Foot Locker and ASICS present a new anime-inspired project starring Luka Sabbat as the Sneaker Samurai, Princess Nokia as Kiku and YFN Lucci as the Ghost Samurai. Shotopop were lucky enough to be the people to bring this epic adventure to life.
Shotopop created this fun series of four animations for French cab company Heetch, each focusing on a different USP. You want a car outside before you’re out of your pyjamas? You want a cocktail on the beach while you’re driven to L’Arc de Triomphe? Heetch have got you covered. Made in partnership with Konbini. Cool sounds by Like Fire.
I Love You Colonel Sanders! A Finger Licking’ Good Dating Simulator, was developed at our Los Angeles studio and published to PC & Mac via the Steam store.
The announcement of the game “took the gaming community by storm,” as Paste Magazine put it, and the release proved to be even more successful.
Only a day after its release, the game had already garnered a large and diverse fanbase across the web, with hundreds of players recording their live performances of the game and some even dressing up as the Colonel himself.
The game has received 95% positive user reviews, with many calling it “the best game [they’ve] ever played,” as well as being highlighted by sevral online publications; Eater likened the graphics to “a highbrow shoji anime.”
If you haven’t played I Love You Colonel Sanders yet, the game is currently available for PC & Mac via Steam.
“I spent summers in high school working for our local Baskin-Robbins, so it was pretty surreal to once again work with this great brand. Bringing a fresh and new youthful voice to an iconic brand, we embraced all the joy and fun that comes with eating ice cream! The goal was to stand out and bring an edgier vibe than what the brand is traditionally known for. “
A lone warrior arrives at the shores of a grim, desolate wasteland. He is determined to reach his destination, but first he must face the danger that lurks in the shadows…
Lego reached out to Sun Creature to produce a short for the 10-year anniversary of their Ninjago franchise. The mandate was clear: rethink the artistic direction of Ninjago and include a dragon! And so they did. The result is a cryptic and epic short, that not only presents a new and darker visual direction for the franchise, but also teases the existing fans and challenges the perception of the brand.
Stylistically Sun Creature wanted to draw inspiration from the cinematography of Kurosawa’s samurai films of the 60s. They wanted to keep it consistent throughout the film, but also allow themselves freedom to break the rules as the narrative progressed. They wanted to find a balance between big establishment shots with lots of details, contrasted with more simple backgrounds for action driven shots. In each shot it is either the background or the action that drives the narrative forward.
This project was created with a small, nimble and highly skilled team and was directed by a good friend of the house, Ben Marsaud.
“We got the script from 215 McCann to create a musical, which of course is such an exciting prospect because the nature of musicals is just so playful and inventive. Creating this sort of musical theme around Minecraft felt appropriate because the nature of Minecraft is to be so playful. We see our singer come out, the curtains open, and then all of a sudden we see this beautiful Minecraft world. Something we’ve always enjoyed doing at Psyop is to invent new ways to create a voice for different brands.”
“One of the things we loved about this is that you start from literally a sketch on a piece of paper. then we have designers do a style frame where it’s a full color sketch. Then we start working with set designers and they start building the things that were in the sketch. We’d seen everything grow from figment to fulfillment, and then Melissa (Benoist, star of Supergirl) gets there and starts performing, it just brings all this life to it. It was breathtaking. Our highest personal accolade is when our commercials are entertainment. So how do we expand the brand’s identity and package it into a beautiful commercial? Hopefully that’s what we’ve done!”
AWARDS
IN THE PRESS
Lockdown orders are being lifted. Vaccines are being distributed. The day we’ve been waiting for is nearly here: our re-emergence!
Every day, more people around the world are stepping out of their homes, back into the world and now it’s your turn. Like a baby fawn, eyes blinking in the morning sunlight, legs wobbling under the weight of your quarantine 15, you must find your footing once again as you set out into the brand new (but actually old) world.
This open-world adventure filled with fun characters and challenging mini-games gives you the experience of what it’s like to re-enter the world after a year-long stay inside.
This 60-second spot is part of a larger campaign by the state of North Carolina — Count On Me NC — that calls on business and individuals to pledge to join the fight agains Covid-19, by preventing the spread of the virus in simple ways – washing hands / keeping distance / wearing a mask.
CountOnMeNC.org for more on the campaign.
“With this quality of animation, they’ll earn millions by making a movie”
-Thanos, Perceptive and Absolutely Correct YouTube commenter
This project was a collaboration between Igor + Valentine and Young Arts to create a film that explores the idea of togetherness while promoting art within the film for purchase to raise money for YoungArts. With a series of 18 bird designs created by a mixture of Young Arts alumni, mentors, and established artists, Igor + Valentine teamed up with the folks at CALLEN to tell a story of a few hero birds bringing eggs to a cage to hatch and reveal different artists’ designs. The birds come together in a nest to sing and dance, finally leaving the cave to fly together around the sun.
The film’s overarching message of togetherness is one that felt vital, and more valuable now than ever. Unable to connect physically with other people as we normally would, Igor and Valentine decided to explore a deeper element of togetherness that celebrates the beauty of our differences and the coming together of people across race, gender, religion and all other things that divide us. What they achieved is a film that underscores powerful messages of solidarity and interdependence.
With the end goal of the film being to sell individual frames from the animation to raise money for Young Arts, Igor + Valentine had to approach animation differently, as not every moment of action works well as an isolated still frame. As a result, they had to be especially strategic about their compositions, trying to minimize the amount of in-between moments and frame as many of the birds in a scene that could work as a printed still.
The biggest challenge, however, was figuring out a way to bring together 18 different styles of birds, created using various techniques, into one unified film with a cohesive visual language. Drawing inspiration from author/illustrator Jon Klassen, known for creating environments that are minimal yet still full of depth, Igor + Valentine made the birds stand out against their backdrops, ensuring they were highlighted in each frame. They then introduced more collage and mixed media techniques as the glue that melded the different styles of birds together into one cohesive look, while still maintaining each artist’s unique design through the birds’ different environments.
As Dirk Nowitzki’s career comes to a close, W+K Amsterdam and Nike approached Wizz’s CRCR to retell the incredible story of his career in the legendary form it deserves. After 21 years in the NBA, Dirk has changed the game forever. He is the league’s highest-scoring European, the first big man to shoot threes and the original stretch four – in short, a legend. So the team decided to tell his story the way epic legends have been told for thousands of years: with a book.
To spread the story even further, they turned the book into an online film, transforming the illustrations into moving animations, and getting one of Dirk’s best friends – NBA legend Steve Nash – to narrate it.
Camp W is a story-rich visual adventure game about friendship, mystery, and (not) fitting in.
Camp W puts you in the role of a young Witch experiencing their first ever summer away from home at sleepaway camp. But there’s a twist! (Isn’t there always?) Though you’re from the Witching Realm, where magic is commonplace, you’ll be enrolling at a summer camp for Humans who have long since forgotten that Witchcraft exists. While summering in the Human Realm, you’ll have to conceal your identity and make sure not to get caught practicing your craft. Make friends, cast spells, and uncover secrets during your first ever summer away from home.
Kevin the Carrot is back for his 5th consecutive year in holiday marketing for Aldi thanks to Psyop Founder/Directors Todd + Kylie who gave birth to this anthropomorphized root vegetable 5 years ago and have since proven that sequels can in fact be just as good if not better than the original! This year, partnering with McCann Manchester, they delivered a fresh and creative story that perfectly adds to the Aldi repertoire. Opening with a teaser that pays homage to Top Gun in which Kevin gets lost after falling out of a fighter jet, this festive spot lives up to the hype of its predecessors and is sure to leave fans satisfied. On a mission to be reunited with his family in time for Christmas (a la Home Alone), Kevin treks across a snowy landscape to make his way back home but not without getting into some crazy antics along the way. The film is adventure-filled, heartwarming and of course sprinkled with cultural references, an Oscar-worthy performance by Jim Broadbent as Santa Claus, and subtle nods to other iconic films, E.T. and Pirates of The Caribbean, as always.
