The characters and world of Skylanders received the Blur Studio treatment in two new :30 commercials produced by critically-acclaimed ad agency 72andSunny for Activision. With CG sequences helmed by Blurs Oscar-nominated director Jeff Fowler, Inside the Trap and Trapping Kaos feature an exciting new visual scope to bring Blurs special brand of high-octane storytelling to the imaginative world of Skylanders.Noted 72andSunny Creative Director Tim Wolfe, Both Blur and 72andSunny are built around collaborative cultures so we were all quick to jump in together, start laughing and shape where we wanted the project to go from the outset. It made for amazing sessions where everyone had a voice, egos were left at the door and we were all only interested in making the best video humanly possible.
Working with a tough little veggie warrior and a powerful super-dwarf armed with TraptaniumTM-infused hammers spurred our creative energy to create something like none other. We had a blast bringing a little mayhem to the world of Skylanders where we built a village and staged a cinematic battle scene between Gulper and Food Fight, explained Fowler.
Added freelance Creative Director Michael Bryce, The Skylanders brand is built on the idea of bringing toys to life.' Working with Blur gave us an entirely new way to look at the characters and what they were capable of.
Familiar with Blurs 20-year experience in high-end CG entertainment, 72andSunny enlisted the studio to bring their cinematic chops to the enormously popular franchise's CG characters and environments for this new campaign. Fowler and his team of 30 artists completed CG material for both spots in less than two months.
The level of visual detail and character development Blur brought to the project was incredible. They took an already rich and fun world of Skylanders and turned up the volume helping us make something truly unique and ground-breaking for the category, said Wolfe.
We were excited to get the call from 72andSunny. Theyre responsible for some of the most iconic and memorable commercial campaigns in recent years and were big fans, Fowler concluded.
For more on Skylanders Trap Team, visit: http://www.skylanders.com.
About Blur Studio
Blur Studio is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated production studio based in Culver City, California. Founded in 1995, the company provides award-winning animation, effects and design for a wide range of media - short films, large format films, commercials, concept art, feature effects, music videos, game cinematics and broadcast design. Notable clients include ABC, Disney, Marvel, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., CBS, Microsoft, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Sony, Activision, Nickelodeon, FOX Sports and EA, among others. For more information, please visit www.blur.com.
CREDITS
Blur
CG/Animation Director: Jeff Fowler
Creative Director: Tim Miller
CG Supervisor: Chris Bedrosian
Animation Supervisor: Hubert Daniel
FX Supervisor: Brandon Riza
Producer: Laura Pepper
Executive Producer: Al Shier
Layout Supervisor: Aristomenis Tsirbas
Layout: Hubert Daniel, Isaac Fernandez
Character Modeling Lead: Jesse Sandifer
Character Modeling: Hasan Bajramovic, Daniel Garcia, Victor Hugo, Daniel Kho, Clay Osmus, Gun Park, Juan Solis, Tom Tran, David Munoz Velazquez
Rigging Supervisor: Jeremie Passerin
Rigging Lead: Joshua Cogswell
Rigging TD: Tyler Fox
Rigging: Ben Durkin, Tyler Fox, Gerry Hsu, Daniel Kole, Travis Miller, Michael Swann
Animation: Ben Cinelli, Isaac Fernandez, Yvain Gnabro, Jason Hendrich, Oliver Parcasio
Hair and Cloth: Justin Callanan, Adam Dorner, Jon Jordan, Mark Lipsmeyer, Luis Lopez, James Marcus, Lennon Montejo, Yury Sakovich, Danny Young
Environment Modeling: Simon Blanc, Eric Durante, Jinho Jang, Ramon Lopez
Lighting and Compositing Lead: Simon Blanc
Lighting and Compositing: Eric Durante, Jason Madsen
FX: Joe Coleman, Sasmit Ranadive, John Schratz
Technical and QC: Joshua Cogswell, Tyler Fox, Jon Jordan, Luis Lopez, Jeremie Passerin, Danny Young
Concept Design: Sean McNally, Joshua Shaw, Kyle Shockley, Chuck Wojtkiewicz, Tom Zhao
Production Coordinator: Chris Youngless
Production Assistant: Amanda Powell
Pipeline Supervisor: Jeffrey Beeland
Pipeline: Brendan Abel, Mike Hendricks, Stephen Lu
Programming and Systems Administration: Duane Powell, Jeremy Donahue, Paul Huang, Matt Newell, Perry Randall
Activision
Chief Executive Officer: Eric Hirshberg
Chief Marketing Officer: Tim Ellis
SVP of Consumer Marketing: John Coyne
Director of Consumer Marketing: Hjalmar Hedman
Manager, Consumer Marketing: Eneida Mejia
72andSunny
Partner, Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole
Executive Creative Director: Frank Hahn
Creative Director/Writer: Tim Wolfe
Creative Director/Designer: Peter Vattanatham
Creative Director: Michael Bryce
Senior Designer: Travis Swingler
Junior Writer: Taylor Black
Junior Designer: MyTran Dang
Director of Film Production: Sam Baerwald
Executive Producer: Dan Ruth
Film Producer: Kara Fromhart
Group Director Business Affairs: Amy Jacobsen
Business Affairs Manager: Kelly Ventrelli
Business Affairs Coordinator: Amy Shah
Group Brand Director: Mike Parseghian
Senior Brand Manager: Torie Gleicher
Brand Manager: Tashi Oszvald
Brand Coordinator: Erica Goitia
Group Strategy Director: Bryan Smith
Strategy Director: John Graham
Senior Strategist: Daniel Teng
72 Studio
Chief Production Officer: Tom Dunlap
Director: Benjamin Davis
Content Producer: Jonny Edwards
Line Producer: Dina Oberley
Editor: Jason Lewis
Editor: Billy Sacdalan
Post Producer: Benjamin Bragg
MPC
Executive Producer: Elexis Stern
Producer: Abisayo Adejare
VFX Artist: Benjamin Davis
Music & Sound Design
Human Worldwide
Composer: Gareth Williams
Producer: Jonathan Sandford
Sound Mix Lime Studios
Executive Producer: Susi
