OBJECT ANIMATION + ARM PIXILATION
'Make It Count' is a national recycling campaign that I directed and animated for MMSB. The commercial takes a whimsical look at the task of recycling, and playfully shows that the process doesn't have to be overly complicated. Just grab and drop in a bin.
'Make It Count' is a national recycling campaign that I directed and animated for MMSB. The commercial takes a whimsical look at the task of recycling, and playfully shows that the process doesn't have to be overly complicated. Just grab and drop in a bin.
MIXED-MEDIA ANIMATION
This set of three 'PaintShop' commercials were commissioned to show how inspiration for interior design can come from everyday objects. I directed and animated the campaign on sets made to handle life-size and 1:6 scale elements. Studio lights were also animated to create the impression of time-passing as each room was assembled, painted and decorated.
PRODUCT ANIMATION / BOOKS & TOYS
For 'IndigoKids' I was asked to direct and animate a campaign to demonstrate a sense of holiday cheer at Indigo Bookstores during the gift-giving season. With hundreds of items selected for the spot, the idea was to integrate them into a magical freeform dance. Image 1 Image 2 Image 3
DIGITAL FACE INTEGRATION
Digital 2D face integration over 3D sculpts was used for this project. The mouth, eyebrows and facial expressions were composited in post to create a doll-like appearance. Animation without line-work appears at the end of the clip.
CAMERA & OBJECT ANIMATION
'Rethink Waste' is a provincial recycling campaign. The Public Service Announcement shares some info about the amount of garbage we collectively produce, and offers a few simple solutions to help reduce waste-impact on the environment. I directed/animated the campaign in collaboration with east-coast advertising agency, Idea Factory.
MIXED-MEDIA & VFX ANIMATION
This provincial campaign was produced for the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board of Canada. With creative direction from agency 'Idea Factory', I directed/animated the spots with a mix of 2D, 3D & Post VFX integration. To reduce our production footprint, I used recyclable materials like paper, cardboard and plastics to create sets and visuals. 30 & 75 second versions are linked on the CREDITS page.
CLAYMATION
'Moogaloops' is a short-format series for Sesame Studios. Created by Mad Lab Productions, the project features Mooga on an intergalactic landscape. To produce the shorts, I used a combination of techniques: Claymation for the characters and object-animation for props.
FRUIT & VEGETABLE ANIMATION
I used fruits and vegetables to direct/animate this 'Sesame Street' short film. The colourful project has garnered 20 million Youtube views, one of the most watched, online Sesame Street letter films. Vocals by Mina Gorelick. Image 1
FROZEN MOMENT ANIMATION
This 'Electrical Safety Authority' campaign witnesses a deadly moment-in-time when high-voltage power-lines make contact with a construction-vehicle. I used multi-axis Motion Control cinematography to animate the bullet-time footage. Grit, detail and tension were highlighted to strike a chord with the campaign's primary audience: Men and women who's lives depend upon job-place safety.
PRODUCT ANIMATION / HUMAN SCALE
This commercial required a 1:1 scale build. With reference to Mr. Peanut's smouldering attraction, the campaign features a heart-shaped bed, red silk, and lamb-skin rugs to help sell the mood. Hats off to everyone for a playful push of the advertising envelope. Image 1
OBJECT REPLACEMENT ANIMATION
'A is for Alphabet' is a short film produced & directed for Sesame Street. For this project I used replacement animation of objects over large paper-letters that were pre-cut to align with a top-down camera angle. Music was composed by Mina Gorelick. Image 1
LIP SYNC / SCULPTED MOUTHS ANIMATION
This clip with Jake and Ray bantering about the impossibility of a scripted reality-TV show was a promotional springboard to the award winning series Life's a Zoo. Andrew Horne and Adam Shaheen asked me to direct the promo and animate the characters "just hanging out" to capture their Abbott & Costello routine. The 20 x 22min episodes that followed, which I also directed, won a Gemini for Best Animated Series. Lip Sync was done with wire-animation and multi-sculpt-sequencing. Behind The Scenes
MULTI-CHARACTER ANIMATION
'The Devil's Due' features a choreographed overlap of nearly seventy characters and many in-camera special effects. Produced by Cuppa Coffee Studios, I directed/animated the surreal narrative with a continuously moving camera on a 10 meter track. Image 1 Image 2
CUTOUT REPLACEMENT ANIMATION / PAPER
'Life of Cards' was a campaign with an interesting directorial challenge; to seamlessly integrate animation of thousands of replacement cut-out characters onto government-issued cards. To achieve the optical illusion required the use of a super wide-angle lens and a huge 10' x 36' shooting desk. Construction scale was set at 12 X standard size. Behind the Scenes: Image 1
DOLL ANIMATION / GREEN SCREEN KEY
Sculptor Tony Manco retro-fitted an original Blythe action-figure doll for this production, allowing me to create this promotional Stop Motion clip. Chris Morris then integrated footage into his live-action plates to create the finished effect.
MOTION CONTROL ANIMATION
'One Hundred' commemorates the anniversary of the end of World War 1. Animated in Stop-Motion, my goal was to recreate a cinematographic style that gave the impression of a soldier's POV and his memory of trench warfare. Sound-design is piercing & muddy, a mirror of his state. Lighting effects were achieved through frame-by-frame exposure animation. Set work and design by Tony Manco and Kevin Edgell.
FOREGROUND ANIMATION / GREEN SCREEN
For this Sesame Street number 15 film, animation was achieved on a foreground set-piece built to resemble a cash-register conveyor belt station. The grocery-store background interior was then composited in to replace our studio's Green Screen.
CREATURE & VFX ANIMATION
When stop-motion director Dave Thomas and I got the chance to team up on this series of fantasy spots, we felt like we hit the jackpot. The project went on to win the PromaxBDA Gold Award for 'Best Topical Campaign' and left us with further respect for Ray Harryhausen and the medium. This clip is an edit of shots that I animated for the campaign. Directed by Dave Barton Thomas and lit by cinematographer Andrew Sneyd.
PUPPET ANIMATION / SET LIT FROM BELOW
This sequence features a yellow brick road set lit from below, with wonderful designs by Adam Shaheen, Kevin Edgel and Tony Manco. I animated the characters with high-gloss reflective eyes to add charm to the pre-school atmosphere. I animated the camera for nearly every shot to show-off the lovely parallax produced by the forced-perspective set.
FILM STOCK VFX ANIMATION
For this campaign I animated film-stock to resemble the motion of snakes, and provided technical direction for how to achieve the effect under camera. Flexible stovepipe-wire was attached along the black, audio-track line to allow for careful manipulation of what would otherwise have been flimsy and hard-to-handle material.
MIXED-MEDIA MOTION CONTROL ANIMATION
For this R & D Cuppa Coffee Studio pitch, I directed and animated the scene by integrating a number of mixed-media elements to produce an interesting 2 1/2D result. Set-work by Tony Manco and Kevin Edgel. Post integration by Chris Morris.
WARDROBE ANIMATION
'Saturday Mourning in Easter Europe' is a film by Pat Schewchuk & Marek Colek. The directors asked me to animate their one-of-a-kind, fabric clothed, paper-mache puppets on a mixed-media set. This clip is my edit, post & audio of animation that I produced for the film. Pat and Marek's incredible work can be viewed at tincanforest.com.
CHARACTER ANIMATION / WIRE ARMATURED
Ray-Monkey was a fantastic character to animate, always on the verge of euphoria and emotional collapse. Before directing the 'Life's a Zoo' series I animated each of the self-involved characters in 30 -120sec "interview" clips to get a sense for their on-screen presence. View below.
MOUSTACHE VFX ANIMATION
Movember Mo Duels was a campaign for Prostate Cancer Awareness. To reach it's male audience, we paired testosterone-filled moustaches against each other to bring attention to the life-saving drive. I animated the fight-scene with a sense of Western comedy, and Chris Morris integrated the footage into live-action plates. Bonnie Burns created the kick-ass HAIR for the armatured moustaches.
CHARACTER REPLACEMENT ANIMATION
'Fordtacular Spectacular!' was a light-hearted spoof of former Mayor Rob Ford's slap-stick humour. Filmed with numerous replacement puppets the sequence is an homage to the art of the political spectacular. On a personal note, and with all due respect to the deceased, this particular project was produced long before Rob's cancer diagnosis and subsequent passing.
SILICONE PUPPET CHARACTER ANIMATION
'RBC Rewards Holiday Traditions' was a series of seasonal campaigns with a touch of comedy. For this spot, our armatures were imbedded inside of silicone sculpts to allow the gingerbread characters to move every part of their body.
CHARACTER ANIMATION / NO VIDEO ASSIST
Inspired by narrative tension in the novels of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, my first film 'Wolves at the Table' grows ever-darker as it confronts the gruesome truth about Katerina Bagatova. Filmed without the use of animation-assist software, this early work resulted in creepy and naive character movements. The imperfection of technique laid bare an uncomfortable truth: The dolls are REAL... With weight, almost with souls they appear to be imbued with will, vice, cruelty and choice, by an external force... malevolent or kind, left for audiences to determine. The film won a number of festival awards and became a calling-card project for me. Music by Michael Filimowicz. Narration and Vocal Performance by Pamela DeLucia. Costumes by Elsii Caetano Faria, Beata Kania & Birgit Lindemaan. Special thanks: Nancy Andrews, Pedro Paixao & Chris Sullivan.
CHARACTER ANIMATION / HAIR & FUR
Creators Andrew Horne and Adam Shaheen gave me a great opportunity when they asked me to direct 'Life's a Zoo': A brazen reality-TV spoof featuring music by Canadian bands in each episode. I put together this compilation of shots as a promotional clip for the Gemini award winning series. Animation by Kristina Szabo, Robert Crossman, Charles Greenfield, Kurt Firla, Sasha Iliach, Jason McArthur, Aaron Woodely and Neil Van Der King. Behind The Scenes Long Book / Short Book
LIVE ACTION
Luciferous is a 90 minute live-action feature film that Mahsa Ghorbankarimi and I directed. The indie-thriller did well on the festival circuit, winning a number of Best Horror Feature awards in Europe and the US. Two trailers and a selection of reviews can be viewed below.
crypticrock.com
horrornews.net
filmint.nu
cinegnose.blogspot.com
quatrobastardos.com
moriareviews.com