The Animation Focus

With an industry looking for alternative ways to produce content, we speak to some of animation's top creators and supporters to find out how to toon in.

Talent

How Nick Cinelli's Bird With No Legs got him up and running

Studio Linguini director Nick Cinelli picked up a coveted Young Director Award last year for his animated short, A Bird With No Legs. He discusses the beauty of animation, the pros and cons of working within the school system, and how the YDA gave him a 'gust of confidence'.

Talent

Shining a spotlight on Shynola's 20-year legacy

While Shynola, the three-man directing group, started out in animation, after two decades of working together they're pushing themselves and looking forward to the next wave of experimental work.

Inspiration

Gemma Yin: A Few Of My Favourite Things

The Greatcoat Films mixed-media director talks us through some punky print, a bullet-filled journal and her penchant for stickers.

Craft

On Reflection: When Chipotle went Back To The Start

In his own words, Nexus Studios' Johnny Kelly, the director behind Chipotle's stop-motion Grand Prix winner that made pig farming utterly adorable, tells us how the little ad that could became the mega-spot that did.

Insight

Red lights, coffeeshops and boutique animation

Will Jeffers, Head of Visual Effects at Ambassadors, talks us through the growing effects and animation scene in Amsterdam

Craft

How to make a Japanese anime for a contemporary brand

Creative Director for YT, Andreas John, talks about how The Line and SHIFT Active Media made an animated world come to life, building on a concept and creating an immersive, folkloric, contemporary cityscape.

Inspiration

Five Questions from Quarantine: Karni & Saul

The Sulkybunny directing duo talk getting locked up with Bacon and Bausch, their love/hate for puzzles and a candid glance at the fear that's hitting at this time.

Insight

Animation: drawing inspiration from isolation

The art of creating moving drawings has long offered storytelling freedoms, but now, with live-action limited, and new tech speeding up production pipelines, is it more in demand than ever? Carol Cooper explores the animation liberation.

Insight

Why the industry needs to change its perception of animation

Julien Simshauser, Creative Director at and Founder of Builders Club, argues that with animation's step into the world of 'enhanced reality', the medium's powers - and therefore the way in which we perceive them - needs to adjust.

Talent

Tiny Inventions on smart animation

1stAveMachine's Oscar-nominated directing duo of Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata speak to Carol Cooper about finding the new in existing forms, expressing the clarity of the craft and how animation is a contrast to, not substitute for, live-action shooting.

Throwback Thursday: Animated Ads

Calabash: The life of a boutique animation studio

Shifting animation's creative focus

Craft

How to... build a LEGO car chase

Last week saw the release of a new, high-octane LEGO spot. Here, the director, producer and VFX Supervisor give detailed insight into how they created 'The Fast and the Furious on a kitchen floor'.

Insight

How to… use animation to stay relevant in a social-media obsessed world

Keith Rogers, CG artist at Big Buoy/Smoke & Mirrors, talks us through some of the ways in which animated content can be a big social draw.

Insight

Rough edges: why we should take heart from Disney’s Xerox era

David Sanger, Head of PR & Content for Creativebrief, argues that function is not always at the expense of form, as he examines how Disney embraced the rough edges of new technology to draw back the curtain of creativity.

Insight

How to translate live-action into animation

We interview Brand New School’s chief creative officer, founder, and frequent director, Jonathan Notaro, on the new importance of boundary-pushing animation and ask what piece of animation he’d choose to be drawn into.

Craft

How an old animation technique proved to be a fresh approach

Directing duo Lamar+Nik employed the more than century-old technique of kinegrams for their most recent promo for Husbands. Here they explain the labour-intensive, but highly effective, processes while asking the band their thoughts on the video.

Insight

How to… craft invisible CGI

Kicking off our Animation Focus, Carsten Keller, Head of CG at Moving Picture Company’s London studio, talks us through some of the ways that CG can replace live-action when needed.

Focus

The Animation Focus

From cel-drawn to AI-enhanced, we collect together our chats with the creators behind the finest ‘toons of the past few years in this month’s Animation Focus.

The Photography & Cinematography Focus

In a cacophonous digital culture that bombards us with a stream of personal image-sharing and branded visuals, it can be hard for photography to stand out. This month, shots pulls focus on the DPs and photographers whose work sets the optic nerves a-tingle and considers the input of non-human image generators.

The Inspiration Focus

What are the cultural artefacts, random objects, rituals and synaptic sparks that generate fresh ideas? We talk to some of ad land’s most innovative thinkers about creative inspiration. What it is, where they find it and do the AI bots have it too...

The YDA 2024 Focus

The rising stars who won Golds in this year’s Young Director Award share with shots the origins and ideas and behind their films, the production highs and lows and what they’re planning next.

The Music and Sound Focus

With sometimes just seconds to tell a story and set tone, the aurals – as well as the visuals – need to be spot on in ads. This month we sound out the musical maestros and foley funsters worth listening out for.

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