Archive of the Reel-Exchange Category

Rabbit Directing duo TWiN – working with an all-star cast that included DP Mauro Fiore (Avatar), Editor Jim Haygood (Tron), and FX house Digital Domain (2012, Transformers, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) – just released the studio’s first live-action 3D commercial to promote Samsung’s state-of-the art 3D LED TV. The spot represents an important step in the evolution of production as 3D is downsized, made more accessible, and reconfigured for a mass audience. more

Click 3X has hired ace CD Ders Hallgren to lead Click 3X Entertainment, the studio’s award-winning broadcast design division. Hallgren will head the group – which includes EP Connor Swegle, Managing Director David Edelstein, Art Director Steve Weinzierl, and Senior Writer/Producer Rob Meyers – in their mission to provide branding strategy, design, and identity to complement Click’s animation, design, and visual effects teams. more

Los Angeles, CA – V returns from hiatus this coming Tuesday, March 30th at 9 pm (10pm central) on ABC, with Zoic Studios once again producing the visual effects for the popular science fiction drama series.

Zoic’s creative director, Andrew Orloff, discussed his excitement for the upcoming episodes: “It’s a big season, with a lot of surprises and a lot of new stuff. We’re spending a lot more time on the mothership,� says Orloff. “We’re getting a lot more into Anna, and the Vs and what they are really up to. We can’t give away too much, but there’s a lot happening, and a lot more to the visual effects — it’s going to be very cool. We’re continuing with the virtual set work we’ve been doing, and the virtual prosthetic work.�
The virtual sets are created with Zoic Studios’ proprietary more

Merge@Crossroads’ Mark Pellington further established his big-act musical legacy with a trio of artistic videos, for indie-rock sensation Alpha Rev, Grammy-nominated mainstay Moby, and Grammy winners The Fray. Pellington approached each of these videos with his unique abstract narrative style, merging vocal performance with conceptual and thematic imagery. more

StudioGPU’s MachStudio Pro invades Zoic Studios’ VFX pipeline with stellar results

“The Visitors,� in spaceships hovering over every major city, captured the attention of the global population in V, the popular new television series on ABC. In much the same way, V has garnered the attention of the visual effects community, thanks in no small part to innovators at award-winning Zoic Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Los Angeles, Calif. more

Continuing a long history of VFX for feature films, Click 3X Creative Director and Head of VFX Mark Szumski led the team that crafted all of the VFX for the visually stimulating thriller After.Life, directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz Vosloo and starring Christina Ricci. Click Creative Director Steve Tozzi and Head of CG Anthony Filipakis worked closely with Szumski to create a stunning array of FX, from the creation of alternate worlds to bizarre and fantastic character transformations. more

Creative editorial boutique jumP, founded in NYC, is adding bicoastal to its title with the recent expansion into the Los Angeles market. The physical expansion mirrors jumP’s growing industry influence and gives the studio the resources and bicoastal presence that clients are continually expecting of top edit houses. more

Boston and Los Angeles-based filmmaker Paul Cummings has signed with LA-based creative studio DUCK. The versatile talent works in the realms of commercial advertising, music videos and short films, with a specialty in stop motion. Cummings’ ad work includes high-profile clients New Balance, Flip Video, Zipcar, the Webby Awards, Kyoto Planet, McDonald’s, Go-Gurt, Red Vines, Shoe Carnival, Power Rangers, Proximus (Belgium), MTN (South Africa), and Nestle. He has worked with notable agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Dentsu, Alma DDB, and 22squared among others. more

Kommitted Director Nathan McGuinness, in collaboration with the VFX pros at Asylum and the Kaplan Thaler Group, lensed a recent :30 promoting the ease of travel on Continental Airlines. The spot, which McGuinness shot in Buenos Aires, is the second he has done for the world-class airliner of late. Continental was so impressed with Features, a beautiful spot highlighting the company’s newest-in-the-industry jet fleet, that they rushed back to McGuinness to shoot their latest effort. more

Mechanism built and animated a 3D simulation of debris from a danaged plane causing an engine fire in mid-air.

New York, NY – Following the popular MSNBC special, Why Planes Crash: Brace for Impact, Peacock Productions introduces Why Planes Crash: Breaking Point, which premiers April 4, 2010 at 10pm EST. As with the original, Mechanism Digital produced the in-show animation and explanatory graphics. The first special focused on water ditchings, including Flight 1549’s landing on the Hudson River. The new special relies heavily on Mechanism’s visual explanations — profiling four cases of structural failure and the chain of events culminating in some of the worst airplane disasters in history. more