Syyn Labs Talks Us Through The Magic Of Mechanics

We’re all used to being dazzled by digital wizardry these days, but there’s something genuinely magical about seeing the remarkable created before our very eyes (well, a camera) in tangible, touchable, physical form. Kings of this technique are the renowned Syyn Labs, creators of such beauts as the mega-machine OK Go’s amazing ‘This Too Shall Pass’ (directed by James Frost) and the Rube Goldberg insanity of Red Bull’s ‘Kluge’, the latest signing at International commercial/branding house The Cavalry Productions.

Taking on the team for spots, virtual + augmented reality and experiential branding, the company’s Executive Producer Ross Grogan and Tanya Cohen were tickled by the physics-based branding spectacle-centered videos and installations like the ones mentioned, alongside videos and interactive installations for ESPN, Chevrolet, Ford, Allstate, Google, Disney, Sears, Target, and Xbox.

We jumped at the chance to chat to Syyn Labs’ Adam Sadowsky about their uncanny ability to bring the magic to life, be it in-camera, in VR or in front of your very eyes.

How did you get a start in the biz? What attracted you to the seemingly impossible creations Syyn Labs creates?

Much to my parent’s chagrin, I acted professionally as a child. Although they were opposed to me working in the business, after a few years of my bugging them to get me an agent for my birthday, they finally gave in. They didn’t really let me go on many auditions but they were out of town one fateful week when I was 13 and I answered the phone when my agent called. By they time they came back I had a role on a TV series for NBC. I continued to act throughout high school, and studied drama and computer science in university. In a sense, the kind of work Syyn Labs does, ‘engineered entertainment’, is very much a reflection of my studies, interests, and life experience. Indeed, everyone I work with has a similar collection of qualities – they’re smart, clever, problem-solving, and eager to entertain.

Personally, I love authentic creations because they deliver those ‘I can’t believe they really did that!’ moments. I’ve been approaching the world in a slightly askew way and building contraptions my whole life to amuse myself and others; now I get to do it for a living.

What do you guys consider yourselves – artists, engineers, filmmakers or something different?

As I was trained in drama, with a lot of life experience in film and television, and with a love of the creative applications of technology and engineering, I think I’m all of the above. Even better, I’m delighted to have been able to surround myself with genuinely talented designers, engineers, fabricators, and electronics wizards. This amazing team can accomplish the impossible.

How many people make up Syyn Labs? Do you draft in extra bodies for specific jobs or is it always the same team?

Syyn Labs is a dynamic group, whose constituents change depending on the project. This flexibility allows us to complete projects with an extraordinarily wide-range of requirements. Whether it’s creating a 16,000 sqft pop-up store filled with interactive art, a multi-camera live-streaming experience where the users crush cars in real-time using Twitter, building ball machines, VR experiences, projection mapping, Rube Goldberg machines, or whatever else we can dream up, we’ve got the talent to bring those ideas to life.

Your ‘big break’ was the incredible machine you built for consistent breakers-of-the-internet OK Go. How did you get involved in that promo? What can you remember about the project?

OK Go had put the word out to their friends and family that they were looking for a team that could build them ‘a machine we could dance with’. We had a friend in common who passed the email along to us. I wrote up a 22-page treatment offering to build them a huge, one-take Rube Goldberg machine. I’m not sure who was more excited about it.

The project was incredibly memorable. I could write a book about the amazing details. Maybe I should…? In all, the project took three months from our arrival in the warehouse where we built the machine and shot the video. The first month was spent just cleaning the place. See, because it had been abandoned for many years before we arrived, it had been vandalized and the copper wiring long since stolen. So, we spent a lot of the first month painting over the graffiti, running power lines, and hanging lights. And, of course, I spent a lot of time imagining the machine path and the camera path.

I really wanted the machine and camera to cross paths repeatedly. This way, the viewer sees the machine moving from left to right, then the other way, even downwards and following it from behind. This gives the viewer the sense of being a part of the machine; of being inside it.

In all, 65 amazing people participated in the creation of that machine. We couldn’t have done it without each and every one of them. A little secret - one of the team even makes an accidental appearance during the machine operation for two or three frames.

Following the success of ‘This Too Shall Pass’, a number of high-profile brands came knocking. What’s the normal conversation when it comes to working with each brand? How much is brought to you and how much is already percolating the Syyn mind?

We always want to do the best possible work that both challenges us and blows people’s minds. The good news is that we’ve got a great reputation for accomplishing the improbable, unlikely, and astounding. Sometimes brands or agencies come to us with an idea and they want us to develop, sometimes they ask us to come up with ideas. Sometimes we come up with an idea but without a client in mind. In fact, one of the things that make me most excited about working with The Cavalry is how excited they got about these ideas, with an eye on finding us a client to execute them.

What’s the process for the perfect Rube Goldberg machine? Do you think of the individual elements and then work out how to join the together, or is it more organic?

The first thing you need to decide when designing a Rube Goldberg machine is what is the ‘story’ of the machine. That is, what is the message we’re trying to convey. That often determines the final action – the point of the machine. Sometimes we can then determine what the starting action should be, and then it’s simply a function of filling in the middle with as many improbable and often absurd interactions as possible. Time is often challenge, so we spend a lot of time walking the space and imagining how quickly things will run. But we have to be careful. We don’t want anything to run too fast or it’ll get missed by camera. Too slow and we’ll lose our audience. Just like the whole machine, it’s gotta be JUST RIGHT…

Once you’ve come up with a concept, how do you test the elements? Models? Site testing?

We’ve gotten pretty good at understanding what has a high probability to work (or not), but in the end Rube Goldberg machine elements, ‘modules’ as we call them, are best built and made to work by trial and error. Sometimes, though, no amount of tinkering will make something work. Mother Nature is the ultimate judge of what will work, and she can be cruel. It’s helpful to be humble.

What’s been the smoothest build? What’s the most complex?

We built everything for the Red Bull Kludge (‘The Athlete Machine’) in only about 14 days. It was a HUGE build, covering many acres, and the machine operation required the skills and use of 11 elite athletes. It’s amazing that we had them all in one place at the same time – but we had them all for only five hours. It used more than 45 cameras, had scores of support personnel, and a helicopter. I would have to say that it was definitely the smoothest machine AND, in many ways, the most complex!

The RG machines are what you guys are most famous for, but talk us through the other work you do.

We do all kinds of projects – hands-on interactive installations and huge popup shops, live streaming events like car crushing and bungee-jumping cars, all controlled by Internet participants… We’ve built pumpkin and fireball canons to demonstrate scientific principles, and made a car dead-lift itself – literally, drive VERTICALLY – to demonstrate how powerful the engine is. We even went to Moscow to create a huge playable organ made from 26 vintage Russian automobiles. We simply live to create the extraordinary experience for our audiences.

Why do you think people respond so well to the mega-experiments/installations you guys create? Is it something to do with the tangible in a digital world?

I think in general, authenticity has always been compelling. But it’s more than that – it’s that we’re also doing the improbable. That takes a video or live installation from being merely interesting to watch to being magical, riveting, and sharable. The ‘did-they-really-do-that?’ moment is simply impossible to ignore. The trouble is, authenticity is hard – improbable is, well… even harder. But the results are SO worth it.

What made you sign with The Cavalry?

The Cavalry completely gets us; our vision, our humor, our sense of whimsy. But more than that, they share our excitement for entertaining through excellent storytelling, they maintain a clear drive and vision while keeping open minds for the breadth of possibilities, and they have an excitement about the huge range of opportunities that technology continues to lend to storytelling. Plus, they’re charming… How could we refuse?

What’s up next for you?

The biggest downside of my job is that I can’t talk about anything I’m working on until after it’s been released. I can say this… It’ll be awesome.