Peter Peake, who is the creator/writer/animator of the Aardman series Pib & Pog, not only knows his away around the stop-motion realm, but he’s proficient in both CG and Flash. Aside from directing numerous TV spots for Aardman in recent years, he’s also been working on a “fan video” for his favorite band, Elbow. Here’s his take on a music video for Snowball, a track he calls “achingly beautiful.”
How do you make cancer fun and interesting to children? Yikes – that sounds nearly impossible. Apparently Emma Lazenby (Mother of Many) wasn’t quite so doubtful, as you can see in this 5-minute educational film titled One of a Kind – A Guide to Radiotherapy. The often charming little film was designed and directed by Lazenby and animated by Alex Potts, Ginny Robertson and Matthew Walker. It was a co-production from both ArthurCox and Aardman Animations. (for those in North America – “radiotherapy” is otherwise known as “radiation therapy”)
Along with Bus Productions, Aardman Animations commercial director Tim Ruffle recently directed a series of 5 recycling spots for the Catalonia Government. The campaign promotes the concept that little actions can make a big difference, and Ruffle and his team animated the spots in Flash and then composited the material together in After Effects. The animation team included Joe Wood, Tom Evans, Zoran Jankovic, Robin Davey and Felix Massie, with illustrations by Adrian Johnson. Here’s one of the ads…
The Aardman Animations commercials division has posted a number of their spots on YouTube, and several were produced in Flash. We’ve featured the McLeod’s Aardman work before (IPA Effectiveness), but here’s a commercial Tim Ruffle directed for Webbliworld. It’s titled Wij’s Discovery, and it was discussed briefly in our message boards, where we learned the project team also included Joe Wood (mentioned earlier this week), Dave Connolly and Garth Jones.
Next up is a spot directed by Peter Peake for YoToy. The product, called Zoomz, is a secret toy that hides in your shoes. I myself prefer a secret shoe that hides in my toy, but that’s neither here nor there. The agency on the spot was St Luke’s Communications.
Tim Ruffle, one of the lucky few listed on the Aardman Animations Director’s Roster, was called upon to animate a spot for Spanish TV. The Flash-animated commercial was for Hipotecas, a company offering home loans. Ruffle and his team produced the animation back in 2006. His animation team was four-strong – Tom Evans, Joe Wood, Steve Whittle and Dave Cropley. Tim and Louis Jones designed the characters and the world.
