Each spot focused on a particular service offered by Goodwrench. Leo Burnett wanted to show the connection between everyday people, their cars, and the specialists at Goodwrench all within graphic environments inspired by each service.

The spots included a combination of live-action, 3d graphic environments, and 2d graphic elements. It felt like a perfect fit for leftchannel.

PITCH

We had an incredibly tight turn around for the pitch, but knew this job would be every bit exciting as it was interesting – so we went all in. After a non stop marathon weekend, we presented LBD with a fully fledged pitch that included a motion sample, a timing test, style frames and more.

Style frame for Oil spot

The motion sample was created with the intention to look as close as possible to the final spot. This gave us a strong idea of how long the execution would take. Here is where we decided to implement a blooming effect in our motion. We wanted to have the feel of a pop up book with elements spreading like cards in a player’s hand.

Motion Sample

We also included a timing test to communicate the rhythm we thought would be appropriate for the introduction of all elements. This test proved to be one of the big attractions for Leo Burnett as it demonstrated our grasp of the workflow for high level compositing projects.

Timing Test for Tire

We also asked our friend Barry Zeidman (http://www.zspots.com) to come on board as the Producer. Not only is he attractive, but he’s also a true gentleman who really helped keep everyone sane throughout the project.

WIN

We found out we were awarded the job on February 1st. After a celebratory round of Laser Tag @ Magic Mountain, we hit the ground running. The first spot had to be on air by February 28th so we needed to work quickly.

PREPRODUCTION

Our first task was to roughly block out the spots in a 3D previz – similar to the timing test from our pitch. Having this previz for the shoot was vital. As we worked through the previz we realized the live-action production was going to be a bit more complicated then a simple green screen shoot.

Timing Test for Tire

The “Tire” spot, which had people rotating towards the camera on a large tire proved tricky. We had a creative discussion pertaining to how we wanted the people to look. Should they be more 2D flat objects in a 3D environment like other elements in the spot? Or should they actually feel like they are truly on the tire in 3D space- having their image distort as they rotate past the camera? Even though it was quite a bit more complicated, we (leftchannel and Leo Burnett) decided on the latter of the two as it would make the spot look more sophisticated.

With help from the live-action director and long-time collaborator, Geno Salvatori, we came up with the following rig:

Camera Rig Example

PRODUCTION

After roughing-out the three spots we were ready to roll with production. We shot in Detroit, allowing Leo Burnett + Goodwrench to come to the set and watch the magic happen. The shoot took place over the course of three days. Coincidentally this was timed perfectly with a blizzard:

The Great White Hell

We shot at 4k using the Red One camera for maximum versatility. First up we shot the actors for the Tire spot. We were able to match the previz rig using a SuperTechno 30 crane.

SuperTechno 30

SuperTechno Bird

Montage of Footage from “Tire” Shoot

Our producer, Barry, thinks we’re already over budget.

Next up was the “Brake” spot which also proposed a unique challenge. The concept for this spot is similar to tire – except the world exists on a horizontal brake rotor.

For this spot the actors needed to stand on turning platform and be rotated towards the camera. This allows us – in post – to synchronize the spinning of the actors with the spinning of the rotor so it would appear the actors perspective was adjusting with the rotation of the rotor.

The Spin Zone

“Perfect!, let’s do one more take.”

POST

While the footage was being shot, post work was already underway back at leftchannel HQ. CG elements were being created and shared with LBD while they were still on set shooting for the spots. This was necessary due to the tight deadline to complete the first spot.

The day after the shoot, we began working in high gear. Duties were divided into treating + keying the footage, element design + rendering, compositing. We worked closely with Leo Burnett / Goodwrench by providing digital dailies. LBD was excellent in providing quick and concise feedback.

“Oil” was the first spot to get our attention in post and it defined most of our workflow for the next two spots: “Tire” and “Brake”.

However there was one major difference. We knew going into the project that these next two spots would be a bit more of challenge due to the complex nature of the composite. We needed to make all of the actors appear locked down to their respective floors. Custom scripts were used to synchronize the characters motion with the rotation device for the “Tire” and “Rotor” spots.

These peeps don’t stick to this rotor through magic.

Once the actors were tracked and placed, everything proceeded swimmingly. We wrapped the final two spots on the first day of spring. Perfect timing!

SPOTS:

OUR PITCH CONCEPTS

#1: Travel through Brooklyn icons landing on the brownstones of the print ad…

#2: A watercolor draw-on technique of the brownstones of Brooklyn…

#3: A graffiti treatment based on Brooklyn icons…

TBWA really liked our 2nd concept and made their presentation to ABSOLUT and Spike for the final selection. A few days after our pitch, the agency gave us the good news that our logo animation concept was selected for the Spike Lee video to promote the limited edition bottle of ABSOLUT BROOKLYN.

THE FINAL ANIMATION

Click to see the official video of Spike Lee’s ABSOLUT BROOKLYN collaboration featuring our logo animation.

Storyboard for the ABSOLUT BROOKLYN logo animation

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SKETCHES

ANIMATIC

COLLISION TESTS

CLICK TO SEE OTHER AOL ANIMATIONS…

MARCH 2010 CAMPAIGN

“Tik Tok” by Kesha

APRIL 2010 CAMPAIGN

“Wear My Kiss” by Sugababes

A FEW MARCH BEHIND-THE-SCENES FOTOS

A FEW APRIL BEHIND-THE-SCENES FOTOS

PREVIZ/ANIMATIC

ALTERNATE STREAK TESTS

ALTERNATE REVISION

JANUARY 2010 CAMPAIGN

“Please Don’t Go (Cry Baby)” by Melanie Fiona

FEBRUARY 2010 CAMPAIGN

“New Moon Rising” by Wolfmother

A FEW JANUARY BEHIND-THE-SCENES FOTOS

A FEW FEBRUARY BEHIND-THE-SCENES FOTOS

“Imagine if a company paid the government to mine for gold or drill for oil in your backyard—but didn’t ask for your permission, pay you, or give you important information about the project. Right now, oil, gas, and mining companies are doing this all around the world, often in the poorest countries.” – from Oxfam’s Right to Know, Right to Decide campaign.

To help raise awareness of the negative effect of extractive industries on various western Afrikan nations, leftchannel collaborated with Talking Eyes Media on an immersive video/animation for the international relief and development organization Oxfam.

The animation was created with a combination of various types of media: footage (shot with the Canon 5D MarkII), 2D and 3D motion graphics, and animated photo plates from Ed Kashi Photography (sister company to Talking Eyes Media). Check it:

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Please visit Oxfam’s site to see our Follow the Money animation as well as other information on this particular project.

BOARDOMATIC

HEY LITTLE GUY

Rather than write our own description, we’ll just borrow the logline from the film’s website. “THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF HERBERT MATTER is a revealing look at the fascinating life story of the highly influential mid-century modern design master. Known as a quintessential designer’s designer, Swiss born Herbert Matter is largely credited with expanding the use of photography as a design tool and bringing the semantics of fine art into the realm of applied arts.”

In other news, Reto is in negotiation with an Academy Award winning actress as the narrator. We can’t reveal her name just yet, but it will be well in-hand by the time the film is released this summer.

Even cooler news? For the second time in 3 years we’ve had one of our projects accepted at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Last week these titles were nominated, as one of 18ish finalists, by SXSW’s inaugural film titles competition – Art of the Title Sequence. The competition is judged next week – March 16 – so we’ll let you know how we do!

First of all, the gang over at Summit Projects is great. Jeanne, Eddie, and Chris gave us lots of freedom combined with a healthy dose of direction. Starting with a rough model of the driver, we cleaned-up some issues, textured it, and then rendered the bejesus out of it in Cinema 4D. The sweet simulated smoke generator for wind tunnel testing comes from 3ds Max. Adding some killer animated infographics and pseudo-telemetry, we composited our animation over footage of Justin Leonard shot at the Nike research facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The coup de grace of final touches is the sound design mixed by the fine peoples over at Circa Music.

Here are some behind the scenes:

ANIMATIC

SMOKE TEST

Here is a link to our MACHSPEED video in the Nike Golf website!

SPEED

FANS

THE CHASE

STYLE TESTS