Bent Image Lab
BENT IMAGE LAB (or BENT) is a production company and animation studio specializing in long form television, commercials, music videos, short films, and visual effects for feature films. Located in Portland, Oregon, with additional production in Cadiz, Spain, the company was founded in 2002 by partners David Daniels, Ray Di Carlo, and Chel White.[1] In May of 2015, Derrick Huang came on as Executive Producer.[2] Former Development Executive at LAIKA and Production Executive on Anomalisa,[3] Trever Stewart is currently working with BENT in the development of long form film and television projects, slated to be directed by Rob Shaw, Chel White, Ean McNamara, and JJ Villard. [4][5]
Work
Bent Image Lab is known largely for its stop motion animation and CGI/computer animation projects.[6]
One notable example of a BENT stop motion project is "Blue Christmas" (a.k.a. "Santa and the States")(season 30, episode 8),[7][8] a parody short for Robert Smigel's Saturday TV Funhouse on Saturday Night Live. The short, airing December 18, 2004, was directed by Bent co-founder and director Chel White, written by Robert Smigel and Michelle Saks Smigel with additional material by Rich Blomquist, Stephen Colbert, Scott Jacobson, and Matt O'Brien; voices by Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Erik Bergmann, and Robert Smigel.[9] The short is a parody of the 1964 holiday TV special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," produced by the Rankin/Bass productions company. Bent Image Lab has since replicated the Rankin/Bass stop-motion animation style of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in television advertisements for AT&T, AFLAC, and in a series of 2014 holiday promos for CBS commemorating the 50th anniversary of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Another stop motion project is Jingle All the Way (TV special), a holiday special for Hallmark Channel. In reviewing the 2011 television holiday programs, Mike Hale of The New York Times called Jingle All the Way (TV special) "...by far the best of the bunch."[10] Other notable BENT stop-motion productions include director Rob Shaw's "Rats" segments for the IFC show “Portlandia”,[11] with Saturday Night Live cast member Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, as well as commercials for Gatorade, Lux, OfficeMax, Kelloggs, Tinactin, and an anti-smoking campaign geared towards children for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services.
BENT's computer animation work can be seen in the 2015 Annie Awards[12] nominated Polariffic, directed by Rob Shaw, as well as in their commercials for Nike, Coca-Cola, Koodo,[13] and Chips Ahoy.[14]
The company is also known for its visual effects work in motion pictures and television, as seen in four films by Gus Van Sant and NBC's Grimm (TV Series),[15] and its animated children's television specials for Hallmark Channel, including Jingle All the Way (TV special), Polariffic and “Hoops&Yoyo’s Haunted Halloween." In 2011, Bent created interactive components for the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta.
Founders/Directors
Bent Image Lab co-founder and director David Daniels invented an animation technique he termed Strata-cut,[16] a form of clay animation in which internally packed "loaves" of clay are animated in thin slices, revealing the movement of the pre-sculpted images within. The technique of strata-cut was used in animated segments of the Pee Wee's Playhouse[17] series during the mid-90s, and in the music video for Big Time[18] by Peter Gabriel (1986).
Bent co-founder Chel White is an independent film director who began making films in the mid-1980s. His short films include, "Choreography for Copy Machine (Photocopy Cha Cha)," "Dirt," "Magda" and "A Painful Glimpse Into My Writing Process (In Less Than 60 Seconds)."[19] Among White's notable commissioned projects are his 2006 music video "Harrowdown Hill" for Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke,[20] and the 2007 short film, "Wind,"[21] commissioned by the climate change awareness group, Live Earth.[22] Narrated by Alec Baldwin,[23] "Wind" uses a poem by Spanish poet Antonio Machado[24] as a metaphor for humanity's lack of planet stewardship. Along with eight other Live Earth commissioned films, "Wind" made its world premiere in the opening night program of the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival with keynote speaker Al Gore.[25] Since 1999, three of Chel White's short films have screened as part of the Sundance Film Festival[26] ("Dirt," "Choreography for Copy Machine," and "Passage"). His other festival screenings include the Berlin Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, SXSW Festival, Ottawa Animation Festival, Annecy Animation Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, and Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Bent Image Lab co-founder and executive producer Ray Di Carlo got his start in the film industry working on special effects in feature films. His first project was The Abyss (1989), where he came on as Lead Man for Donald Pennington. More recently Di Carlo produced visual effects for "I'm Not There"," "Paranoid Park"[27] (2007), and (2008) "Milk".[28] He has been Executive Producer for Bent Image Lab since its inception. He has also co-directed several of the company's commercial productions.
Director Rob Shaw has been with the company since 2005. He is known for his ability to mix different forms of media such as stop motion animation, CG, live action and 2-dimensional animation. He has directed animated television shorts for IFC' Portlandia,[29] television specials for Hallmark, and commercials for clients including Gatorade,[30] Koodo Mobile, Guitar Hero, TetraPak and Kellogg's, as well as music videos for They Might Be Giants, The Uncluded and Aesop Rock. His animated short film, "The Machine," a modern day cautionary fable about humans and machines, won Best Animated Short from the 2010 Atlanta Film Festival.[31]
Bent director Solomon Burbridge's work includes short, mature-themed segments for MTV, and commercials for MasterCard, Cadbury, Arrowhead and U.S. Navy. He has been a director at BENT since 2007.
Argentine-born director Carlos Lascano is an accomplished filmmaker known for his short films "Shadow of Blue," A Short Love Story in Stop Motion" and "Lila." He is represented in North America by Bent Image Lab.
Awards
Bent Image Lab and/or its directors have won Clio Awards, Bessie Awards, Promax BDA awards, Daytime Emmy Awards, Telly Awards, a Rosey, and several awards from the Chicago International Television Awards.[32] Two commercials directed by Chel White (OfficeMax "Santa's Helper," and Fila "Mashburn") were included in the program The Art and Technique of the American Television Commercial: The AICP Show at MoMA[33][34] and are included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Film festival awards include 'Best Television Program for Adults' from the 2012 Ottawa International Animation Festival for Bent Image Lab director Rob Shaw's "Rats" (stop-motion segments for the IFC hit show “Portlandia”), Best Short Film from the 1998 Stockholm International Film Festival for Chel White's "Dirt," Best Animated Short for Rob Shaw's "The Machine" from the 2010 Atlanta Film Festival, and the Grand Jury Prize for Best Animated Short for White's "Magda" from the 2004 Florida Film Festival. Chel White's music video "Harrowdown Hill"[35] for Radiohead's lead singer Thom Yorke won Best Music Video in the 2007 SXSW.[36]
Visual effects
Bent Image Lab has created visual effects for feature films since 2006. The company was in charge of visual effects for film director Gus Van Sant's films Paranoid Park[37] (2007), To Each His Own Cinema (segment: First Kiss)" (2007), Restless and the Academy Award winning Milk (2008), as well as title effects and animation on director Todd Haynes' film, I'm Not There (2007). Chel White acted as Visual Effects Supervisor on all four Van Sant films.
In 2006, Chel White directed the music video for Thom Yorke's song "Harrowdown Hill." Along with his team and co-founders at Bent Image Lab, White pioneered the Smallgantics technique[38] that was used for the first time in the "Harrowdown Hill" video. An incarnation of Smallgantics was also used in the Bent production of "Hidden Formula", a commercial for Coca-Cola (directed by Daniels and DiCarlo)
Television
- Hallmark Channel "Polariffic" (2014) (directed by Rob Shaw)
- IFC "Portlandia" "Rats" segments (2011-2013) (directed by Rob Shaw)
- Hallmark Channel "Jingle & Bell's Christmas Star"[39] (2012) (directed by Chel White)
- Hallmark Channel "Hoops+Yoyo's Haunted Halloween" (2012) (directed by Rob Shaw)
- Hallmark Channel "Jingle All the Way (TV special)" (2011) (directed by Chel White)
- Saturday Night Live / Saturday TV Funhouse "Blue Christmas" (a.k.a. "Santa and the States)" (2004) (directed by Chel White)
Music videos by current (or former) Bent Image Lab directors
- Aesop Rock "Rings" (2016) (directed by Rob Shaw)
- Tom Brosseau "Tami" (2014) (directed by Chel White)
- Starfucker "Beach Monster" (2013) (directed by Joshua Cox)
- The Uncluded "Organs" (2013) (directed by Rob Shaw)
- The Uncluded "The Aquarium" (2013) (directed by Rob Shaw)
- Chrysta Bell and David Lynch – "Bird of Flames" (2012) (directed by Chel White)
- Modest Mouse "The Whale Song" (2009) (directed by Nando Costa)
- Thom Yorke "Harrowdown Hill." (2006) (directed by Chel White)
- LCD Soundsystem "Drunk Girls" Holy Ghost Remix (2010) (directed by Daniel Garcia)
- They Might Be Giants "I'm Impressed" (2007) (directed by Rob Shaw)
- They Might Be Giants "Computer Assisted Design" (2010) (directed by Rob Shaw (filmmaker))
- Ash "True Love 1980" (2009) (directed by Daniel Garcia)
- Ash "Space Shot" (2010) (directed by Daniel Garcia)
- The Apparitions "God Monkey Robot" (2006) (directed by Rob Shaw)
- They Might Be Giants "Mr. Smalls" (2005) (directed by Pascal Campion)
Commercials produced by Bent Image Lab
- American Indian College Fund - "One Percent" (directed by Chel White) (2015)
- AT&T - "Rudolph" campaign (directed by Chel White) (2015)
- Gatorade - "Recover" campaign (directed by Rob Shaw) (2015)
- Cadbury - "Made Mini" campaign (directed by Rob Shaw and Solomon Burbridge) (2015)
- Nike - "Always Advance" (directed by Chel White and Joshua Cox) (2014)
- Koodo - “El Tabador” campaign (over 30 spots directed by Rob Shaw, with a few co-directed with Solomon Burbridge) (2009-2014)
- Boston Pizza - "Here to Make You Happy" campaign (directed by Paul Harrod) (2013)
- Arrowhead - "Recycling is a Beautiful Thing" (directed by Solomon Burbridge) (2013)
- Starbucks - "Summer" (directed by Chel White and Marcus Swanson) (2013)
- Windows Mobile - "Pool Party" (directed by Ken Lidster) (2012)
- Bing - "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (directed by Ken Lidster) (2011 Christmas campaign)
- Coca-Cola - "Spirit of the Euro" (directed by Carlos Lascano) (2011)
- Coca-Cola - "Hidden Formula" (directed by David Daniels and Ray Di Carlo) (2008)
- Guitar Hero - "On Tour" (2008) (directed by Rob Shaw)
- BC Dairy - Must Drink More Milk campaign (web shorts, 2008) (various directors)
- Tinactin - "Monster foot" (2007–2008) (directed by David Daniels)
- Alltel - "Christmas campaigns" (2007–2008) (directed by Chel White, Rob Shaw, Paul Harrod, and Solomon Burbridge)
- Aflac - "Rudolph" (2007) (directed by Paul Harrod)
- Lux - "Provocateur" (2006) (directed by Chel White)
- Washington State Dept. of Health - Park and Rec Room (2005) (directed by Chel White)
- Tractor Supply Company - "The Stuff You Need Out Here" campaign (2006) (directed by Paul Harrod)
- Hewlett Packard - "Flea Circus" (2006) (directed by David Daniels, Ray Di Carlo and James Clark)
- OfficeMax - "Santa's Helper" (2005) (directed by Chel White)
- Reese's Pieces - Center of Attention (2003) (directed by David Daniels and Chel White)
Bent Image Lab's roster of directors
- Chel White
- David Daniels
- Rob Shaw
- Solomon Burbridge
- Carlos Lascano
- Ken Lidster
- Joshua Cox
- Stefan Nadelman
- Bernie Roux
- Pascal Campion
See also
External links
- Official website
- "Three Artists Get Bent". Animation World Network.
- "‘Portlandia’ Gets Bent with ‘Zero Rats’". Animation Magazine.
- "Kicking Off an Animated Holiday Season". The New York Times.
- "Tilt shift's shrinking technique is a growing effect". Los Angeles Times.
- "Bent Image Lab Finds New Outlets for its VFX and Animation Skills". SourceEcreative.
References
- ↑ http://www.awn.com/news/three-artists-get-bent
- ↑ http://www.shootonline.com/node/61926
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2077752/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr6
- ↑ http://www.awn.com/news/bent-image-lab-producer-trever-stewart-sign-2-year-production-pact
- ↑ http://www.animationmagazine.net/people/portlands-bent-inks-two-year-production-pact/
- ↑ http://sourceecreative.com/news-or-feature-story.php?type=sf&ID=51&a=2
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0694905/fullcredits#directors
- ↑ http://www.awn.com/news/bent-image-makes-rudolph-rock-saturday-night-live
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0694905/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_11
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/arts/television/jingle-all-the-way-the-elf-on-the-shelf-and-more-christmas-cartoons-television-review.html?_r=0
- ↑ http://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/portlandia-gets-bent-with-zero-rats
- ↑ "42nd Annual Annie Award Nominees". Retrieved December 1, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.cgw.com/Press-Center/Web-Exclusives/2010/BENT-Creates-Lucha-Libre-Legend-with-TAXI-2.aspx
- ↑ http://www.awn.com/news/bent-image-lab-animates-love-story-chips-ahoy
- ↑ http://www.awn.com/news/bent-image-lab-creates-vfx-nbc-s-grimm
- ↑ http://www.stopmotionworks.com/stratacut.htm, Stop Motion Works, copyright 2000-2004. Retrieved on 2009-03-17
- ↑ "history of strata-cut". dic.academic.ru. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ↑ http://ocssummerblogs.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-have-david-daniels-baby.html, Tim Reckart,2008-08-26, Retrieved on 2009-03-17
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0924603/?ref_=ttfc_fc_dr4
- ↑ http://www.radiohead.fr/harrowdown-hill-3/
- ↑ http://www.dillygentandson.com/live-earth
- ↑ http://entertainment.msn.com/green/liveearthfilmproject/, MSN, list of films commissioned by Live Earth, Retrieved on 2009-03-17
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392898/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_8
- ↑ "translated by Robert Bly (originally in Spanish)". www.geocities.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ↑ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/26/entertainment/main2730075.shtml, Anonymous Author,2007-04-26, Retrieved on 2009-03-17
- ↑ http://www.chelwhite.com/pressbio/
- ↑ "2007-06-25". wweek.com. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ↑ http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/452305/Milk/credits, NY Times, full credit list, 2008, Retrieved on 2009-03-17
- ↑ http://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/portlandia-gets-bent-with-zero-rats
- ↑ http://www.shootonline.com/video/bent-image-lab-plays-stop-motion-basketball-gatorade-recover
- ↑ http://indieflix.com/indie-films/the-machine-32341/
- ↑ "2007 List of Winners at Chicago International Television Awards". www.chicagofilmfestival.org. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ↑ http://www.aicpshow.com/show/mash/
- ↑ http://www.aicpshow.com/show/santas-helper/
- ↑ "List of winners at South by Southwest Film Festival". 2007. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ↑ http://www.sxsw.com/film/awards-events/awards-past-winners
- ↑ "List of Credits for "Paranoid Park"". Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul/04/entertainment/la-et-mn-tilt-shift-20120703
- ↑ http://www.awn.com/news/bent-image-lab-animates-hallmark-sequel