I want my Baby Back…

Shot all on location in Prague, Czech Republic, Septemper 2006

Xbox 360 Come Together :30

November, 2006

Check out the Nov 24-30 issue of LA WEEKLY where you’ll find Blind owner/president, Chris Do, featured on the cover. Saigon or Santa Monica? A Tale of Two Brothers is a personal story into the successes of both Chris and younger brother Mike Do. The exciting journey is both intriguing and inspirational. Get to newsstands today (cause I hear they’re going fast!) to get your 14 x 10 inch copy of Chris’ noggin.

Snickers w/ The Black Eyed Peas

Here are some images from a project in which we helped design a few style frames for BBDO’s “Instant Def” starring The Black Eyed Peas.

The idea was created by advertising agency BBDO New York in collaboration with Form TV’s Jesse Dylan and will.i.am, who also created the theme song and mixed music for all of the “sodes.”

Snickers plans a limited flight of print media buys in support of Instant Def. In-theater advertising began Memorial Day weekend, showcasing the trailer in top 10 markets. The In-Store Sports Network, FootLocker, FootAction and Champs stores nationwide will showcase the trailer during the months of June and July.  Public relations efforts for the Instant Def campaign will have a heavy online concentration, using a grassroots approach to create buzz surrounding the webisodes, as well as online promotions with key websites.

Blind Mixes Pain and Pleasure

What if your favorite Saturday morning cartoons went very, very wrong?

Blind paired up with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners agency and Specialized Bikes to find out. The 60 second animated spot sends a cute, unsuspecting bike rider down the wrong trail. Despite his run-in along the way with a bear (and a school of piranhas, and a hungry bird, and some Girl Scouts of questionable moral character), the little guy has a blast on his Specialized Stumpjumper bike, all the way up until the explosive ending.

“It was the project we just couldn’t refuse,” said Blind creative director Tom Koh. ‘€œAs the animation was part of an online campaign, Goodby Silverstein gave us a lot of creative freedom to explore the concept of this ride gone horribly wrong.”

Key to the effectiveness of the piece is the element of surprise from an unexpected turn for the gory. To achieve that contrast, Koh and his team worked to create a world drawn from an innocent children’s cartoon. “We wanted it to look as though this could have been pulled from a Saturday morning animation archive”explained Koh.

Working in pen and pencil, the creative team designed a charming, but dangerous, cast of characters to inhabit the ill-fated trail: our broad smiling mountain biker, a fuzzy, long-clawed bear, bunnies (with Molotov cocktails), birds, those Girl Scouts, and even a Sasquatch with a spork. To maintain the Saturday-morning feel, Blind used traditional cell-animation for the majority of the characters. Additional motion, such as the fire, was done with 3D applications Studio Max and Maya.

The final result is a shocking, humorous, and memorable short film that shows the fun of a ride on a Specialized bike. “Goodby Silverstein was a pleasure to work with,” said Koh. “It was a challenge is finding the right balance of gore and innocence to get that powerful surprise. But they gave us the creative freedom to take it as far as it needed to go, even encouraging more gore, more shock. It was an absolute pleasure to work in such a tight creative dynamic.”

September, 2006

It’s official. Blind goes Bi. Coastal, that is, with the opening of the NY office this October. Interested designers/animators should send reels, links, etc…, especially if you’re local. As always, send emails to jobs@blind.com.

Erik returns from Prague after having wrapped a live-action shoot for Chilis’ latest spot as part of the ‘Spicealicious’ campaign.

Tom is busy at work with agency McCann Erickson, directing a 4 spot campaign for the Xbox 360 that’s due to hit this holiday season. Get your trigger fingers ready and stay tuned for updates…

Congratulations to Creative Director Vanessa on the birth of her first son Olliver Pederson.

Also, check out the latest issue of Stash 24 to see ‘Happy Entrails’ in its full glory.

The Ultimate Fighter 4 Promo

Spike TV’s long running reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, features 16 mixed martial artists competing for a shot at a UFC title fight.

Gnarls Barkley Smiley Faces

August, 2006

Goodby Guts Out a Trail of Horrors. A gnome lumberjack hacking off your leg, a bird plucking out your eyes, two girl scouts skipping rope with your entrails while another toasts a marshmallow over your burning flesh–not quite everyone’s idea of a nice afternoon on the trails. The perma-grinning character in Goodby, Silverstein + Partners’ latest offering for Specialized endures all these and more after riding down the trail marked “Danger” in “Happy Entrails.” Check out the animation short..

In case you missed it, Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” is nominated for Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Group Video for this year’s MTv Video Music Award.

Pick up a copy of 3d World Issue #81 for a behind the scenes look of ScionTc “Shark.”

Tired of the same old same old? Time for change. We’re looking to hire a senior level designer/art director. Relevant experience a must. Send links of work to jobs@blind.com.

Final Fu Show Open

Blind recently teamed with MTV2 to produce a fully animated opening and graphics package for the martial arts competition reality series, FINAL FU. In homage to the blazing combat of kung fu films and anime, the opening portrays a protagonist in the fight of his life. The Hero battles level by level to the top of a mythic tower, which parallels the format of the show, until he alone is the champion, the “Final Fu.” The show and opening premiered May 1st, and airs weekly on MTV2.

Blind and MTV2’s Justin Rosenblatt previously worked together on the globetrotting opening for the series, WILDBOYZ. Once more, Rosenblatt sought out Blind for their take on this new martial arts series. The show’s open had two primary objectives, most importantly to excite the viewer, but also to explain the general framework of the show. Working from the vast history of kung fu cinema and anime, Blind attacked this project with a ’spinning dragon-style’ punch. MTV2 was thrilled with the results and Justin Rosenblatt commented, Tom Koh and BL:ND did a remarkable job delivering titles that were creatively above and beyond our expectations. They really thought about the series comprehensively, and turned around a show open, titles and graphics that visually complimented the show’s aesthetic.

Bruce Lee’s film Tower of Death (1981) and other similar films supplied the archetypes that inspired the opening’s characters and situations. Both 3D modeling and animation we used to create the intricate martial arts moves that each character performs. Then hand-drawn cell animation was added to achieve the final anime-inspired aesthetic. The backgrounds were crafted by matte painters and then combined with the 3D characters. From the initial character designs and ink sketches to the final delivery, Blind matched the speed of their Hero and delivered the project in 4 weeks. This ended up being a bit of a dream project for us, said Creative Director Tom Koh. “We all love those classic kung fu films and anime. It was a blast taking those things and making something new with them.”