Top Five of the Year: VFX and Animation
  • Friday, Dec. 14, 2018
2018 Top Five: VFX/Animation

On the strength of Ad Council's Rising, Ntropic LA ascended to the #1 position in the Top Five VFX/Animation Chart for 2018. Right behind it is animation studio Lobo for Day One's Sunshine short. Finishing third is am ambitious Kia Super Bowl spot, followed by a "Famous Five"-starring commercial for Great Western Railway. A wry short film with a storyline driven by an armadillo's quest for a romantic match rounds out the Top Five.

So have a look-see at the leading VFX/Animation fare that 2018 has to offer.

1

Client The Ad Council/Love Has No Labels campaign Heidi Arthur, Sheri Klein, Jenn Walters, Libby Panipinto, Allison Greenwald, campaign development (Ad Council); Julia Blumenstyk, strategy & evaluation (Ad Council); Greg Kelly, media strategy (ad Council). Creative Lena Waithe, Azia Squire, screenplay. Agency R/GA Chris Northam, Eric Jannon, SVPs/executive creative directors/writers; Diana Gonzalez, Dave Surgan, planning; Jeff Skutnik, Chase Smith, Mac Demyanovich, production. Production Company Great Guns David Nutter, director; Diego De La Maza, Laura Gregory, exec producers; Thom Fennessey, producer; Peter Menzies Jr., DP. Postproduction Whitehouse Editorial James Demetriou, editor. Music Blake Neely, composer; Akila Robinson, music supervisor. Sound Design Tim Hayes, sound designer. VFX Ntropic, Los Angeles Juliet Tierney, exec producer; Simon Mowbray, VFX supervisor/Flame lead; James McCarthy, VFX shoot supervisor; Bridgette Spalding, Tom Baker, producers. Erin Lockard, VFX coordinator; Jadan Duffin, Devin Uzan, VFX Nuke compositor; Roger Kupelian, VFX matte painter; Nick Sanders, colorist; Kevin Miller, color producer. (Toolbox: Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Flame, Resolve)

2
The Best Work You May Never See: Lobo Casts Light of "Sunshine" On Abuse In Animated Short For Day One, BBDO NY

Client Day One Agency BBDO NY Bianca Guimarães, Danilo Boer, Marcos Kotlhar, creatives Production Lobo, New York and Sao Paulo, Brazil Guilherme Marcondes, director; Aron Matschulat Aguiar, producer, editor; Luis Ribeiro, Alberto Lopes, Loic François Marie Dubois, exec producers; Felipe Jornada, art director; João Lavieri, Felipe Jornada, Rômulo de Oliveira, Wilson Panassi, concept artists; Antonio Soares Neto, Vinicius Barros, storyboard; Olavo Chagas, CG director; Milton Dias, Frederico Martins, Diego Esteves, Eiti Sato, Daniel Adami, Felipe Bassi, Leo Rezende, Marcel Fukuwara, modeling; Flavio Castello, lead rigging; Alexandre Marassá, Felipe Gimenes, rigging; Leonardo Cadaval, animation supervisor/animator; Marcio Nicolosi, lead animator; Lucas Peres, previsualization; Andrea Delfino, Janaina Bonacelli, Bruno Carias, Bruno Hamzagic, Daniel Alvite, Daniel Bahia, Daniel Vasconcellos, Jorge Zagatto, Marcelo Zanin, Raphael Vinicius, Seixas Silva, Renato Sena, Rodrigo Souza, Ronaldo Brito, Ste Kajimoto, Thiago Martins, Victor Fernandes, animators; Olavo Chagas, Milton Dias, Diego Esteves, Rafael Migliorini, lookdev & render; Bruno Ferrari, lead compositor; Lucas Stringhetti, VFX; Chan Tong, VFX 2D.  (Toolbox: Photoshop, Maya, Vray, Nuke, Premiere, Flash, Houdini) Color Company 3 Leticia Blanco, colorist. Music “Walking On Sunshine”

3
MJZ's Nicolai Fuglsig Helps Steven Tyler "Feel Something Again" In Kia Super Bowl Spot From David&Goliath

Client Kia Agency David&Goliath, Los Angeles David Angelo, founder/chairman; Bobby Pearce, chief creative officer; Gustavo Sarkis, executive creative director; Basil Cowieson, James Cohen, John O’Hea, Courtney Pulver, creative directors; Mark Monteiro, Steven Tyler, copywriters; Paul Albanese, director of broadcast production; Curt O’Brien, executive broadcast producer; Peter Bassett, director of digital production; Justine Kleeman, digital sr. producer; Cara Nieto, sr. art producer; Wells Davis, chief strategy officer. Production MJZ Nicolai Fuglsig, director; Alwin Kuchler, DP; Christopher Glass, production designer; Emma Wilcockson, exec producer; Karen O’Brien, producer. Editorial Exile Grant Surmi, editor; Dusten Zimmerman, assistant editor; CL Weaver, exec producer; Brittany Carson, producer. VFX Pete King, exec producer; Hillary Thomas, producer; Vanessa Yee, production coordinator; Robert Sethi, shoot supervisor/creative director/art director; Tim Rudgard, shoot supervisor/2D lead artist; Jason Monroe, shoot supervisor/3D lead artist; Steve Cokonis, 2D lead artist; Daniel Thuresson, Lisa Ryan, Jeannie “Remedy” Huynh, Benoit Mannequin, Lior Weiss, Jason Bergman, Ed Black, Ashley Forbito, Chris Hunsberger, Kai Chun Tsai, Krysten Richardson, Glyn Tebbutt, Daniel Lang, Elliot Brennan, Ian Blewitt, Adrian White, Adam Lambert, Matt Dobrez, Stefan Smith, Tom Van Dop, Yukiko Ishiwata, 2D artists; Chris Bayol, Cory Cosper, Nole Murphy, Omar Taher, Brian Lee, Benjamin Chan, Danny Garcia, Freddy Parra, Jae Jun Yi, James Robinson, Jinguang Huang, Alice Panek, Elizabeth Hammer, Jeremy Ramirez, Steven Olson, Dan Warom, Michael Lori, Ed Laag, 3D artists; Rasha Shalaby, Andy Wheater, Marissa Krupen, matte painting; Jacob Bregman, animation; Adam Scott, colorist; Thatcher Peterson, EP, color; Liza Kerlin, sr. color producer. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke Maya) Music/Sound Design Human Mike Jurasits, creative director/sound designer; Matthew O’Malley, James Leibow, Jon Hubbell, Tom Keery, Andy Bloch, composers/arrangers; Jonathan Sanford, exec producer. Audio Post Margarita Mix, Santa Monica Nathan Dubin, sound engineer; Whitney Warren, exec producer. Licensed Music “Dream On” by Steven Tyler

4

Client Great Western Railway Agency adam&eveDDB, London Ben Tollett, group executive creative director; Matt Woolner, Steve Wioland, creatives; Louise Richardson, TV producer. Production Friends Electric, Los Angeles Pete Candeland, director; Neil Riley, TD; Ryan Goodwin-Smith, Belinda Blacklock, exec producer; Sian Jenkins, Adriana Wong, producers; Kristian Antonelli, character design; Yohann Auroux, storyboard artist; Brian Raess, editor. Painting Practice Billy Stockwell, art direction & DMP. VFX/Animation Electric Theatre Collective, London Daryl Graham, Tim Sanpher, Eleonora Quario, 2D animation; Taran Spear, Alex Prod’Homme, Courtney Pryce, Max van Leeuwen, Tom Humphrey, compositors; Sergio Morales Paz, Steve Beck, Paul Templeman, Annie Rowland, Joffrey Zeitouni, Lou Thomas, Paco Rocha, Stephane Renaldi, Borja Massa, Dana DiGioia, Joao Pires, Ashley Anderson, Gregory Martin, Daniel Rico, Hillary McCarthy, and Kimon Matara, CG team. Modeling Interference Pattern (Toolbox: Maya, Houdini, TVPaint) Audio 750MPH, London Sam Ashwell, Mark Hellaby, sound design & mix; Mary-Ann D’Cruz, audio producer. Music Supervision Company Theodore Tom Stanford, music supervisor. Licensor Enid Blyton Entertainment, Hachette Karen Lawler, head of licensed content.

5
Top Spot of the Week: HouseSpecial's Kirk Kelley Directs "Armor del Amor" Indie Short

Animation Production HouseSpecial Kirk Kelley, director/creative director; Lourri Hammack, executive producer; Karly Richter, producer; Cam Wiliams, editor; Rex Carter, Flame artist. CG Beavan Blolcker, Greg Kyle, animators; Karl Richter, technical director; Josh Tonnesen, Kendra Philips, modeling artists; Nikie Monteleone, texture artist; Matt Reslier, lighting artist; Terence Jacobson, John Lally, rigging artists; Karl Richter, Walter Behrnes, VFX; John Corbett, Nuke compositing; Tyler Bay, intern texture artist; Johnny Nam, intern lighting artist. Live Production Kirk Kelley, director; Eric Edwards, DP; Rex Carter, VFX supervisor; Elliot Freeman, line producer; Noel Adams, 1st assistant camera; Gee Staughton, art director; Clay Conally, Jake Hauswirth, grips. Fabrication Katie Mello, Margaret Meyer, prop fabrication; Rob Melchior, set fabrication. Stage John Nolan, DP; Jake Hauswirth, swing/electric/grip; Rob Melchior, wrangler; Erica Johnson, fabrication/stage dept. manager.  Design Stephen Bodin, title/credits artist; Alan Cook, graphics artist; Olga Sokal, graphics intern. Postprdouction Rychelle Bedalov-Valde, assistant editor; Dino Coons, tape room op; Alvaro Cubillas, COO. (Toolbox: Nuke, Flame, PTGui, Maya with Arnold, Houdini, Mari, Substance Painter, ZBrush, Mudbox) Music Dave Depper (Death Cab for Cutie), writer/performer

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