MULTI-PLANE ANIMATION FOR EVENTS
3LD and Eyeliner technology create holographic visuals live on stage
American Express kicks off the NYC Partners in Preservation Initiative with Katherine McPhee at the Metropolitan Museum
Mechanism Digital was brought in to help American Express kick off their Partners In Preservation program to choose three sites out of forty NYC landmarks to donate $3million dollars to. The team’s challenge was to combine a disparate collection of still photos and drawings of historical sites from around NYC and bring them to life for Amex’s press event introduced by Mayor Bloomberg at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mechanism Digital teamed up with 3LD to employ an Eyeliner, a technology originating from the 1800’s called the Pepper’s Ghost, which uses an invisible high tension sheet plastic to reflect holographic-like imagery. The Eyeliner recently made a splash at Coachella to project Tupac singing “live” with Snoop Dog. The creative team orchestrated a live stage presentation with cut-out, multi-plane elements from historical photos which unfolded like a pop-up book around Katherine McPhee, the star of TV show “Smash.” while she sang Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”
Opening Credits for Feature Films
Color treatments and effects evoke emotion in film, putting the audience in a receptive state of mind even before the plot unfolds.
Director Roberto Buso-Garcia styled historic footage to suggest a dramatic backstory of a town’s downfall, its children and a dark secret in “Los Condenados”
Rich Visual Content at Trade Shows
Immersive environments attract crowds and keep people talking about your message
Area 23/DraftFCB used interactive mirrors to explain trends while capturing attendee usage metrics for Genentch/Roche
Finishing Effects for Feature Films
Films become polished in post production
Werc Werk Works blends dark comedy and delirious Midwestern noir. “A crime tale with twists worthy of Hitchcock and dialogue worthy of the Coen Brothers.’ - David D’Arcy, Screen Daily
Augmented Reality creates buzz
3 modes for Medical, Sweethearts and VFX fans
HeartCam attracts crowds and gets them talking
Free download on iTunes
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heartcam/id498104248?mt=8
Invisible Effects for Feature Films
Rig removal and digital makeup techniques make the impossible believable while saving time and money on set
By opting to produce the crash and all scars digitally, “Musical Chairs” director Susan Seidelman, had more creative flexibility throughout production
Centerpiece film at Lincoln Center in the Dance on Camera Festival
Computer Imagery for Medical Explanations
Compelling visuals make complicated information approachable and understable
Advertising agency Landmark360 uses 3D animation to help doctors and their patients see microscopic benefits of using Periosheild to prevent disease
Click here to see the animation
Creative Services for Television Networks
Hand held SRL photo-sequence technique delivers a gritty feel to show opens and graphics packages
NBC News/ Peacock Producutions strengthened the brands of Dateline and Cloo Network by capturing viewers’ attention through a texural show open
Click here to see the open
Audiences become engaged with your story while choosing their own adventures
Touchscreens displaying 3D content and dimensional worlds result in immersive experiences
Interactive demos on iPhone and iPad make complicated information approachable and understandable
Click here to see the app in use
Click here to see more training and marketing tools
Draw attention to details with digital enhancement
Before
After 
Triple Threat TV constructed vivid imagery by isolating the infamous Steve Bartman incident – blamed for keeping the Cubs out of the 2003 World Series
ESPN’s “Catching Hell” will air as on the “30 for 30” films on Sept. 27th at 8 pm
Click here to see the effect in motion
Click here to see more television effects
BROADCAST DESIGN FOR PROGRAMMING
Thematic graphics reinforce show content and build brand loyalty.
Haitian production company Gouin Films uses graphics package to
help the “Reconstruction” series deliver a message of hope and
progress for Haiti’s disaster efforts.
Click here to watch an entire episode.
Click here to see other effective broadcast design.
New York, NY - Mechanism Digital (MechanismDigital.com), Manhattan based VFX and animation studio, has created dynamic graphics for two additional nerve-wracking, yet informative, Why Planes Crash specials. Produced by Peacock Productions, they will air on MSNBC as “Why Planes Crash: Human Error” and “Why Planes Crash: Fire in the Sky.”
As in the first two specials which aired last year and this past spring, the graphics produced by Mechanism consist of CG recreations of notable airplane accidents. The crashes in each show were related to cause, as indicated by the episode titles.
A firmly established rapport with Peacock Productions and the aid of project management software, Creation Flow (creationflow.com), resulted in smooth and clear communication and approval processes. This in turn enabled Mechanism’s producers and artists to maximize productive time while developing more sophisticated animations than the previous two shows.
For instance, in the earlier productions, Mechanism composited animations of 3D airplane models over live action background video footage photographs. In Human Error and Fire in the Sky, 3D elements and backgrounds were built within the 3D space of Autodesk’s Maya software. By utilizing the 3D environment, Mechanism animated the camera in all 3 axes of motion, eliminating visible photo and video edges; ultimately creating more dynamic shots. Lucien Harriot, Mechanism’s executive producer and VFX supervisor puts it simply; “The show’s graphics become more dramatic with each hour that we work with Peacock.”
The major difficulty in producing shots with a 3D environment is that it increases the number and size of project files and layers, making them very render intensive. The time Mechanism saved in the efficient communication and approval workflow was absorbed instead by the finishing and final render passes. With about 20 different shots averaging 20 seconds each, and delivering groups of shots to Peacock within days of each other, the project required a tremendous amount of processing power. To meet the demand - and the deadline - Mechanism relied on a recent upgrade to their render farm which included quad-core processors with double ram.
Mechanism Digital was commissioned to design and produce the identity, logo, open, graphics package, music, and virtual set content for the new series Energy Now! Senior Executive Producer, Stewart Kasloff, entrusted the look and feel of Energy Now!, a new television show dedicated to energy and the environment, to the creative minds at Mechanism Digital.
Creative Director, Nate Mulliken, began with an in-depth exploration of the series and what they were trying to accomplish. “It’s a unique opportunity to set the tone for an entire new series and required broad research into the brand to understand the creators’ vision,” reported Mulliken. “The challenge was to include elements that represented all forms of energy and give them equal billing and air time. We accomplished that by thoroughly sifting through footage and graphic references that told the story in a fair and balanced way. The design of the logo and entire package also had to reflect the objectivity of a news channel.” In addition to the graphics package, Mechanism was charged with designing a look that could be incorporated into the news room’s virtual set and maintain the consistency of the brand.
Energy Now! airs on Sundays at 11am on WJLA-TV 7 in Washington DC and can be viewed online at energynow.com.
