ShowBusinessMan:
animation

DreamWorks Animation creates an awesome colorful live action motion movie poster for "The Croods". The living poster previews The Croods film featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds.

Director Sean Pecknold and LEGS Media Production present a short history of the Gif, to help promote the "Moving the Still" exhibit taking place in Miami during Art Week this December. Presented by Tumblr, SmartWater, and online art hub Paddle8 the video celebrates the 25th anniversary of the GIF with stunning claymation is they take a stroll back through a history of the GIF.

Fun Facts:
In 1987 Compuserve released an image format called "87A"
The file allowed for 256 colors
Paving the way for innovative loops
Name was changed to "Graphics Interchange Format"
Invented by Steve Wilhite

GIF vs GIF | Moving the Still | A GIF Festival — with Johnny Misheff, Chief Council Member, Richard Phillips, Selection Council, John Clang, Contributor, Analisa Teachworth, Contributor and Collin Munn, Editorial Manager.

Winkreative and Guru Studio take you UP to Toronto with "Travel Happy," a playful and colourful animated journey through Toronto for the Union Pearson Express.

Coming to Toronto in 2015, the Union Person Express, or UP as it’s been lovingly coined, is a new high-speed train that will connect the city’s downtown core to the international airport. As Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America, this service is long overdue and a welcomed addition to the world class city.

Working with Winkreative and illustrator Lotta Nieminen, Toronto-based Guru Studio set about to weave a colourful populated visual narrative out of the imagined “Union to Pearson” trip from the script. As Winkreative and Lotta Nieminen are London and New York-based, Guru Studio’s immediate goal was to educate and inspire the team with local knowledge about what makes the city of Toronto unique, so it would look great on screen. Guru Studio also brought on board Toronto-based director Larissa Ulisko, to further strengthen their vision and bring the culture of Toronto to life.

“We worked with Winkreative to balance the script with the visuals so we could allow some space to breathe life into the spot,” said Frank Falcone, Creative Director, Guru Studio. “We felt that we needed to keep the graphics and animation style very clear and simple so we wouldn’t overwhelm the viewer.”

“Travel Happy” is a stylish and informative trip through Toronto, and although the express train isn’t coming to Toronto until 2015, promotions for the service have already begun via the UP website where the webfilm lives.

Credits:
Union Pearson Express "Travel Happy"
Client: Metrolinx — Union Pearson Express http://upexpress.com
Agency: Winkreative
CEO & Chairman: Tyler Brûlé
Creative Director: Maurus Fraser
Design Director: Corinna Drossel
Account Director: Ariane Elfen
Art Buyer: Petek Sketcher
Strategy Director: Steve Teruggi
Production Company: Guru Studio
Director: Larissa Ulisko
Creative Director: Frank Falcone
Producer: Amy Robson
Creative Supervisor: Yurie Rocha
Compositor: Boris Perenchensky
Animator: Chris Fourney
Illustrator: Lotta Nieminen/Agent Pekka
Producer: Petra Koivisto/Agent Pekka
Music: Eggplant Collective
via: GlossyInc.

New ad for Virgin Mobile is actually a cool short animated web film done entirely with Crayons. The ad depicts a young man experiencing a "hangover-esque" night fueled by his decision to cut everything from his life that's costing him too much both emotionally and financially, not the least of which is his cell phone carrier. Credits:
Created by the ad agency: Mekanism, for Virgin Mobile.

RingSide Creative and Cutters Studios divisions Flavor, Cutters and Dictionary Films share their recent Ford Trucks project created through Team Detroit. Entitled "Front and Back," the :30 spot extends the long-running Ford Trucks "Rant" campaign with a bold, powerful homage to heroism and reliability, using a hybrid design and animation style and original live-action footage shot on-location in Los Angeles.

The spot debuted nationally in the U.S. earlier this month and will continue to air in targeted placements online, during high-profile broadcasts and on cable.

Production Company: Dictionary Films
Executive Producer: Megan Maples
Managing Director: Chris Rossiter
Line Producer: Richard Kaylor
Director of Photography: Jordan Valenti

Design Company: Flavor
Executive Creative Director: Brad Tucker
Executive Producer: Darren Jaffe
Animator: Chris Anderson

VFX and Finishing Company: RingSide Creative
Executive Producer: Dave Peyton
Producer: Katie Thompson
Lead Creative: Keith Slawinski
Creative Artists: Ann Allen, Dimitri Bourdos, Sean Branham, Brian Gustafson, Gwen Michael, Tricia Mitzelfeld, Nick Mouhot, Gabriel Rybicki, Paul Williams
Colorist: Rick Unger
Finish Editor: Mat Mieras
Finish Assistant Editor: Brian Kearns

Editorial Company: Cutters
Editor: Chris Moore
Assistant Editors: Justin Grosjean, Mike Moore,
Executive Producer: Mary Connolly

Final Mix Company: Sound Lounge

Credits:
Advertising Agency: 72andSunny, USA
Production Company: Golden Wolf
Chief Executive Officer: John Boiler
Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole
Creative Director: Aaron Howe
Senior Copywriter: Eric Burnett
Designer: Jaclyn Markle
Copywriter: Ryan Iverson
Junior Film Producer: Helena Yueh
Senior Film Producer: Ellen Pot
Film Producer: Erin Goodsell
Brand Manager: Autumn Abbruzzi
Brand Coordinator: Jaimie Mazzola
Strategist: Kelly Wright
Business Affairs: Cecilia Harvey
Production /Editorial / Animation / Design: Golden Wolf
Ingi Erlingsson: Creative Director
Art Director / Director: Ewen Stenhouse
Producer: Ant Baena
Lead Designer: Norm Breyfogle
Storyboards: Ewen Stenhouse, Norm Breyfogle, Yohan Auroux
Animators: Ewen Stenhouse, Tim Whiting, Peter Dodd, James Duveen, Carlos De Faria, Sam Taylor, Jerry Forder, Joe Sparrow, Matthew Timms, Isobel Stenhouse
Compositors: Alex Fernadez and Stefano Ottaviano
Designers: Norm Breyfogle, Ewen Stenhouse, Jonathan Djob Nkondo, James Duveen, Marie Ecarlat, Yohan Auroux, Bobbie Jean Litsenberger
Music: Willy Moon, "What I Want"
Sound Effects: Barking Owl
Sound Designer; Michael Anastasi
Executive Producer / Creative Director: Kelly Bayett
Mixer: Brock Babcock
Finishing: Barking Owl
Executive Producer: Elexis Stern
Producer: Abisayo Adejare
VFX Artist; Mark Holden

A fantastic new web film created to promote the new Google Fiber, "The Next Chapter of the Internet Starts Here" is a brilliant animated video.

The cars and model installation were built by hand, and filmed at Agua Dolce airport in Santa Clarita, CA. The installation now resides in the Fiber Space in Kansas City, which will be the first U.S city to have the super fast internet service made available too. The song and music is The Cars song "Just What I needed".

Google Fiber starts with Internet speeds 100 times faster than what most Americans have today. In this video, we see the evolution of the Internet represented in three different stages. It started with Dial-Up, grew with Broadband — and with Google Fiber, the possibilities are endless. KC residents can pre-register now at http://www.google.com/fiber

Credits:
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Client: Google
ECD: Paul Venables
ECD: Will McGinness
CD: David Kim
CD: Tom Scharpf
AD: Ezra Paulekas
CW: Kelly Diaz
CW: Rob Calabro
Director: Ben Steiger
Director: Aaron Duffy
Director of Photography: Will Rexer
EP: Sam Penfield
Producer: Leanne Amos
Editing Company: Lost Planet
Editor: Tyler Higgins
Sound Design: 740 Sound Design & Mix
Sound Designer: Eddie Kim
Sound Designer: Rommel Molina
Sound Design Executive Producer: Scott Ganary
Music: Human
Mix: Lime
VFX: Liquid
VFX Producer: Erica Headley

The thrilling second chapter of the epic HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON trilogy brings us back to the fantastical world of Hiccup and Toothless five years after the two have successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snoutlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island's new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons.

Director: Dean DeBlois
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig

Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, and Professor M, voiced by Alexander Armstrong, are gathered at the McLaren Technology Centre to celebrate their 50th anniversary when the mystery guest arrives in this animated web film/ad created by the production company FrameStore.

Credits:
Production Company: Framestore
Directors: Chris Waitt & Henry Trotter
Executive Producer: Simon Whalley
Editor: Carey Williams
Writers: Chris Waitt, Henry Trotter, Ed Dyson & Tim Bain
CG Supervisor: Richard Coley
Art Director: Ian Spendloff

From the makers of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda, Turbo is a high-velocity 3D comedy about an underdog snail who kicks into overdrive when he miraculously attains the power of super-speed. But after making fast friends with a crew of streetwise, tricked-out es-car-goes, Turbo learns that no one succeeds on their own. So he puts his heart and shell on the line to help his pals achieve their dreams, before Turbo-charging his own impossible dream: winning the Indy 500.

US Release: July 17, 2013. Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Ken Jeong, Maya Rudolph, Ben Schwartz, Snoop Dogg, Samuel L. Jackson and Directed David Soren.

Looking to shed light on the disastrous effects plastics are having on the world’s oceans, the international environmental advocacy non-profit group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) turned to leftchannel – the motion design studio led by Executive Creative Director and President Alberto Scirocco. Leftchannel was challenged to craft an entertaining yet informative public service announcement that would be a call to action for viewers to “reduce, reuse and recycle” plastic packaging.
“The skills leftchannel brought to this project are valuable for translating a complex issue like this, to visually show this system and how we can make positive changes,” Leila Monroe, a Staff Attorney with the NDRC Oceans Program, says.
After the organization approached leftchannel to translate the complex issue of plastic pollution to a visual platform with a positive message, Scirocco and leftchannel’s creative team (which included designer/animators Taehee Lee and Nick Schoener) set to creating a concept and script that avoided the usually negative tone found in most environmental PSAs. Rather, they harnessed the studio’s abilities to marry 2D and 3D character animation with motion design to inform viewers in a positive way.
“Our goal was to remind people how important this issue is, without giving the impression that they were being criticized or that we were trying to scare them,” Scirocco says. “Americans have been recycling plastics for a long time, but the current recycling programs aren’t working anymore and NDRC wanted a new approach – one that informs and entertains in a constructive manner.”
That new approach can be seen in the PSA entitled “The Great Plastic Purge” — a two-minute animated piece that was inspired by after school specials from the 1950s. The character animation style keeps the tone light, which helps engage the audience, while expressing important facts in a way that is never boring.
The PSA opens with a shot of a young boy happily ripping open a birthday present that’s wrapped in numerous layers of plastic, all of which he cheerfully throws away. From there the piece follows the packaging from the boy’s home to the ocean floor, while a chipper voiceover informs about how Americans waste $8 billion a year due to plastics making it into the nation’s waterways.

This project presented several challenges. According to Schoener, from a story telling perspective, effectively illustrating why the system was broken was challenging. “We had to first understand it ourselves,” he says, “then communicate it in a way viewers could easily connect with and understand.”
For Lee, the most challenging scene to animate was the underwater scene. “It was complex because it contained a lot of different 2D animated trash objects that all needed to be integrated carefully into the scene. Because the scene connects to a 3D scene afterwards, the integration of the two was tricky — both 2D and 3D had to look consistent,” Lee says.
Scirocco says, “It was a challenge to take a bleak story and turn it into an optimistic one. Overall, the animation needed to address three main points in a memorable, engaging manner: bring awareness to the issue; suggest that manufacturers be held responsible for coming up with innovative packaging solutions; and get consumers to take action to reduce, reuse and recycle.”
Creative Credits:
Client: Natural Resources Defense Council — www.nrdc.org/oceans/plastic-ocean
Project: “The Great Plastic Purge” (2 minute PSA)
Agency: Natural Resources Defense Council, New York (client direct)
Animation/Design/Post: leftchannel, Columbus, OH — www.leftchannel.com
Executive Creative Director/President: Alberto Scirocco
Designers/Animators: Taehee Lee, Nick Schoener

Beautiful short film, "When The Tide Is Out" an animated film about loneliness created by Xaver Xylophon.

Millennium bank was seeking a way to boost usage and awareness for their online banking services. At the same time, the bank needed to set aside its corporate image and open new channels of communication using viral videos.

Creatives at Socialab came up with a solution:
Meet Michael. Michael is an ordinary squirrel leaving in the woods. He works collecting acorns to provide for himself and his family. He is hard working, responsible and respects his home and his fellow animals. In this second video, the real issues of using paper statements come in the spotlight. The forest is in danger and Michael is in desperation. Until the owl arrives for the rescue…

Credits:
Advertising Agency: Socialab, Greece
Account Director: George Anagnostpoulos
Business Unit Director: Tasos Veliadis
Creative Directors: Eva Bouzi, Vassilis Eliopoulos