With his small studio closed due to the Russian occupation, Ukrainian director/3D artist Anatolii Belikov regroups his scattered team virtually to craft visuals for the Pitch Music & Arts Festival in Australia. Anatolii Belikov: “This is a non-commercial project since we did it for a small (somewhat symbolic) budget over a few months. So it’s not about profit but having fun and experimenting. The images were used for the digital campaign, on-stage visuals, and outdoor installations. “Pitch is a music, visual arts, and camping festival, where people go and have a good time in nature – that ..read more

Iconoclast directing duo Alaska (aka Gustavo Moraes and Marco Laver) launch Droga5’s new global campaign for LinkedIn with a riveting mix of dance, puppeteering, and VFX all held together by LA post house Kevin. The spot is choreographed by Sherrie Silver – who also taught the Minions their moves in the Diana Ross/Tame Impala collab “Turn Up The Sunshine” – and powered by the track “Guerilla” by American singer/songwriter Remi Wolf.       Client: LinkedIn Agency: Droga5 NY CCO: Scott Bell ECD: Toby Treyer-Evans, Laurie Howell GCD: Tom McQueen, George McQueen CD: Erika Kohn ..read more

From the team at ad agency GONG in Warsaw, Poland: “Future me is an AI-powered app we created for ING Bank that generates a personalized picture of you in retirement based on a description of your dreams and plans. All you have to do is take a photo and answer the question: What do you want to do in the future? “Only 20% of young Poles think about their life after retirement. This is a unique situation compared to European countries. The only way to live with dignity is to save additional money in your retirement bank account. “We combined several generative AI algorithms into one app. One to ..read more

London studio Optical Arts and director Fabrice Le Nezet continue their in-house visual experiments with Babel, a short film “blurring the lines between history, illustration, typography, print, animation, architecture, and design.” Fabrice Le Nezet “Originally inspired by Italian artist Antonio Basoli’s letter B print, the Tower of Babel fascinated us and we decided to depict the story behind it as the letter B installment of our ongoing alphabet series while also celebrating the work of Basoli and his Alfabeto Pittorico.   “Inspired by Basoli’s print, we used a grainy print-like textu ..read more

Armenian director and motion artist Hasmik Mkhchyan combines her appreciation for American science fiction writer Philip K. Dick and new forms of visual storytelling into a personal short film created with Stable Diffusion. Hasmik Mkhchyan: “In 1977, Philip K. Dick arrived at a science fiction convention in Metz, France to deliver a speech called, ‘If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others.’ “The audience would leave bewildered, mystified. His talk ranged widely across such topics as cosmological time, the possibility of the universe as a computer simulation, the experienc ..read more

Get ready to have your senses shaken as director Alessandro Pacciani and the Platige Image VFX team unleash two minutes of fury and flash inspired by the new Lamborghini Revuelto and its 1015-horsepower hybrid V12 engine. From the team at Platige Image in Warsaw: “We crafted 130 VFX shots for this spot, with dozens of them created entirely from scratch in CGI. Nearly 200 talented individuals collaborated to bring the project to fruition. “The production was nothing short of a logistical feat, requiring the creation of a futuristic laboratory and the temporary closure of a city street to captu ..read more

From the team at Ogilvy South Africa: “South Africa has one of the highest road accident rates in the world. Many involve objects in the blind spot. Volkswagen has a solution: Blind Spot Monitor. “Using a specialized paint called Black 3.0, a paint so dark it absorbs 99% of light and removes all definition, Ogilvy Cape Town created “The Blind Spot” – a series of “invisible” life-size installations featuring objects that would commonly be found and missed in your blind spots like delivery drivers and cyclists. These were placed in Volkswagen dealerships and conferences during Motorcycle Awaren ..read more

From the release: VOLT Studios is excited to announce that Mike Nelson has joined the full-service content company as Animation Director. At VOLT, Nelson will apply his artistry and expertise to enhance and build the studio’s creative offering in 3D animation and motion design. “I’ve been wanting to step into the CGI/3D space forever,” says Steve Medin, VOLT Founder, “but it was never the perfect time. Until now. And it’s helpful to do it with the perfect person for the job, isn’t it? We are super excited to bring Mike on board!” Prior to joining VOLT, Nelson enjoyed a successful tenure at Pi ..read more

Montreal motion design duo Mat&Fab (Mathieu Harrisson and Fabrice Fenoy) tackle meta themes of motivation and creator’s block in this playful animated short produced in concert with integrated prodco L’Éloi. Mat&Fab: “We are so proud of the path we have traveled over the creation of this project. The time spent obsessing over it when it didn’t seem to want to come to life definitely moved us in the right direction. No matter what the obstacle, the creative act requires pushing through discomfort when the goal seems inaccessible. “Like the protagonist of the story, we are happy to have ..read more

London-based French animator Jonathan Djob Nkondo, who we last saw opening the GLAS Animation Festival with an eccentric and enigmatic sequence, just released this exhilarating short film “Little Taste of Joy”. Precisely drafted and full of visual surprises, the film showcases both Nkondo’s assured character animation talents as well as his gift for wonderfully unpredictable narratives.       Director/animator: Jonathan Djob Nkondo Additional animation: Maxime Jouniot Music: Jan Pryputniewicz, Marian Dziubiński (Kleine Kantate (Lil’ Taste of Poland sample #2)) Sound design ..read more