Category Archives: Commercials

Xin Yi helps take us back to the ‘80s with new ‘Rocket League: Radical Summer’ trailer

September 6, 2019 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

As a renowned 3D Artist, creating stunning visual effects seen by audiences around the world, China’s Xin Yi is incredibly adaptable in her work. She does not have a specific style or trademark, but rather focuses on creating the most stunning imagery she can in whatever style the project demands. She can make visual effects look as realistic as a photograph, blending seamlessly with their surroundings, or a stylized animation that captures the hearts of its viewers.

This outstanding versatility is evident in all of her work, no matter the genre or medium. Whether creating the virtual set for NFL Redzone or modeling, materials, lighting, and some transitions and characters for the World of Warcraft Arena World Championship, Yi focuses on the details to create artistic effects.

Recently, millions around the world saw Yi’s work in the Rocket League: Radical Summer trailer, although they may not know it.

Rocket League is a vehicular video game developed and published by Psyonix. It is like soccer, but with rocket-powered cars and has up to four players assigned to each of the two teams, using rocket-powered vehicles to hit a ball into their opponent’s goal and score points over the course of a match. Released in 2015 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4, with ports for Xbox One, macOS, Linux, and Nintendo Switch being released later on, it is a now iconic game, with its own professional league and a vast worldwide following.

Radical Summer is an extension of the game, a celebration of ’80s movies, television and culture. The extension has new items, game modes, DLC, and more. Available From 6/10 to 8/12 on Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

“It is a pretty fun game to play with friends, even though I am not usually a gamer. The Radical Summer pack is super fun and cool as well,” said Yi.

After previous success on the Rocket League: McLaren 570S Car Pack Trailer in late 2018, Yi and her team at the motion graphics design and animation production studioCapacity were once again invited to create captivating cinematics to promote this new development of the game.

Before beginning work on the trailer, Yi did some research on Rocket League to know more about their style and at the same time, she watched movies from the ’80s and listened to music from that time period. Understanding more about the time period was essential in creating an ‘80s appearance and style in her work.

Yi did all of the rigging parts and exported them to let other teammates make an animation out of them and she also helped to animate one of the shots. She worked tirelessly to make the trailer both stunning to watch while matching the game’s style. She also did transition work to make the shot transfer to the next shot smoothly and did a composition for the TVs in the trailer to allow other artists to replace the footage easily.

“It is a really interesting project to work on. It brings us back to the ’80s, the rock music years. The pack is also using many elements from some 80’s culture, television from the decade and blockbusters,” said Yi.

Yi’s work on the rigs, animation, composing, materials, scene transitions, and renderings of this trailer paid off. The trailer was released on Rocket League’s official website and YouTube in June 2019. It received many positive comments and a lot of people were looking forward to playing the newly released pack. It has over 3.6 million views on the official YouTube link so far, and greatly contributed to the Radical Summerpack’s ongoing success.

You can check out the Rocket League: Radical Summer Trailer to see some of Yi’s beautiful 3D artistry.

Commercials, Producer

Producer Jamly Yang shoots in stunning locations for award winning commercial

May 19, 2019 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

One of the most life changing events in Jamly Yang’s life occurred when she was only a child and watched a feature film for the first time. She was transfixed by what she saw, not only by the story, but how everything looked so real. She remembers being convinced that the action shots and detailed war scenes were actually happening in front of her eyes and had to be consoled by her mother. After the movie finished, she became obsessed with the idea of one day making films of her own, with impactful stories that could touch audiences.

Now, Yang does just that, as a celebrated producer in her home country and abroad. Working on acclaimed films like Step Out, The Screenwriter in the Restroom, Billy’s Bear, and many more, Yang has combined her passion for storytelling with her determined mindset.

Yang has also worked with internationally recognized brands, such as Nike and Doritos, on many revenue generating commercials. Just last year, she worked on a commercial for Alpha Browser, an interactive mobile browser and all-in-one tool. The commercial is a powerful video that shows how Alpha Browser can help you in your daily life.

“I like how the commercial approaches it’s idea, instead of just introducing the product, which is what most tech companies would do, it shows people’s daily life, making the audience relate to the product,” said Yang.

Shooting the commercial involved a great deal of travelling between locations for the cast and crew, and Yang was in charge of organizing it all. She planned everything, from the hotel booking, to casting, to the budget, and even assisted with shooting when necessary.

“I loved the pretty location we shot in. What is different about commercials from film is the beauty of every frame. We can show a lot of pretty landscapes and use them to draw the audience’s attention. This is great for me because I love to travel, and on commercials you do a lot of it,” she said.

Under Yang’s leadership as the producer, the commercial went on to win several awards, including Best Commercial at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival in both 2018 and 2019. It was also distributed internationally by ATK technology, directly contributing to sales for the product. Yang could not be prouder of what she and her team achieved, and as a fan of the Alpha Browser, she truly believed in the message she was putting out there.

“I like how it is designed. Every button is very clear and easy to understand. Compared to many of the other major browsers out on the market, Alpha Browser is more personalized. It’s more like your own account rather than just a browser. Whenever you use it, you feel at home, not in the internet ocean,” she said.

Yang has worked incredibly hard to get to where she is today, determined to achieve her childhood dream. Now that she has done so, she says the hard work doesn’t stop, and in order to continue her success, she treats every new project as a learning experience, constantly staying a student in an ever-changing world.

“This is an industry where you can’t expect fast success,” she said. “I guess just like every industry, there is nothing easy, and being passionate is the key. If you are still full of energy and love what you do after a long day, then don’t give up. Go for it and fear nothing.”

Watch the Alpha Browser commercial here.

Commercials, VFX Artists

Character Technical Director Qiao Wang brings iconic characters to national Target campaign

August 17, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

It is not often that one individual is both technically and artistically inclined. Such skills normally find themselves separated, considered two different ways of thinking entirely. However, this is not the case for China’s Qiao Wang, where the fusion of both technology and art have led to a dynamic skill set that most do not possess. As a Character Technical Director (Character TD) or Character Effects Artist (CFX), Wang combines his technological way of thinking with his innate artistic talent. Compared to other roles in a CG animated film or a visual effects driven film, a Character TD tends to be both artistic and technical, and most of the time requires more technical knowledge and skill sets than other roles. As Wang was trained in both art and science, he knew those two roles would be a great fit for his career path, and he has dedicated himself to it ever since.

Wang now finds himself as a leader in his industry, having worked on several prolific projects. Whether he is working on films, such as Avengers: Infinity War, music videos, including the hit “Filthy” by Justin Timberlake, or commercials, including a series of recent ads for Lexus, Wang’s talent is evident, using CGI to create extremely realistic looking characters and objects.

“To me, design is to create a better experience or better life for users. The artwork, character animation system or whatever I design, is simply trying to make the users happy, to create the most efficient setup to make their lives easier. I think that’s my design style,” said Wang.

One of Wang’s ongoing professional relationships is with the iconic department store Target. He has worked on many commercials for the company over the past couple of years and enjoys it every time. They were one of the first series of projects that he did at Method Studios and they incorporate many aspects of what he likes about his job. The commercials offered a variety of digital characters, from Marvel superheroes, Lego characters, Trolls, ponies, Barbie dolls, etc. They all have different body types and they all require different rigging and character FX setups.

The challenge was creating such an array of characters, and Wang was eager to develop them.

Last year, Wang worked on the store’s Holiday campaign, including “Together’s The Joy | Target Holiday 2017”, “What Are You Thankful For This Thanksgiving | Target Holiday 2017”, “A Home For The Holidays | Target Holiday 2017”, “Order Pickup | Target Holiday 2017” and “Super Mario Odyssey – Now at Target 2017”. This year, he has worked on two commercials for the company’s “Jurassic World” campaign, “Target 2018 – Giant Steps” and “Target 2018 – Dino Clash”.

“All these spots are all over the internet and TV, and they’ve got millions of views, with very positive reviews. It feels great that consumers love the creative content that we did for our clients. I was so happy reading the reviews on YouTube, kids are very into the toys, cartoon characters, and the short stories. I feel very happy to see all these characters come to life, and I’m very excited about getting ready for the new Target holiday commercials in 2018 and creating more fun characters,” he said.

On every commercial, Wang jumped into production and started creating characters’ rigs including skeleton animation system, cloth and hair/fur simulation effects right away due to the tight schedule and large amount of CG content. He built characters and wrote thousands of lines of code for tons of different types of digital characters, props, vehicles, and massive environments.

Wang was also responsible for cloth and hair/fur simulation, muscle effects along with various other character finishing tasks and shot finishing tasks. He essentially is a groomer for the hair and fur, and characters like Trolls have a lot of hair to be managed. His skills in hair/fur simulation were essential. There was only one groomer in the studio besides Wang, who was quite busy at the time, so he stepped up and helped deliver high quality hair grooming and simulations.

One of Wang’s greatest accomplishments for the Target commercials was the system he developed to create generic rigging templates for Lego characters, Minions, and Barbie doll characters, which he was then able to apply to many other characters that had similar body types. It helped create facial rigs, and lip syncs to improve characters’ facial workflow and performances. The cartoon character facial setup system saved Wang and his team a lot of time, as the old system was broken. Wang’s new system saved the entire production.

“I really like how the commercials merged characters from different worlds, different productions into one story, and made them look like they belonged to the same world. I like to work on different types of characters to face different challenges. I really enjoyed being able to contribute to the character technology pipeline and workflow for the studio. The story and the lines are very entertaining and working on them makes me feel like the holiday season is right around the corner. Even though these are VFX commercial projects, we really treated them as top-notch fully CG animated short films,” he described.

Keep an eye out for the 2018 Target Holiday campaign to see more of Wang’s outstanding work.

Photo by Dustin Han

Commercials, Producer

Olivia Jun rises in the face of stress for stellar HUAWEI Mate 10 commercial

June 23, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Olivia Jun

When Olivia Jun was just a child, she remembers watching her first movie and existing in a state of shock for the remainder of the day. She felt as though a door to another world had been opened. She saw people unlike her, in a life entirely different than her own. She realized that there must be more, there must be a world out there that was much larger than she thought. As she grew up, she allowed her love for film to inspire her and to guide her thoughts and interests to a better place. She immersed herself into the culture, history, and sciences of film. She absorbed as much knowledge as she possibly could about the industry and how to excel amongst the highly talented individuals who keep it alive. She never silenced the desire within her to become a filmmaker and today, she is well known for being a highly versatile, well-respected film producer.

So, what does an average day in the life of someone like Olivia Jun entail? Without fail, Jun tends to be one of the first people to arrive on set for the day and nevertheless, one of the last to leave. She spends every second in between undertaking tasks like ensuring cast and crew members are fed, monitoring the set up for the actors’ dressing rooms, liaising with department heads to ensure that roles and responsibilities for the day are clearly outlined, and much more. If an issue has arisen, she diligently opens lines of communication with everyone involved to make sure that they are able to come up with a seamless solution. Toward the end of the day, she proactively meets with each team to discuss preparation for the following day, and then finally, she determines how much of the budget was used that day and how best to manage remaining resources for the remainder of the project. To her coworkers, it feels almost as if she is capable of being in two places at once as she is always on her feet and she is there when someone needs a hand. Without Jun’s contributions, it is unlikely that many of the films and commercials she has produced would have ever been the successes they were. She was an invaluable asset in the creation of films like Esther, and Donna, as well as commercials for companies like eHi Car Service and HUAWEI Mate 10 Cellphone Commercial.

Earlier on in 2018, HUAWEI Cellphone Company put out a request to their contacts in the industry to recommend a highly skilled producer who would have the talent and expertise necessary to create a cutting-edge commercial for their company. As a direct result of Jun’s pristine reputation, she was asked to come on board for the project and to produce their commercial, HUAWEI Mate 10 Cellphone. Jun was particularly thrilled to join as the commercial was to be shot in the United States; however, the rest of the project would take place in her home country, China. She enjoys any opportunity that allows her to showcase her skills as a bilingual, culturally aware producer and she feels as though this ability gives her a leg up ahead of her competition.

The advertisement depicts a young man assuming a number of different roles in order to show off the multiple functions of the phone. The aim was to highlight the phone’s versatility and the knowledge that no two individuals will use it the same way; however, the phone is capable of accommodating each different variation of use. They wanted consumers to understand just how highly intelligent and convenient the phone is to have and Jun, along with the rest of the crew members involved in the commercial, did an exceptional job of making consumers feel as though the HUAWEI phone is the phone missing from their lives.

Jun joined in this project at a time after its former producer had to leave as a result of certain cultural and language barriers. Because of this, tensions were high amongst cast and crew members and her clients were very stressed. Astonishingly, even amidst difficult time constraints, Jun remained calm, patient and determined to bring her clients back to a place where they felt confident and excited about the project. Without wasting any time, she immediately began selecting and preparing set locations, organizing shooting schedules, and rebalancing the budget in such a way that actually afforded them an extra day of shooting without going over budget. Her clients were blown away and were relieved to know that they had hired a producer who could not only get the job done, but get it done well.

“The plan I came up with was very organized and it saved us a lot of time, lowered our risks, and allowed us to complete the shoot much better than we had originally anticipated. During the shoots themselves, everything was well organized, safe, and smooth. The director got more than he wanted in the first place and the entire cast and crew were left feeling content and excited about the work we had done. It was a great feeling,” told Jun.

In addition to her prowess as a producer, Jun was such a prominent member of the entire project because of her ability to speak Mandarin and address the communication barriers with her Chinese clients that hindered the project with their previous producer. Her experience working with both Chinese clients and American clients increased the value she brought to the table and it also helped her to choose cast and crew members that would compliment their shared interests. On top of that, she entered a very stressful situation when she first joined the project; however, she has an affinity for looking stress directly in the eyes and refusing to back down. She keeps her sights set on delivering her very best and knows that if she comes up short, she will have no regrets regardless. Somehow, however, she never seems to come up short in the end. She loved embracing each challenge she was handed and was proud of the final outcome. Once again, the HUAWEI Mate 10 Cellphone Commercial exceeded all of her clients’ expectations and added yet another high calibre commercial to her repertoire.

Ultimately, the commercial premiered at the cellphone’s launch event in Munich, Germany, as well as on a worldwide lifestream. It was also released on Youtube, youku.com, tencent.com, and more. To date, it has just shy of 500,000 views and counting. Jun is extremely proud of how far they came when she first joined in on the project and she can’t wait to see what additional success this advertisement will bring to the phone’s selling story. Making her beam with even more pride, however, is the fact that in June of this year, HUWAEI made another commercial for their new cell phone called NOVA 3 and hired Jun as their bilingual producer after witnessing her expertise for the HUWEAI Mate 10 Cellphone Commercial. Stay tuned for its release next month.

Actors, Commercials, Film, Television, Theater

Actor Ryan Davies Comes into His Own

May 8, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Actor Ryan Davies’ fast moving career has encompassed just about the entire dramatic range in a short decade’s time. The charismatic British-born Davies’ roster of experience includes everything from playing Hamlet and Chekov’s Uncle Vanya at prestigious London proving ground the Workhouse Theater to commercials, music videos, television and feature films, a trove of professional achievements which have placed Davies very close to the apex of the acting world.

Surprisingly, the intense, blue eyed Davies had little interest in the field, until fate intervened. “I grew up in Wells in the West of England, a rural city with few artistic opportunities,” Davies said. “I spent most of my youth working on a building site but knew it wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

“I was staying with a friend in London for a week and he was taking a 4-day audition course at [drama academy] The Poor School,” Davies said. “And since I was at a loose end, I thought I’d go along and try it too, just something to alleviate being on my own in a strange city. I didn’t intend to pursue a career in acting, but at the end of the 4 days I was offered a place on the course.”

From that unlikely start, Davies entire life was redefined. “I immediately quit my job on the building site, moved to London and the rest, as they say, is history. I trained at The Poor School in London between 2008 and 2010 and I continue to train at The Actor’s Centre, London.

Subsequent high-profile assignments include a memorable turn as the corrupt villain of producer Adi Shankar’s “X-Men” prequel “Grey Café,” a recurring role in the STARZ/BBC Worldwide original series “DaVinci’s Demons” and an upcoming role in another historical period piece, the forthcoming “Fall of the Templars.”

One of the key moments in Davies’ sure, steady rise to prominence was his performance in director-writer Maria Balduzzi’s acclaimed 2016 short “Wolves,” a nuanced drama in which he excelled as the troubled teenaged protagonist’s father.

“’Wolves’ is a lovely film, about a boy who has a very strained relationship with his single parent father,” Davies said. “The boy uses the woods next to their home as a daily escape from the realities of his life. One day he comes across another boy running away from his own problems, their burgeoning friendship allows him to eventually reconnect with his estranged father.”

“It was an interesting and very challenging role,” Davies said. “It required me to convey the whole spectrum of emotions, and as the relationship between father and son was the emotional heartbeat of the film, it was integral that the audience connected with and cared about both of them.”

Davies’ signature combination of subtle restraint and deep involvement served him well, and elevated the film to an impressive level of dramatic craftsmanship.

“’Wolves’ revolves around the complicated relationship between a father and his son and Ryan was able to give the role the emotional gravitas it required,” Balduzzi said. “It’s very much a film about love. I wanted the film to represent the way we experience life and memory in our most intimate moments and much of the film’s success is due to Ryan’s performance.”

The film was well received in the UK, where it was nominated for Best Short Film at the Iris Prize Awards 2017, and was also selected for screening at the prestigious London Short Film Festival. Balduzzi herself went on to pick up the ‘Horizon Award’ for Most Promising Filmmaker at the 24fps Festival in Texas, where the festival organizers characterized it as “an exceptional piece of work.”

“Wolves” was an important step in the Davies career, one that initiated a new professional momentum. “I came into the industry relatively late, so I’m keen to make up for lost time,” he said. “There’s been a real buzz about ‘Wolves’ that opened up some doors and led to many other opportunities for me and I’ve gone on to be cast in a wealth of other projects, so I’m very fortunate in that respect.”

For Davies, timing has been critical, but his steady reliability and dedication to creative expression practically guaranteed the series of successes which he has enjoyed. With a palpable momentum building, the actor is poised for even greater accomplishments, but he always maintains his own coolly authoritative, resolutely professional methodology.

“I approach each role, no matter how big or small, in exactly the same manner,” Davies said. “I look for characters I can get under the skin of, and I try to bring my individual stamp to each role—and I make sure to have fun along the way.”

Commercials, Producer

Producer Kegan Sant helps TELUS give back with inspiring charitable campaign

March 8, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

It seems funny to Kegan Sant that there was once a time where he thought he wanted to be a director. Many people going into filmmaking initially see themselves leading the film set, and Sant was no different. However, when he found his way into producing, he realized it was exactly where he was meant to be. Sant understands the nuances to the role, that it isn’t just balancing a budget. The producer is responsible for making sure every single aspect of the production goes off without a hitch. That, for Sant, is what makes it so thrilling.

“I like to be busy and being a producer, there is always something to do. No matter how simple a project is, attention to detail is everything to me. I find that fun and challenging. Not many positions offer the flexibility in schedule, opportunity to see the world and ability to employ thousands of people over short periods of time. It’s invigorating to work with different directors as everyone has unique ways of working and dynamic thought processes. It’s incredibly satisfying to conceptualize a project with a director, budget it out, execute it, and see it come to life in post,” said Sant.

Sant’s passion for what he does translates into every project he takes on. He is perhaps most well-known for his work on the Westjet Christmas Miracle, one of the first real people/real time commercials that went viral online. He also made the award-winning Grey Cup flagship commercial for the CFL, What We’re Made Of, and last year, his work on Woods Is There campaign celebrated the company’s 100^th anniversary and Canada’s 150^th birthday while captivating viewers across the country with stunning scenery. His work extends to film, and his movie The Bear went on to several international film festivals, taking home prizes and impressing viewers and critics alike.

Sant’s creativity is ignited when he believes in what a project represents, and his 2016 commercial for TELUS was no different. The commercial promoted #TheGivingEffect, a campaign to encourage acts of kindness. With every act of kindness, big or small, TELUS encouraged citizens across Canada to share themselves giving back to their community with the hashtag #TheGivingEffect, with the goal of having the entire nation help each other. TELUS would then select up to five individuals who took part in the challenge and award them with $5000 to donate to the charity of their choice.

“I think this campaign is important because it sways social consciousness in the direction of doing something about problems and issues they see. It lets people know that everything counts – small or big and that it doesn’t have to be material or monetary to count. Having more of that in the world is inspiring change in the right direction and I believe this stemmed from the actual employees of TELUS giving back to their own organizations, which inspired the corporation to do the same. Truly the spirit of giving,” said Sant.

The campaign began with a 90-second video with short stories ranging from an informal bottle cleanup on a beach to a young woman shaving off her long hair to support a sick friend. The tagline is “every act of giving inspires another.” The commercial was shot in over five locations in just one day in April of 2016. There was a national TV buy for this campaign and it also lived on an online platform. It was also picked up and recognized by a couple of national marketing magazines.

“I liked that we were able to defy all norms on this project, like shooting in several locations in a single shoot day with actresses that had special FX makeup, and first-time experiences like shaving their head. I liked that this project pushed boundaries and forced me to constantly think on my feet. Being able to produce a job that matched the director’s vision was incredibly satisfying and having a happy production company, agency, client and director means I did my job well,” said Sant.

What is perhaps the most interesting and challenging part of the commercial is the scene with the girl donating her hair for her sick friend. Sant had to find an actress that was actually willing to shave her head for the scene and donate her hair. He vowed that they would make it happen, despite the casting director being confident they wouldn’t find one. The director, Stash Capar, had a vision, and it involved an actress actually shaving their head. Sant made sure to deliver. At the last minute, Sant found an actress who was happy to show her support for the cause, really selling the authenticity of the piece. Because of his commitment to the project, Sant immensely impressed all those he worked with, who he now continues to collaborate with to this day.

“You know you’re in good hands with Kegan. No matter what problems befall the project, he will find solutions and the show will go on. Kegan is the hardest working producer I know. He finds efficiencies and strategies that other producers later mimic. He is an agent of change in the world of commercials. An example of this was the Westjet Christmas Miracle spot, which Kegan masterminded. His methods were later copied, spawning an entire genre of copycat “surprise and delight” commercials,” said Stash Capar, Director.

When Sant was given the opportunity to work on #TheGivingEffect it felt like he had come full circle. As a teenager, his first “real job” was working for TELUS in their customer service department. He remembers wondering what it would be like to produce a commercial for them one day. Getting to do so while promoting a good cause and giving back to his community was more than he could ever have dreamed of.

“It’s a great feeling to know that the project was so successful. I’m happy to have delivered a job that met the expectations of everyone involved and was instrumental in reaching people, promoting the idea of giving back. It’s on my reel as a heartfelt piece of emotional storytelling, not only for the final product itself but the messaging it shares,” he concluded.

Photo by Kevin Sarasom

Art Director, Commercials

Art Director Phenix Miao creates stunning sets for Lepow Commercials

February 23, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Phenix Miao was eight years old when he began drawing. He believes art is part of his blood. His great grandfather owned a famous antique house in Shanghai, and that passion for design passed through generations. Growing up, his house was always full of antiquated artifacts, and even at a young age, Miao became fascinated by them. As he grew, his love for art and design only intensified and he became interested in decorating, arranging, and building a scene. There was only one path for him that made sense, and it was becoming an art director. Now, he is celebrated in both China and abroad for his art direction, and he has no plans of slowing down.

Whether it be with film, television, or commercials, Miao constantly shows viewers just how much talent he possesses. In the 2016 movie Shanghai Sojourner, Miao helped transport audiences to Japanese-controlled Shanghai during World War II. In the acclaimed film Lottery, Miao created a fairytale like world to show the euphoria of a starving, young orphan getting his hands on a winning lottery ticket. Using his commercial senses, Miao also helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars with his work on a crowdfunding campaign for Itron Battery. He is extremely versatile with a love for what he does.

“Art direction and production design is a large part of telling a story, so I insist on harmonious and mindful designing. When I’m creating a scene, I make sure to consider the person that will be in it and whether the scene corresponds with the one who lives/uses it. Sets are like extensions of the characters,” he said.

Miao once again achieved this with his work on several commercials for Lepow. The technology company manufactures mobile accessories such as the portable power bank, external battery, and the smart bag. Starting in 2015, Miao took on the role as art director for the premiere commercial for Lepow’s TV Show Box. From there, they made a follow up commercial showcasing the product, and a year later, another long commercial showcasing the brand as a whole.

On the set, Miao was responsible for the entire visual experience. He aimed to make everything the director imagined into the scene a reality. He designed the color and artistic style, selected the best and most suitable materials, maximized every detail, and designed the design space. As the leader of the creative team, he aimed to take the big picture and divide it into small, tangible tasks that would be easy to complete within the timeframe they were working in.

Working closely with the director, Miao discussed every shot individually, wanting to understand the exact feeling the client was looking for. Every aspect was important to create an entire world in the set, from colors to the smell, even though viewers would not experience that. Miao shows such commitment to every detail of a project, that it makes everyone he works with greatly appreciate his talent.

“Phenix is a great leader of the art department and ensures everything goes smoothly. He is essential as an advisor, balancing out my ideas and feelings of the clients through his work. He is a comprehensive creator with a deep understanding of filmmaking, more so than any art director I have worked with. He is constantly curious and always eager to learn new things. In terms of production design, Phenix has an ability to take even the largest set and make everything extremely detailed. Even when I can’t describe exactly what I want, he finds a way to not only make it, but he produces work even better than I imagined,” said Peter “Zhen” Pan, Director.

Miao and Pan have worked together multiple times in the past, and Miao is always the director’s go-to art director. Their personal relationship has transformed to a friendship over many years of collaboration, and Miao knows how to transform Pan’s vision into a reality. Miao appreciates Pan’s different taste and feeling about color and the “rhythm” of the set and props compared to other directors. He understands Pan’s “language” and this connection ensures productivity and efficiency on set, as they communicate seamlessly.

“We work like a family and talk to each other directly no matter what the opinion or issue is. On set, everyone makes sure to do their best work possible. The Lepow commercials were no different. It was a great time and wonderful teamwork. All the guys try to help one another. Working on a series of commercials has allowed us to become familiar with each other, and it is a very relaxed working environment,” he said.

The campaign has been a great success both for Miao and Lepow. Despite this, Miao doesn’t think about what he has achieved when he sets his sight on a new commercial. When he sets out to make something, he expects success because otherwise he would not live up to what he knows he can do. That is what makes him such a formidable art director and production designer.

“We put so much wisdom and effort into these commercials because we had a goal, which was to make Lepow feel satisfied and see sales growth from our work. When that happens, I don’t celebrate, I just know that for the next one we should do even better. The series turned out beautiful for sure, and that is our work. That I can feel proud of,” he concluded.

Commercials, VFX Artists

Compositor Aaron Wei talks passion for the arts and working on popular commercials

February 6, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Coming from a background in fine arts, Aaron Wei had been training in traditional painting since he was only a child. He spent his life imagining what he could do on the canvas, sitting in front of the blank slate for hours before commencing his first strokes. As he grew, he began using his artistic eye for photography. However, when he’d take a picture, he found himself manipulating it into something more. This is what thrilled him; sitting in front of his computer and fusing images together, taking a work of art and turning it into a masterpiece. As this hobby began taking over his life, he began wondering, what if he could do this with a moving image? It was that moment when his astounding career as a VFX compositor began.

With an extensive background in the arts, Wei knows just how to transform a scene in post-production to make his work look like it was part of the original shot. Whether working on the next anticipated blockbuster, like Zoolander 2 or Our Souls At Night, or an award-winning television show such as Quantico or The Affair, Wei knows how to transport an audience with his work. Working with The Molecule, Wei does what he loves on a daily basis.

“Aaron is one of the best talents that I have come across in my many years in the business. He stands out as an exemplary compositor who will make considerable contributions to the industry. He has a great eye and instinct that merges technical and creative skills to achieve a desired look that is extraordinary,” said Andrew Bly, CFO of The Molecule.

Wei’s all-encompassing career has him not only working on prolific film and television productions, but also national commercials. One of the highlights of his career came in 2016 crafting a spot for Toyota.

“It was the best project I hoped I could work on. It meant a lot to a relatively newcomer in this industry, like a milestone, so to speak. This project included some futuristic scenes with spaceships, space and planets, the scale of visual effects work I had never touched at the time. I was crazy about it,” said Wei.

The commercial for the Toyota Prius followed a boy that always looked into the sky, and one day, he realized his dream. He went to another planet and watched earth from there. Wei was lead compositor in this project. He composited the planets in the main scene, and a number of other shots.

One of his shots was from the World Trade Center observation deck, where the child ran over to the window and he looks into the sky. When looking at the city from such height, everything on the ground is very tiny. In the original shot, the view in the window was not recognizable, so Wei had to ensure that the viewer could understand that it was Manhattan. In the shot, he swapped the window view to a much closer up photograph of the Manhattan skyline so that audiences could see everything.

He worked on almost every other scene, responsible for the majority of the visual effects for the commercial, which relied heavily on this.

After the success of the Toyota commercial, Wei once again worked with a car brand in 2016. This time, it was for Smart Car. This commercial project was made to focus on the features of the Smart Car. They turn fast, are easy to park, and capable of going uphill. There were a lot of shots, and Wei helped to clean-up the background, from editing trees and removing the crowds. Smart Car is owned by Mercedes-Benz, and Wei was more than eager to collaborate with such a renowned brand.

“You know when you shoot something in public, there will be a lot of brand names on the street, air conditioners on the wall, satellite disks on the roof, pedestrians, trees etc. I had to clean up all those. I did a matte-painting for the White House background shot. In DC, it’s not possible to shoot a commercial in front of the White House, so for that, I had to recreate the scene from a bunch of photographs. I cleaned up the crowds in the photo, painted the lawn in front of it, and wiped out all the cars in the street,” Wei described.

The entire experience was awesome for the compositor, who loves the fast-paced working environment of a commercial. He looks forward to working on many more throughout his career.

Commercials, Filmmakers

Filmmaker Shaan Memon celebrates the holidays in commercials for Dickens Fair

January 31, 2018 ewgpress Leave a comment

As far back as Shaan Memon can remember, his family had a VCR player at their home in Ahmedabad, a city in Gujarat state in India. Every Sunday, he would watch all of his favorite cartoon shows, and his father used to help him record the shows on video cassettes. When his father would travel to Bombay for work, he would return with movies for Shaan and his elder sister. It was then, in his living room in his childhood home, that his love of film was born.

Now, Shaan is an in-demand Screenwriter, Director, and Editor. He first impressed international critics with his work on the horror The Unreal and continued to do so with his films Fitting In and Bullied, as well as the documentary Purpose Driven Study for Dharoi Canal Command Area. He is extremely knowledgeable in every aspect of filmmaking, from pre-production to post-production, and using this knowledge to expand his skillset. At the end of last year, his work on a commercial for the Dickens Christmas Fair showed that in addition to Director and Editor, this versatile filmmaker can even take on the role of Videographer and achieve tremendous results.

“I found Shaan to be reliable, assiduous, hard-working, and intuitively creative – as well as being extremely patient in performing multiple re-cuts of the material. Shaan impressed me so much that I recommended him for other work and hope to engage his services next year on a separate video for the Dickens Fair,” said David Hakim, Producer/Director who worked alongside Shaan on the commercial.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair is a one-of-a-kind holiday adventure into Victorian London and is an elaborate party with around 800 of costumed players performing and interacting with patrons in over 120,000 square feet of theatrically-lit music halls, pubs, dance floors, and Christmas shops. It’s a twilight evening in Charles Dickens’ London Town – a city of winding lanes filled with colorful characters from both literature and history. Enticing aromas of roasted chestnuts and hearty foods fill the air. Cries of street vendors hawking their wares ring out above the bustling crowd. Dozens of lamplight shops are filled to overflowing with Christmas gifts. The Dickens Christmas Fair is a treasured Bay Area tradition since 1970 and a splendid way to celebrate the holidays. Thousands of people attend this event every year.

“I had never visited the fair before, so the first time when I visited it, I was spellbound. They have created a different world in itself. One can never imagine what would it be inside until they visit it, and that is exactly I wanted to capture. I therefore insisted on not visiting the fair before shooting, as I wanted to feel like a traveler who is experiencing it for the first time and I captured those moments,” said Shaan.

Shaan is a multi-talented filmmaker with an outstanding about of expertise in writing, directing, editing, videography and sound design. Because he has so much experience in such a variety of roles, he is a one-man army who can execute a project as clearly and as nearly to how it was conceived during the consultation. Having thorough knowledge of different fields makes him a force to be reckoned with and proved vital while shooting this commercial.

“Every filmmaker works hard with his/her sweat and blood to make a project the best it can possibly be and make their name in the industry. I had huge responsibility as Diane Baker put trust in me and suggested me to work on this project. I’m happy that I could reach her and David’s expectations,” said Shaan.

When Diane Baker and David Hakim were trying to find someone who could make a captivating commercial for Dicken’s Christmas Fair, they immediately thought of Shaan and approached him to take the lead on the project. Initially, Hakim had planned on creating a competition to decide who would create the commercial, but after seeing Shaan’s work, he knew he no longer needed to find someone to take over.

Working closely together for the entire shoot, Shaan consulted Hakim regarding what kind of shots, pace and feel would be required. After brainstorming, they decided on getting more front faced shots of the visitors, showing how happy they were and enjoying their time. Getting the best shots of artists performing, vendors selling beautiful products, the decorations, the grandness of the fair and much more. Shaan then attended the fair with his assistant to get as many shots as possible. During the editing process, he consulted with Kevin Patterson, Executive Director of Dicken’s Fair. He edited the best possible 30-second commercial. He is now working on the 90-second advertisement after the success of its predecessor.

“This is what I love about filmmaking. I never get bored of being a filmmaker. I enjoy working every time I have to go through this process of starting a new project, working on it and at the end looking at its result. Every project takes me on a whole new journey. In this one I met around hundreds of artists working together at same place. Watching Dickens’s characters alive and performing in front of you was a treat! This project was great to work on and entertaining also. David was very supportive throughout and I’m happy that he trusted my creativity and I could deliver up to his expectations,” Shaan concluded.

Check out Shaan’s work on the commercial on the Dicken’s Fair website.

Behind the Scenes, Commercials, Editor, International Creative Talents, Uncategorized

SUN SHINES BRIGHTLY WHILE NOT SEEN

January 23, 2018 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

If you’ve ever known an artist, ever read a book about one, seen a film about one, or perhaps been one yourself…then you know that the goal is not to achieve fame (although that’s nice) or riches (also not horrible) but rather true artists simply want to create. The work for them is “work” only in the sense that it requires immense effort but not in a sense of begrudgingly performing a day to day task. Editor Wanqiu Sun eagerly communicates that she loves what she does and that every production she works on allows her to hone her skills. Ranging from TV productions to feature films to web productions and practically everything in between, Sun feels that her job is eternally one which allows her to shape a story, regardless of the medium or its presentation. While she has edited many an award-winning-film, she has also found herself utilizing her talent for commercials like those for Chang’an Automobiles. This series of 3-three minute commercials presented the company’s commitment to consumers and did so with the emotion that Sun’s touch is known for.

Chang’an’s relationship with their customers is analogous to that of editor and director. Passion, beauty, structure, and trust are requirements for a mutually beneficial partnership and pleasing results. People help display the story. In a film they are actors but in these commercials they were real employees of Chang’an. Each commercial presented an employee and how their work led to the benefit of the company’s customers. In one spot, we meet safety engineer Xin Li and the crash test dummy he works with exploring and ensuring the safety of the vehicles. Another presents the Designer Zheng Chen exploring his idea of design, how nature inspired him, and his concept of “power inside.” The final third commercial delves into the future of autonomous vehicles with Zhe Wang. This MIT graduate explains the culture which drew him to Chang’an and what lies ahead for the advancements in automobiles.

The structure of the advertisements were similar to TV and films in the sense that they were based around stories but there were still differences substantial enough to warrant a different approach from the editor. Sun focused on the initial visual impact. The ability of a commercial to attract the viewer’s attention supersedes that of a continual storyline. Wanqiu notes that the story during these productions was more prominent than most, a happy occurrence, but imagery was still the most crucial element for her to present. She explains the process stating, “For commercials, we sometimes won’t break down to what exact shots we will shoot before production. It’s more flexible in comparison to film. For these commercials, they had manuscripts before shooting. They were planning to go with a documentary style, to combine interviews with other footage. The locations were all real locations inside the factory, which meant that it looked different every day. If the majority of shots were planned before, it might have caused more problems during production. As the editor, I had to figure out where these shots could be placed according to the content we had in the manuscript. Cutting according to the original manuscript was around five minutes. I had to combine and rewrite the manuscript to bring the entire thing down to three minutes. Any information we’d lost from the manuscript had to be presented visually.”

Wanqiu’s work on these Chang’an commercials is proof that when there’s a great editor on the production team, especially one involved in pre-production, it makes the production much more efficient. Editors like Sun have the big picture and help the production team to predict problems and also fix those remaining in post. Transforming good material into great material and manifesting the unforeseen, editors are like ninjas who conceal themselves to make the cuts seamless. This analogy resonates with Wanqiu who remarks on her favorite editing, “There’s a fight scene in rain in The Grandmaster (Directed by Karwai Wong, Edited by William Chang), which is one of my favorite scenes in all of Chinese Film. Unlike other action movies, this one doesn’t focus on showing every movement of Kung Fu but more of the atmosphere and the spirit when people are fighting. It is very emotional. Everything seems so vague in the rain but you can feel their exact mood. Some people fight for power and fame and some fight for dignity. It is possible to analyze why we are feeling this way from editing.” The majority of her work has been in English speaking productions; the fact that her family in China gets to see her work every day on these Chang’an commercials gives her the chance to show that she is very much “in the ring.”