Lianne Cruz

While the Olympics are an exciting and inspirational thing to watch, I am absolutely pleased with the commercials’ offerings in-between. Last night, I caught one of the five United Airlines commercials airing during the Olympics. From paper cut-out and CG, to salt on glass, the art direction for each commercial is imaginative, refreshing, and simply gorgeous. These commercials were produced by BDM, an ad agency based in Minneapolis. Each of these commercials features Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”, United’s personal theme.

I was able to find Youtube versions of each, but you should definitely check out the hi-res versions either on their website or via the links provided.

(All descriptions below are taken from the United Airlines’ Press Release.)

Sea Orchestra

“Sea Orchestra” (60 seconds) – “Sea Orchestra” is a lively and visually rich commercial that introduces United’s new international first and business class cabins. In it, a United airplane crosses the ocean and is serenaded by an orchestra of animated sea creatures that are playing a unique version of Rhapsody in Blue using tubas, violins, French horns and the Indonesian gamelan. The score was created by Shy the Sun, a South Africa-based directing team, which used hand-drawn textures, computer animation characters and photographs of water, reefs and skies.

Two Worlds

“Two Worlds” (60 seconds) – “Two Worlds” is a celebration of color and beautiful images that portrays United’s effect on international travelers. In it, a weary business traveler leaves a mundane, monotonous black and white world and enters a fantasy of color, representing United’s new international first and business class service. When he lands, he is once again in a black and white world, but has brought a bit of the magic of the new United experience with him. The commercial combines two different and distinctive animation styles created by directors SSSR, a Norwegian and Japanese team, who was responsible for the monochromatic world that was mostly computer-generated with a hand-crafted feel, and Gaelle Denis, a French director, who was responsible for the colorful fantasy world that uses using live action, computer generation and matte paintings, including textures such as Japanese rice paper.

Heart

“Heart” (60-seconds) – “Heart,” United’s new brand ad, portrays the connection between a husband and wife and United’s role in reuniting them. The commercial depicts a woman leaving her husband to fly to Europe for a business presentation. As she says goodbye, she leaves her heart behind as a symbol of her love. The musical score for “Heart” is a piano duet of Rhapsody in Blue performed by Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang, who recently performed Rhapsody in Blue together at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Using stop-motion animation and paper puppetry, California-based director Jamie Caliri and his team, place dimensional cardboard puppets in miniature sets that were shot frame by frame.

Butterfly

“Butterfly” (30 seconds) – “Butterfly” is a fluid, animated commercial with an artistic interpretation of flying in United’s new international first and business class cabins. The spot focuses on United’s 180-degree flat-bed business class seats and comes to life against a violin version of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. In this spot, the Polish director Aleksandra Korejwo manipulated colored salt using shed condor bird feathers on a black canvas positioned under a downward-facing camera.

Moondust

“Moondust” (60 seconds and 30 second) – “Moondust” is a luminous, dreamlike commercial with an artistic interpretation of flying in United’s new international first and business class cabins. The spot focuses on United’s 180-degree, flat-bed business class seats and is animated to a spare, intimate interpretation of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Ishu Patel, an Indian-born and Canadian-based animator, used his world-renowned back-lit technique in which a thin layer of plastic modeling clay is applied to a glass plate that has a 1000-watt light positioned beneath it and an animation camera above it.

I have an incredibly hard time finding professional advice pertaining to the industry I work in. Both my parents and most my relatives have traditional professions in medicine, education, or business. Art school instructed me mostly in the technical aspects of being an animator. But, motivating yourself when you’re feeling defeated, dealing with long hours and heavy workloads, interacting with your co-workers…experience is the primary teacher. When you’re on your own, you’re never sure if what you experience as a young creative professional is normal because you may be surrounded by lots of people with experience, who have been doing it for a long time. And you occasionally question if you made the right decision, especially when your work or project isn’t turning out the way you wanted. It’s tough starting out with little experience, lots of ambition, and more to prove.

Every once in awhile, I find some open, honest advice like the video above. (Thanks to 43 Folders) Although Ira Glass of This American Life works primarily for broadcast, the experience is still applicable to anyone who works in a creative field. It is wonderful that more creative professionals are documenting their conclusions drawn from experience, observations, and lessons learned online. It gives inspiration to us kids, who are no longer shielded by academia’s umbrella, to pick ourselves up and keep marching on.

I’ll be honest with you: I know nothing about superhero comics or Batman beyond what I’ve seen from the stunning Batman animated tv series from the 90’s and the movie line featuring the likes of Keaton, Kilmer, Clooney, and Bale. I know the basics of Batman’s history, some of the major villains, and his close confidants. I preface this because I’ve read mixed reviews from Batman fans pertaining to Batman: Gotham Knight, which was recently released this past Tuesday.

After watching my Blu-Ray copy of the Gotham Knight, all I can say is: WOW.

From an animation standpoint this is an amazing visual treat. Similar to The Animatrix, this collection tells episodic stories surrounding Batman. It features animation powerhouses Studio 4ºC (Tekkon KinKreet), Madhouse (Paprika), Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell), and Bee Train (Noir). All 6 stories are loosely linked together with recurring characters and take place between Batman Begins and the upcoming Batman Dark Knight.

What really sold me on these vignettes is how they opt for a more intimate narrative beyond a typical superhero vs. villain structure. The focus is not particularly on the villains (which I’m sure angered a lot of fans), but rather on the qualities that make Batman who he is: powerful, resourceful, noble…human. Two of the stories that perfectly illustrate this theme are produced by Studio 4ºC: “Have I Got a Story For You” and “Working Through Pain” (which the above image is taken from). Unsurprisingly, these are my favorites from this collection. (On a side note: these 2 shorts have made me a Studio 4ºC convert.)

Each story has its own distinct visual style and the production quality is top-notch. There are intricate backgrounds and frenetic fight sequences galore. There is something special about each visual interpretation of Batman and his beloved Gotham City. I must admit, however, that if you’re not a fan of the anime style, you may not appreciate the work entirely.

I’m not going to bore you with the details, but if you are looking for some high quality animation or are a fan of any of the aforementioned studios, it deserves your attention. If you don’t like it, at least you get $3 off the movie concession stand if you purchase it from Best Buy.