canadian

Here’s a cool (no pun intended) new :15 second spot airing exclusively in Canada for the month of April buy the folks over at Stardust Studios and ArnoldNYC. Promoting Hershey Canada’s Ice Breakers Mints, this short piece begins with live-action footage of actor Gavin Beasley but then quickly transforms into an animated character created using an interesting mix of hand-drawn illustrations and cel animation.

Stardust Studio’s Art Director Jonathan Wu on the technique used to achieve the effect:

“All of the animation was created entirely by hand, so finding cel animators willing to take-on the challenge was a difficult task,” said Wu. “Then, compositing the cel animation to keep the spot seamless was another challenge. Instead of cel animating the entire spot, we broke it into elements that could then be composited together to achieve the final look.”

I like it.

Credits:

Project Name: Ice Breakers “A State Of Mouth”
Running Time: :15
Debut Date: 4/20/09 — Aired In Canada Only
Film Stage/Location: Ben Kitay Studios, Los Angeles, CA

Ad Agency: ArnoldNYC
City/State: New York, NY
EVP, Senior Creative Director: Sig Gross
Creative Director: Betsy Guerro
Producer: Marianne Toniolo
Business Affairs: Cindy Hoffman

Production Company: Stardust Studios
City/State: Bicoastal, USA
Director: Brad Tucker
Executive Producer: Paul Abatemarco
Line Producer: Winston Smith
Director of Photography: Ketil Dietrichson
Creative Director: Brad Tucker
Art Director: Jonathan Wu
Post Producer: Alyssa Evans
Designers: Chris Saunders, Jonathan Wu
2d Animator: Ash Wagers
Cel Animators: Dylan Spears, Robin Steele, Song Kim, Dave Creek, Jahmad Rollins, Regis Camargo
Compositor: Thomas Horne, Ryan Choi
Animation Assistant: Wayne Chang

Music: “Blue Day” by Darker My Love

Final Mix: Sound Lounge
City/State: New York, NY
Mixer: Tom Jucarone

Actor: Gavin Beasley