Z Animation director Bruce McFarlan Majors in Campaign for George Washington University School of Business

ST. LOUIS, MO, May 01, 2011 (Press-News.org) The Redhead Companies partner with Z Animation and Illustrator Jim Frazier to create new iconic animated spot for George Washington University School of Business.

Building on a successful campaign with Frazier's print work, the Redheads said they were eager to move into animation for broadcast. Knowing that translating the intricacies of Frazier's work by adding motion and sound would require a sensitivity to timing and style.

Agency production producer, Robin Sherman, added
"The agency already had a proven concept in place with the success of their print campaign. And they wanted to use the same illustrator, who had never done television. The execution had to be flawless; the perfect blend of art and science. I knew that Peter's experience and the resources of Z Animation were the way to go."

The Redheads held numerous conversations with McFarlan, Executive Producer, Peter Barg and Frazier to make sure they had a good match for the collaborative assignment. Z Animation was chosen to bring "Crossroads" to life.

Jim Frazier said "Everybody's genuine desire to adhere to my distinctive look was reassuring and the whole team
sought my input at every stage. The result feels like a natural evolution of the look I'm known for."

Working in concert with McFarlan, Producer Audrey Robinson Favorito, and Animator Bret Farley seamlessly combined traditional hand drawn 2D animation with 3D Maya, resulting in an eye-catching, lyrical piece, which is completely faithful to Frazier's original design. The character and environments were built in 3-D and manipulated in 3-D space. Adobe After Effects was used to composite the 2-D and 3-D elements.

Farley and Robinson worked through how to translate Frazier's nuanced color palette to perfectly match the print work produced by the Redheads.

Andy Devries of 90 Degrees West, St. Louis, MO., finessed the final color correction and created the HD and SD Center Cut masters.

Stephen Dewey, Machine Head, Venice, CA, composed the original track. " The concept and look of the spot suggested to me that the track should feel naive and sophisticated at the same time. By combining simple timbres with more sophisticated orchestral elements and a rather stripped compositional technique using suspenseful voicing, we were able to create a track that matched the tone of the film. "

Ed Stern, ECD of TRC said, "We couldn't have asked for a better collaboration. Z Animation clearly understood our creative concept and how we wanted to evolve from print to broadcast. Jim (Frazier) was absolutely open to having his illustrations brought to life with animation and felt in good hands with the Z team. And Machine Head brought even more depth and drama through music and sound. We are thrilled with the final product and our client is equally excited."

Veteran producer Peter Barg, Executive Producer/founder of Z Animation, oversaw the project. "It's always exciting to create a unique one of a kind spot. With the encouragement and support of the Redheads, it pushed us to find opportunities to make it better and better. The final result brings together GWU's print, billboards and TVC, and we were thrilled to be part of it!"

To view "Crossroads" please go to:

http://www.zanimation.tv/directors.cfm?DirectorID=116

To see more of Bruce McFarlan's work, please go to:

http://www.zanimation.tv/directors.cfm?DirectorID=86

Z Animation is an independent commercial animation design and production company whose goal is to be a valuable creative toolbox for agency art directors, writers and producers. Founded by former Agency Executive Producer Peter Barg, Z Animation's directors include Caroline Attia, Orrin Zucker, Odd Todd, John Vondracek, Paul Fierlinger, and 20 more with a full range of techniques including 3D, Flash, Cel, rotoscope, papercut out, and motion graphics.