Culver City/Vancouver-based visual effects house Zoic Studios anthropomorphizes neurotic house pets in the comedic new :60s “Dog,” “Guinea Pig” and “Cat” for AT&T out of BBDO NY. The campaign, “Pets Talking,” which has its own dedicated site pets-talking.com, features animals gabbing about how their owners’ homes seem to have lives of their own.
To align with the director’s concept of maintaining an element of realism with the talking animals, Zoic VFX Supervisor Ryan McDougal was careful to use as few CG replacements as possible to personify these pets. To craft realistic movements for the dog, the animators used human facial references combined with references from the dog’s natural nuances captured on set. McDougal led a team of animators using Maya, Nuke, Mental Ray as well as Maya plugin Shave and a Haircut. To create the desired, more naturalistic look, the team replaced the entire head on the dog, while only replacing the face and neck for the cat and the jaw and chin for the guinea pigs. Says McDougal, “We wanted to integrate as much of the live action and practical elements as possible to walk the subtle line between caricature and realism.”
[youtube http://youtu.be/ziDk6RoGsVQ]“Dog” features a highly paranoid French Bulldog Brutus who senses that his house is keeping a judgmental watch on his daily shenanigans, which he divulges to an interviewer to include regularly snacking on the cat litter.
[youtube http://youtu.be/TN_MxDVOcSQ]
Quipping Georgian guinea pigs Kim and Carl panic over the bizarre tendencies of the household appliances in “Guinea Pig.” While Kim swears the odd occurrences are good, Carl refutes, though Kim eventually caves, admitting, “That coffee maker goes on and nobody is in that kitchen. You’re talkin’ ‘bout the coffee devil!”
[youtube http://youtu.be/hBdoclDivXI]“Cat” features a ‘platinum blonde’ cat describing the irrational behavior of her housemate, Brutus from “Dog.”
The campaign is the first of a collection of new work out of Zoic’s commercial division launching this summer, including work for award-winning agencies such as Pereira & O’Dell, Grey Advertising and Fallon for top brands including Toshiba and Visa.
About Zoic Studios
Zoic Studios is a visual effects company based in Culver City, California and Vancouver, B.C., which creates computer-generated special effects for film, television, commercials and video games.
“Visual Evolution” is their mission: to evolve the story, art, and technology of the moving image, and through this evolution, broaden the audience for everything they work on.
Zoic’s accomplished artists and producers understand story, process, technique and relationships. Their team has a proven track record of success in a range of media including episodic, film, commercials and gaming. Masters in the fields of 3D, Compositing, and Production Management, their elite reputation attracts additional talent and encourages a strong work ethic. Zoic’s relationships with its clients are deep and long lasting. The company is known for results-driven excellence in all endeavors.
Credits:
Client: AT&T Digital Life
Titles: “Guinea Pig,” “Cat,” “Dog”
Agency: BBDO Atlanta
Executive Creative Director: Greg Hahn
ACD, Writer: Rick Williams
ACD, Art Director: Marcel Yunes
EP, Content & Develop: Nicholas Gaul
Management Supervisor: Roslyn Mers
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Randy Krallman
Executive Producers: Patrick Milling Smith, Brian Carmody, Lisa Rich, Allison Kunzman, Laura Thoe
Head of Production: Andrew Colon
Producer: Andy Coverdale
Director of Photography: Ulrik Boel Bentzen
Production Supervisor: Emily White
VFX: Zoic Studios
Executive Creative Director: Chris Jones & Loni Peristere
Head of Broadcast Production: Ian Unterreiner
Executive Producer: Cally Morton
Bidding Producer: Jennie Burnett
VFX Coordinator: Anna Chang
VFX Supervisor: Ryan McDougal
3D Lead: Chris Barsamian, Jason Monroe, Scott Rosekrans
2D Lead: Jason Bergman
Editorial: Butcher
Editorial Executive Producer: Rob Van
Editorial Producers: Renee Haar, Priscilla Colon
Editor: Tom Vogt