Ramesh Butani, 2D compositors; Fernando Tortosa. CG lead; Luke Raffety, VFX exec producer; Jean-Clement Soret, colorist. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, Photoshop, Houdini) Editorial Whitehouse Post 

5:  The Best Work You May Never See: Serviceplan Turns Out Animated Film “Majd and The Librarian” For UAE Bank AECB

Client Al Etihad Credit Bureau Agency Serviceplan Middle East Natalie Shardan, managing director; Frances Valerie Bonifacio, head of strategy; Akhilesh Bagri, executive creative director; Akhilesh Bagri, Georgia Fattoracci, writers; Andre Couto, Saleh Elghatit, creative directors; Kenneth Barnes, Kunal Gagwani, art directors. Serviceplan Group Jason Romeyko, worldwide executive creative director. Production Company Hanzo Films Esfandiar Haji, Shahriar Ghatre, directors; Hijaz Moosa, exec producer. Animation Vulturehead Animation Studio, Istanbul, Turkey Elahe Khalili, production manager; Reyhane Mirhashemi, Hadi Tabas, Babak Arjmand, Niloofar Behbud, Ali Honarpour, Esfandiar Haji, Yasaman Hossein, character animators; Naim Vahidian, Esfandiar Haji, shadow & lighting animators. (Toolbox: Toonboom Harmony) Music Saman Auboutaleb, composer.

 

 

6:  The Best Work You May Never See: adam&eveDDB, Director Tom Kuntz Put Turtle In Motion For Avanti West Coast

Client Avanti West Coast Agency adam&eveDDB, London Richard Brim, chief creative officer; Christian Sewell, Andy McAnaney, creative directors; Simone Warme, Jeppe Vidstrup, creatives; Michael MacMillan, Kate Taylor, Jaki-Jo Hannan, Adaeze Ndakoji, Michael McCarthy, Carrie Moores, producers. Production MJZ Tom Kuntz, director; Justin Brown, DP; Sophie Brooks, producer. Editorial Whitehouse Russell Icke, editor; Annabel Bennett, producer. Post/VFX Untold Studios, London Tom Igglesden, exec producer; George Reid, producer; Ben Cronin, creative director; Tom Raynor, VFX supervisor; Suvi Jokiniemi, lead animator. (Toolbox: Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Flame) Color Grade Company 3 Stefan Sonnenfeld, colorist. Music Supervision Harley Beckman Hawksley @ Theodore; Daniel McLaren, music researcher. Soundtrack “Badala Zamanda” composed by Joel Hannier & Zohra Aissouai Audio 750mph Sam Ashwell, sound design/mix; Jessica Ringshall, producer. Design King Henry Paul Knowles, Matt Bryce, designers.

7:  BBDO NY, Open The Portal Slide Into Animation Innovation For The Academic’s “Not Your Summer” Music Video

Client Capitol Records/The Academic Capitol Records--Tom Paul, general manager; Alia Aldeghather, product manager. The Academic--Craig Fitzgerald, lead vocals, guitar; Matthew Murtagh, guitar; Stephen Murtagh, bass; Dean Gavin, drums; Carl Brogan, band manager. Animation Open The Portal, Los Angeles Trever Stewart, co-director, technical director, live animator; David Braun, animation director; Barrett Slagel, exec producer; Xenia Balashov, 1st AD, art director. (Toolbox: Photoshop, After Effects, Premier, Google Slides) Agency BBDO New York David Lubars, chief creative officer, worldwide; Bart Mol, SVP, sr. creative director, live animator; Pol Hoenderboom, SVP, creative director; Mike Woodall, co-director, sr. producer, live animator; Andrew Osborne, head of content operations; James Young, head of digital operations; Alex Gianni, EVP, director of content production; Chava Quinn, producer; Benner Rawley, copywriter; Maya Iwata, art director; Phillip Savage, livestream tech director; Jimmy McGee, quality assurance. Production BBDO Studios Jonathan Hsu, supervising producer; Allie Kolb, sr. post producer; Morgan Ammons, Alex Mirza, Kevin Bostic, live animators; Jason Kim, live animator, editor; Alex Lubars, editor.  Bowstring Studios Sean Quinn managing producer for livestream equipment manager

8:  Psyop’s Luca Vitale, Kylie Matulick Mobilize Anime “Fry Force” For Taco Bell, Deutsch

Client Taco Bell Agency Deutsch LA Karen Costello, chief creative officer Bea Danger, executive creative director; Daniel Chen, Stephanie Kohnen, creative directors; Maria Snell, Christian Silva, associate creative directors; Paul Roy, SVP, executive producer; Daniel Stenzel, producer; Chip Herter, music director. Production Psyop, bicoastal Luca Vitale, Kylie Matulick, directors; Jared Yeater, exec producer; Christine Schneider, global director of production; Jamie Pastor, head of production; Jennifer Adams, sr. producer; Morgan MacCuish, bidding producer; Savanna Stephens, associate producer; Loren Christiansen, Lance Pereira, editors; Annie Cattish, Ghozu Haruna, Edward Tsang, Pan Matsumura, character designers; Teru Matori, Edward Tseng, Ching Yeh, creature designers; Ching Yeh, Amanda Tunnell, Bobby Ushiro, graphic designers; Andrew Park, Guitty Mojabi, Nikita Kukolev, Ayan Nag, matte painters; Eddie Mehong, animation director; Henry Teitelman, animator; Tommy Wooh, Paul Taduro, Pete Germano, motion graphic designers; Cristiano Rinaldi, font designer; Paul Cohen, Christopher Parker, lead storyboard artists; Jiyeon Park, Ben Li, storyboard artists; Kevin Oeser, treatment writer; Kyle Cassidy, creative director-live action; Brandon Sanders, VFX supervisor-live action; Eric Rosenfeld, on-set VFX supervisor; Volkert Besseling, editor-live action; Lane Jolly, Chad Buehler, Dylan Brown, Nuke compositors; Jonathan Iwata, CG tracking; Alex Wysota Cory Daniels, DMG. (Toolbox: TV Paint, Retas, Clip Studio, Photoshop, After Effects) Production Company Yapiko Animation, Tokyo Eddie Mehong, producer. Production Company Echelle Animation, Tokyo Mike Suzuki, producer; Eddie Mehong, manager/animation director; Jenny Feng, assistant producer; Ghozu Haruna, lead character designer; David Canoville, BG/media concept; Philippe Ogaki, line BG concept art; Oualid Moussa, assistant animator; Antoine Anton, Bong Nguyen, Kai Ruzica, Nicolas Jaffre, Julien Cortey, Claude Labrosse, Marylou Cannard, Theo Tran Ngoc, Marietta Ren, Jerome Perillat Columb, Loup Bouche, animators; Max Maleo, 3D animator; Production Company Tsumugi Akita Anime Lab, Akita, Japan  Sakurai Tsukasa, producer; Mizobuchi Miho, animation/inbetween/color; Higashiro Tetsuo, Hiratsuka Moe, Ryoma Shigemitsu, Yamauchi Shingetsu, Tsuzuki Hideaki, Takahashi Ryougo, Shimade Ryouta, Koenagi Ami, inbetween/color. Production Company Spacesheep, Annecy-le-Vieux, France Nicolas Barbieux, producer; Dorian Winnicki, chief compositing; Hugo David, Aristide Antoine, Amaud Ducor, compositing; Ulysse Chaudron, jr. compositing. Audio Formosa Commercials Lauren Cascio, exec producer; John Bolen, mixer, sound designer. Audio Sim International Jesse Fellows, recordist. Color MPC Ricky Gausis, colorist; Caitlin Forrect, producer. Original Music JDM

9:  Planet Propaganda Sticks With J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, BODEGA For J-B Weld Campaign

Client J-B Weld Company Agency Planet Propaganda Dana Lytle, executive creative director/partner; Teddy Brown, group creative director; Brian Hucek, creative director; Katie Roach, head of production; Kris Kluthe, motion director; Anna White, copywriter; Shelley Meuer, production designer. Live-Action Production Bodega Studios Mike G., director; Dallas Sterling, DP; Willia Goldfeder, producer; Clint Goldman, exec producer. Postproduction FitFinish Adam Lawson, producer. Audio SuperExploder Meredith Nazzaro, exec producer; Jody Nazarro, sr. sound designer. Animation J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc. J.J. Sedelmaier, director/designer/producer; Patrice Sedelmaier, exec producer; Andy Friz, chief animator/production manager. (Toolbox: Photoshop, Toon Boom Harmony, Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, After Effects, Resolve)

10:  BIEN Animates Wheelchair Basketball For The Paralympics

Client Paralympics Production/Creation BIEN, Hermosa Beach, Calif. Hung Le, creative director; Ricardo Roberts, exec producer; Elena Dreyer, producer; Nico Piccirilli, illustration; Alejandro Imondi, Deanna Reilly, Chris Saez, Ricardo Mendes, animators. (Toolbox: Photoshop, After Effects) Research & Consultancy David Jeffers. Sound Design Quadriphonic