ERIC CARLE
BRONX ZOO
To promote the upcoming Eric Carle exhibit at Bronx Zoo, Six+One came to me again to help them with the video portion of the campaign.
I provided Art Direction and feedback on the initial design and edit to make sure everything worked with the illustrations. I was then responsible for all aspects of production from rigging the illustrations to animation and compositing.
Sadly Eric Carle passed away during the project, however his vision lives on in his work.
Services
Art Direction. Project Management. 3D modeling, rigging and animation. Compositing.
Agency
Six+One
Character Animation
The team at Penguin Publishing were very concerned about keeping the integrity of the original illustrations, but we also pushed them beyond their animation comfort zone.
Character Development
For each illustration I began by figuring out rigging points. Typically I would start with a 'neutral' character pose, however for these illustrations I needed to reverse engineer the rigs to work with the existing poses. Once the rigs were set up I could then hang the illustrations off the rig creating a range of dynamic poses.
Scenic Elements
For the scenic elements I used a combination of frame and CG animation. Once everything was treated the two styles blend seamlessly together.
Parting words from the late Eric Carle …
" ... I have a strongly held philosophy about design. Part of this philosophy I have learned as a young man under the tutelage of a wise and demanding teacher, the other part I have developed over the years since. My aim ini design is to simplify and refine, be logical and be harmonious. One of the important elements in this concept is the use of white or "negative" space. These uncluttered areas support and enhance the image. The typeface, too, is important. I use as few typefaces and sizes as possible. The range of beautiful typefaces available, both old and new, is almost endless; the choices are personal. Prefer the Bodoni/Walbaum family of serifed typefaces and the Frutiger, News Gothic and Gill Sans families for san serifs. Most important of all are my characters; from caterpillar to firefly, they must remain true to themselves. They cannot be altered, taken out of context or mixed-up with each other. Their placement is critical and must be considered with care and deliberation."
