You think your tennis game’s a little rusty? You’ve got nothing on the star of our new spot for Aleve and BBDO Toronto. In a spot that mixes live-action with photoreal VFX, we tell the story of a man suffering from arthritis as he attempts to play a game of tennis. Looking and feeling like the Tin Man, he struggles with even the simplest swings until he takes an Aleve, at which point the suit of armor dynamically shatters away, leaving him strong and nimble again. Director Richard Hickey worked with a costume designer to build the practical metal suit the actor wears, giving an unmistakable sense of authenticity to the performance. The minimal tennis court set adds to the humor and charm of this surreal concept, while keeping it grounded in the reality of the man’s condition. In post, our CG team then seamlessly rebuilt the suit only to explode it in all of its rusted metal glory. Replicating long lens high-speed photography, we made the particles explode outward with a weight and impact that matches the heavy substance. So next time you pick up a tennis racket, just remember… it could be worse!
On October 15, we boldly went where Superfad has never gone before - ComicCon. We know what you’re thinking… but we were actually there to promote a new project. Over the past six months, we’ve been involved in creating a number of scenes for an animated feature film of Graham Chapman’s A Liar’s Autobiography. As one of the members and originators of Monty Python, Chapman’s life was often as satirical as a Python sketch, and lends itself naturally to animation. The film, produced by Ben Timlett, Jeff Simpson, and Bill Jones (son of Python member Terry Jones), comprises an assembly of segments directed by 15 different animation studios.
For us, this project was momentous in a number of ways. We’d never worked on a film of this length before, we’d never produced 3D stereoscopic animation before, and we were the only American studio to contribute to the film. Oh also, we’d never dared show our faces in public before. Although the original idea of wearing Stormtrooper masks was ultimately vetoed, we did get a fair amount of fanboy love at a panel at the IGN Theater, where Creative Directors Andrew Stubbs Johnston and Sean Dougherty unveiled a scene from the film. While the full film will not premiere until spring 2012, it’s safe to say that judging from the response, Python fans will love it.
When Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners contacted us for a new spot for HP, they had us at “boxing robots”. In a brand tie-in between HP and the new Hugh Jackman film “Real Steel,” the :30 spot takes place in a neo-industrial factory, where a grizzled boxing trainer instructs us on the finer points of teaching a ten-foot robot how to throw a punch. In the process, we spotlight the intuitive features of the HP Touchsmart 520xt computer, as well as clips from the film and footage from the “Real Steel” game only available on the Touchsmart. Directed by Superfad’s own Hugh Jackman, Justin Leibow, the spot consists entirely of practically built set elements, including a steel boxing ring and a futuristic hydraulic arm the Touchsmart descends from. In case you’re wondering, even those sparks are real. ‘Cause that’s how we do it.
Many things fit in your pocket, but until recently an HD camera wasn’t one of them. With this in mind, Nylon Studios decided to see what happened when a group of commercial directors were given a pocket camera, two minutes, and one signature item. In addition, they would work with Inner-City Filmmakers, a nonprofit dedicated to providing hands-on film experience for disadvantaged youth. Shooting on Kodak’s new PlayTouch HD camera, the directors, including Superfad’s own Justin Leibow, were challenged to create a film involving—wait for it—‘binoculars’. For Leibow, the result is “Exquisite,” a neo-noir short about an interview between a photographer and a journalist that takes a dangerous, seductive turn.
The resulting festival, Pocketfest, showcases 11 films, each wildly unique from the other. The films were screened on Sept. 22 at Pacific Design Center, and you can now view them all online here.
Talking chimpanzees? At first it sounds like something out of a bad sci-fi movie. But after watching Project Nim, the compelling new documentary from director James Marsh (Man on Wire), you’ll never doubt their ability to learn our language. Following a successful collaboration on the titles to their film Red Riding:1980, Marsh and editor Jinx Godfrey once again contacted Superfad and Fad NY Creative Director Kinda Akash to create a graphic counterpart to Project Nim. Working together with Marsh and Godfrey, Kinda and Superfad developed a specific design strategy for the documentary: bold, large scale typography juxtaposed over footage for words Nim learned to sign; simple animation to speak to his progress; and subtitles for silent, signed exchanges with humans. During a fruitful and extended collaboration, this visual language itself evolved in subtle and profound ways, culminating in the titles seen throughout the finished film. As Kinda says, “This is the sort of project that keeps us all inspired, and reminds us why we are graphic designers first and foremost. We are thrilled to make a contribution to such an amazing film.”
You can check out the Project Nim trailer here.