Monday 12 Oct 2009 - 11:14
Following on from its animations last year promoting cult author Douglas Coupland's book The Gum Thief, Canadian studio Crush has created a set of three shorts -- including two animations -- for his new book, Generation A.
While one short is a starkly-shot interview with Coupland himself, the two animations take the viewer inside the book, with one deliberately clumsily styled comic-book animation narrating a dramatic moment, while another is a slick little piece in which a narrator explains how recalling the colour chart helps him find sleep.
Gary Thomas of Crush explains: "In both campaigns we let the content of the books drive our creative. The books are quite different, structurally and thematically.
"We included two stand-alone animation pieces to accompany the main film. The first one is an excerpt where one of the characters in the book helps himself sleep by reciting paint colour names from the Martha Stewart catalogue. Stefan opted for a simple, graphic treatment. He also did the voiceover."
He continues: "The Tragic Death of Channel Three screamed for a graphic novel treatment because of its lurid subject matter. Yoho Yue designed the panels and animated in After Effects along with Sean Cochrane and Kaelem Cahill. We wanted the piece to have a really basic feel, almost like an animatic."
Crush is developing a reputation within the industry for keeping as many parts of projects in-house as possible (including working with sister company, directors Sons and Daughters).
Thomas explains: "With all our little side projects we use as many in-house resources as we can. We usually edit at Crush Cuts, our offline edit house. Kim Knight is a fantastic editor, (she cut the R.E.M. Man-Sized Wreath video last year).
"This time David Hicks, who is one of our partners, came to us when he heard we were working with Doug, and asked if he could help. David is a really busy commercials director, and was formerly one of the top editors in Canada. We jumped at the chance to work with David. He was great on the day, is great with people, and got something really filmic from our day at the studio. He also did the fantastic edit of the live material."
He carries on: "We also made three ads for a fictitious Channel three News team (which makes sense when you read the book). Once again, we did an internal casting session within Crush, our sister companies and alumni and put together the very convincing News Team you see in the final piece. Stefan drew on his years in the City TV empire to create the on-air look."
Digital Arts staff
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