When Munkowitz read the initial concept brief from Vice Australia, it was one of those moments of pure delight – the idea of racing a stunt driver in a nimble Holden Astra vs a fleet of drones and creating an art film from the dueling machines to be featured on The Creator’s Project was what could be coined ‘the Perfect Brief’ and an opportunity to throw down massive.
AIRBAG, Munko’s new Australian reps brought the pitch through and immediately they started thinking about how they could make this film special – something unique using experimental techniques and methods.. Long-Exposure Motion Trails using light and deft movement was the craft of choice and gave the film both a car commercial appeal while satisfying the objective to be a beautiful art film.
The Day For Night Festival is one of the premier Art and Music events in the United States – where every year the pinnacle of talent showcase their latest creations for 20,000 eager Houstonians who descend into an abandoned Mail sorting facility to have their minds blown. VT Pro Design, having successfully debuted their epic creation Bardo in 2016, predictably were asked to return in 2017 to exhilarate audiences once again. This time around, VT Pro’s creative director Michael Fullman reached out to his favorite Mr. Munkowitz to collaborate on an entirely new concept – a spectacle of immersive theater at a scale that would inspire and propel beyond anything they’ve done before.
At its foundation, the installation was an exploration of the absence and presence of light and how it defines a space. The team wanted to play with dramatic scale, and to do so they employed two Kuka 210’s as Robotic Conductors, wielding large, fabricated geometric shades to manipulate the various light sources and cast brilliant arrays of graphic shadow work throughout the space.
Conceptually, they wanted to recreate one of the ancient world’s most sought-after immersive experiences, invoking a ritual that harnessed the spiritual forces of nature to create a transformative experience. This ritual was housed in a darkened chamber called the Telestron (an adaptation of the original Telesterion), deployed cutting-edge robotic and light projection technology to bring the audience into an experience of the diurnal cycle (sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight). In other words – a complete Day for Night.
DECIMA is a short film exploring themes of transmigration, empowerment, soul passage and illumination. Produced for the legendary design conference OFFF Barcelona, whom granted GMUNK the opportunity to craft their 20th Anniversary Title sequence with the highest honor.
The film ultimately focuses on the human condition nested within a cult of robotic shamans called The Vi, and examines the deep emotional connection to loss and rebirth.
Originally created as a immersive piece for OASIS immersion at Palais des congrès de Montréal 2021, Island is a story that examines isolated characters, each of them living in their own world, and what occurs when they wake up to find themselves in the same subconscious dream. The film explores the impact of loneliness and the transformation that takes place if we let our individual endeavours collide inside one collective mind.
“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. “
Commissioned by Apple, Glacier follows the journey of a woman evolving among the ruins of an uncommon iceberg. On this unique glacier, the notion of time does not follow the physical rules of reality. It’s a story about time and how past and future selves move each in different direction toward who we are.
The film was shot entirely for Today at Apple on iPhone XS Max using Moment lenses and the app FiLMiC Pro.
Welcome to Harry’s. Take a tour of their fantastical factory through each department to witness all the research and testing that goes into making their razors. It’s very thorough and of course fun, too!
One lucky character sees his day transformed when his Samsung pen is transformed into a series of tools carrying him to a playful dreamland. The film invites you to take a magical turn in your daily life while illustrating the various features of the Samsung Galaxy Note S-Pen.
Strangers (Les Inconnus) tells the surreal stories of characters moving around in the same space in a complex choreography of interlaced paths. The tight human pattern they weave often comes really close to overlapping, yet they remain invisible to one another. Inspired by “Tango” by Zbigniew Rybszynski.
To show people (and particularly families) how HP+ makes their printer smarter, this film directed by Marco Spier and Shane Griffin introduces HP+ as a little loveable animated character in the shape of a + that is set in the real world of a lonely printer, setting the stage for a wonderful friendship between printer and +.
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.”
-Director Kylie Matulick
“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!”
-Director Todd Mueller
AWARDS
WEBBY AWARDS – “Best Animated Film (Branded)” – Nominee
PROMAXGAMES AWARDS – “Best TV or Theatrical Ad – Nominee
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.
‘Stay Fabulous’ is the world’s first commercial production realised entirely by utilising virtual production, the immersive, wholly game-changing filmmaking technique pioneered by the creators of Disney+ series The Mandalorian.
Brought to life by PSYOP, well-known, long-time innovators in the commercial filmmaking world, the spot promotes the opening of Resorts World Las Vegas, a $4.3 billion, 3,500-room luxury resort in Las Vegas that’s set to open on June 24th. Creative was out of California-based Hooray Agency, features Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Tiësto and Zedd, and debuted during The Academy Awards® broadcast in April 2021, capturing the attention of Entertainment Tonight among other popular news outlets.
The “virtual production” merged CGI, real-time rendering and live action to transport viewers into a new reality. Psyop leveraged their legendary design, world building prowess, and CG capabilities to build highly stylized worlds which carefully blurred the line between physical and digital, never before done in a campaign on this scale. The CG environments were projected onto LED volumes which, when combined with art directed physical sets, created an immersive hybrid world for the celebrities to react to on set, and for the entire team and clients to experience in real time when shooting.
To meet the demands of this innovative commercial production, the large technical and creative team led by PSYOP developed evolutionary workflows, allowing filmmakers to make creative changes real time during the shoot including lighting, colours and animation within the sets – all things impossible without virtual production.
