New Website and Short Film!

It's been quite a busy few months since we last spoke. Not much has changed, I've just been crazy busy with work, which I'll start to highlight as the summer goes along.

First off, I updated my website! I realized that the picture I was using was from almost 10 years ago so I shot a new one (well, my wife shot it). One thing led to another and now my site is bigger and better than ever! The main things I updated were adding a section for all the boards I'd been working on, as well as a section highlighting the individual commercials that are scattered throughout my reel.

I'm eventually planning on updating this blog, most likely to a custom Wordpress design, however I'm going to need a bit a help with that. Any takers out there??
The second and most cool bit of news is the completion of an animated short film I made for Monkeyhead! This is my first fully animated short I've actually completed since college and I must say it looks 100 times better.



I'm working on putting together a "making of" page, but what would you have to look forward to if I had that done already?

TruTV Rebrand: Animated Logos

The next bit of the TruTV rebrand was to provide some animated examples of their logo. The cited TBS and NBC as their inspiration. I was quite familiar with TBS' branding, having loved their fun playful design that matches perfectly with their tag Very Funny. However, I was a bit concerned as to how that would translate over to TruTV's more serious shows like Cops or even Police POV. Fortunately their love of NCB's branding somewhat helped smooth out the spectrum of seriousness they wanted.

I first went with Wipeout, being far more familiar with that show than any other on their network. I mean, who doesn't love a good hidden foam door to the face? I'm sure I'm not alone when I say my favorite obstacles are the Big Red Balls. Naturally, I made them part of my first treatment.





Next up was the more daunting task of tackling a serious show, like Police POV. I'd never seen that program before, but after watching a few clips I got the gist. We played around with a bunch of ideas at the studio, but everything kept coming back to seeing the TruTV logo in a line up. So we ran with it, throwing in a Police POV style camera, and here's what we got.

TruTV Rebrand: Actuality Check

A couple of months ago we started a rebranding for TruTV. They wanted something was going to be more fun with a bit of silliness, all while keeping the serious tone of their shows. Sounds confusing, right?

The first aspect was to redesign their "Actuality Check"... kind of like their version of Pop Up Video from VH1 back in the day. They loved the first set of boards I made and let me plow on through to what you see now!

I did all the 3D in Cinema 4D, which was a first. Not exactly my favorite program so far, but seeing as I'll be using it for a while I might as well get used to it!



and the boards

I am the Future of Hip-Hop...according to Red Bull.

Red Bull wanted to see the "Future of Hip-Hop" in the opening graphics  for EmSee, their freestyle-rap-American-Idol. Naturally they turned to me, having heard the word on the street of my thug-ness. With my superior knowledge and know-how in the rap game I turned where most trends seem to be heading, the past. With retro fashion and re-hashed 80's TV shows, I figured Hip-Hop's future would probably follow suit.

To do this, I used a yellow tone of early 70's films, as well as a strong noise. I also wanted to show the world being created by the hand written lyrics from the early stages of each phrase created by these free stylers.

UFC/FX - Rage-Cage

Boards I did for UFC moving to FX. The FX guys wanted to have a kinetic frenzy of energy to show the excitement and power of a UFC match. So, I went with having the ring violently being built around two anonymous fighters. Throw in some awesome lens flairs and baby, you got a stew goin!

Disney Pirate Design Work!

They've been letting me do more and more design at work, and I kind of like it!

These were a few ideas for a Jake and the Neverland Pirates themed Special Movie Night bug for Disney Channel. I'm not sure which one they went with, but I'm pleased with them nonetheless.

Plus, some idea sketches. I was a bit bummed they didn't want to go the sword/pirate route, as my love for such things have been well documented, but what aaarrr ye going to do? 

Disney Channel Graphics

Well, whadduyaknow, I finally got to work for Disney... kind of. I got to create graphics for Disney Channel's winter package, and if you've watched anything on that channel over the past few months chances are you've seen my handiwork. While those snippets are too small to show as a one off here, they'll most likely find their way into my next reel.

Meanwhile, I also got to do the graphics for two popular Disney Channel shows; Good Luck Charlie, and Wizards of Waverly Place. 

These two spots were for the movie Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! They involved encouraging the viewers to go online, vote for baby names, and play their many movie themed games.  

 It went on to became the most watched cable movie of 2011, which I'll take complete credit for!

And here's a quick look at one of the promos I worked on for the series finale of Wizards of Waverly Place, starring Selena Gomez.



I'm also taking credit for the record-breaking viewership...