HORMEL
BBDO Minneapolis had developed a rebranding look for Hormel's print and web presence and collaborated with Blank in creating the look and feel for their national television campaign. Blank developed a look and feel that plays with the "this plus this" equations of the print campaign but spinning them to take advantage of the fourth dimension. "In storytelling, time is an amazing tool which we can take advantage of while designing in motion, sometimes its simply used to progress the story, whereas other times, like in the Hormel project, it inserts itself as its own character allowing for a seemingly simple equation to have a sense of elegance." says Bobby. Hormel's new national campaign explores simple recipes for using their products in a fun and tongue-in-cheek series of spots. "I wish this was airing when i was in college, it would have made my attempts at the culinary arts a bit easier" laughs Sevrin. Once the project was about half way through Blank got a call from CRN National asking about a solution for the Hormel Regional and Retailer accounts. The challenge was to figure out a cost effective way to tell the varying stories CRN was charged with that wouldn't dilute the brand. Ross Fenter, Executive Producer explains: "The guys didn't want to deliver a series of coupon offers on a flat green background with horrible text running all over it. This is really indicative of the sort of attention to quality we strive for on every job."
HBO
HBO came to Blank for more of the love for their upcoming Larry Bird/Magic Johnson documentary. Directors Bobby Hougham and Sevrin Henderson reached back to their childhood for inspiration, remembering the awe and impact of these players and how kids reacted to them. The result was a living "fan collage" as viewed through the creator. "We were jamming on the creative and started goofing on the idea that the camera was this kid adding to his wall collage through the years picking up news articles and photos and even rubber-stamping or painting his own bits into it" says Bobby. "Bird and Magic had such a dynamic relationship, once we delved below the surface and realized that while the rivalry was very much there it was largely overly simplified by the media, that it (their relationship) was so much more involved it really opened up the possibilities for story. So we started connecting the two Heros through their respective team colors, connecting one to the other as a sort of non linear timeline" Sevrin added. Bird vs Magic, A Courtship of Rivals airs on HBO this winter.
Overstock.com
Lindsay Daniels collaborated with Blank and Dektor Films to create a whole new vision and sophistication for the Overstock brand. Sevrin Henderson worked hand in hand with Paul Dektor and Lindsay on set to design the most dynamic shots/scenes possible while also considering the technical aspects necessary to most efficiently execute the animation of the spot. "Blanks process was really amazing, they identified what I was trying to accomplish from a raw concept perspective and was able to work to make sure the final result was achieved. They never took a scene at face value, and were always digging below the surface to get at the purpose, ultimately creating a campaign that looks like it was given a much higher budget than what was really there." says Daniels. "There are times when clients or directors have a scene in mind that would require a costly VFX solution that can be avoided and make the spot stronger by simply reading between the lines to see what the client is trying to say or show and crafting the spot properly" added Sevrin. Blank crafted a workflow specific to the needs and eccentricities of this project, utilizing the REDone and EOS 5D cameras as source, compositing with After Effects, Mocha and Mokey. The RED has become a standard on VFX projects for Blank after years of shooting almost exclusively with it, in numerous different situations. "It may not be the perfect camera, but it is definitely one of the most flexible and cost effective for post, if you know what you are doing. You can get amazing resolution for very little money which is critical in green screen and rotoscope work, let alone the flexibility for final crops or enlargements." says Bobby. "You kids get outta my yard!! Meehhhr!!" Sevrin added, shaking his fist in the air.
RE-BRAND
It was time, we all knew it, but unfortunately the last job to get done is your own. We have a new website, (new url!) new reel and everything! Along with all that we have a bunch of new work to see, and more on the way. Drop us a line and tell us what you think!
CONVERSE
A very intense project, loads of customized high tech techniques to create a decidedly low tech look. We wanted to show Converse as a very hip and contemporarily relevant product, while illustrating its glorious past. Playing multiple scenes of people using the Chuck Taylor High Top shoe through the ages, while linking them seamlessly together, giving it an aggressive look and amazing score was a way to give it a very timeless but contemporary feel. We used scans from posters to create our dot textures augmented with particle animation and 3D. Our hero talent was shot using the RED One camera on green screen and tightly choreographed to give us our desired action and match frames.
VALSPAR
It's amazing how much work can go into rigging quail eggs! Ok, confession: they aren't quail eggs... we explored many different eggs and devices to give us an authentic look while maintaining brand accuracy. We ended up using Extra Large Grade AAA chicken eggs and spotted them up with dye and brushes. Shooting all of this at a resolution we could use to get in and manipulate pixels and at a speed that would give us the grace and elegance we were going for required the Red One camera. The camera became an invaluable asset even with the quirks associated with early adopters syndrome allowing us to bring in incredible footage without high res film scans.
NIKE
Nike contracted Blank to create a 40+/- second piece for their March Madness campaign, airing in all the Nike Town stores world wide as well as on the big screens in Times Square, Manhattan, NYC and Madison Square Gardens in NYNY, Las Vegas. The campaign looked really nice and we felt we could create a nice piece that would augment the campaign, the challenge: very low budget, and only 12 stills and a logo for source material. We came up with the idea of creating a sort of "Card Animation" like you would see in a sporting event (fans holding solid colored cards to create different animations visible to the other side of the stadium). This was accomplished by creating various color and sized "cards" from the source shots, then aided by custom written code, we animated them to "flip" creating the illusion of images and patterns changing. Overall we were intrigued by the idea of a inverted Powers of Ten. Instead of a compounded zoom out or zoom in, we are zooming in on the pattern (the cards getting bigger) while the art on the cards are zooming out (more and more image visible on each card). eventually the grid gets very simple displaying whole images of the fans that were making the card art happen. Sound design / score played an important role as well specifically designed to bring us into the game atmosphere and carry the excitement of March Madness.
SEVRIN HENDERSON
Sevrin Henderson joins forces with Bobby Hougham and Ross Fenter in heading up Blank's Seattle office. Henderson joins us after an extended tenure as Creative Director at Digital Kitchen. Sevrin brings a solid conceptual design background as well as his extensive directorial experience in both animation and live action. Sevrin and Bobby have a long history of creative collaboration and we are excited to announce the continuation of that legacy!
NEW DIGS
After an extended build out we have moved into our new office! Located in the Pike Place Market with a sweeping 270ยบ view of the waterfront and city, and steps to some of the most eclectic shopping and dining experiences available, the new office was custom designed with clients in mind. Our services have been streamlined and augmented by a brand new HD edit suite as well as a plethora of behind the scenes technical upgrades!
ROSS FENTER
With his roots firmly placed in the live action production side, as well as over 4 years experience with design houses such as Digital Kitchen and Superfad, Ross greatly augments Blanks capabilities. Ross has come on board as a principal and Executive Producer. Expect great things to follow!
SEATTLE EDUCATION ACCESS
Blank has always had a strong history with giving back to the community, largely in the form of design for PSA's, as well as lower budget public projects. This spring we teamed up with Brian Johnson of Story Chicago, World Famous Editorial and Ad2Seattle to help Seattle Education Access with their worthy charity. It looks like it is causing a stir, as we have seen it published in a number of trade pubs.
>>>FEED MAGAZINE<<<
THE MAKERS
Blank[DESIGN] joins forces with StraightEIGHT Films and World Famous Edit to create a music video for underground local rockers the Makers. The video is for new single Matter of Degrees off their recent release Everybody Rise, produced by Jack Endino and released on Kill Rockstars August 23th, 2005. The Makers legendary performance energy has been captured by Matthew J. Clark of StraightEIGHT Films, edited by Tony Fulgham of WFE with art direction and graphic treatments provided by Blank[DESIGN]. Check it out in our portfolio section!
