Giant Ant Media » Blog

Kinetic Type Testies

Jay Grandin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:06:54 +0000

We don’t often post much of our process… mostly because it’s often fairly chaotic. We’ve decided that it might be time to change. In that spirit, here’s a little kinetic type experiment that Shawn threw together for an upcoming project.

Tell Us What You Think :: Thank You, Wood.

Jay Grandin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:23:04 +0000

We’re currently working with FPInnovations (a membership-driven R&D organization that supports the BC forest products industry) to help them develop messaging on behalf of the industry that is effective, relevant, and engaging. The video below represents a “pilot”, of sorts, testing out the theme of Thank You, Wood . As part of the research phase of this project, they’re looking for feedback. So, bring it on!

The Newest Ant

Jay Grandin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:52:34 +0000

Since sometime in February we’ve searched high and low, far and wide, for someone that would make the right addition to the studio. We were looking for someone that was unafraid to take on any design problem, someone that saw the tools as and end point rather than a starting point… basically, we wanted to clone Derek.

We’re excited to say that we found the guy. His name is Shawn Hight. Not only is he extremely pleasant, he has a fantastic portfolio under his belt for someone that is fresh out of Vancouver Film School. We were pretty sure that he’d be up for anything after seeing his final project (compilation below), which was a suite of media for a fictitious design company. He managed to cram cinematography, animation, stop-motion, typography, motion tracking, 3D, branding, rotoscoping, and illustration into the three short spots, which is… like… pretty much everything.

So, help us welcome Shawn! If you need us, we’ll be group hugging.

Thanks for the Love!

Jay Grandin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:53:27 +0000

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had an unexpected outpouring of love from our peers. We want to say a big THANK YOU to Rethink Canada, Applied Arts Magazine and Techvibes; it means the world to us!

“Behind the Scenes” With Trevor Linden for Clearly Contacts.

Jay Grandin — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:28:04 +0000

We recently had the pleasure of writing/directing/producing a television spot for Clearly Contacts’ (a Coastal Contacts brand). What made it more special was that the star of the commercial was [Vancouver icon] Trevor Linden.

The approach to the spot was grown up and informational with limited reference to Trevor’s hockey career. But, we also wanted to find a way to let Trevor have some fun and to leave some Easter eggs online for his adoring BC fans. With that in mind, we wrote a series of “behind the scenes” spots designed to poke fun at bad, pun-filled athlete endorsements.

The campaign helped spread the word about the simple fact that we all pay too much for eyewear, but it also allowed Clearly Contacts to flex their humour muscle and remind us why they were named in BC Business’ Top 20 Innovative Companies.

The “director” (who was being directed by Leah Nelson, as was the television spot) was played by Graeme Duffy, local improv actor. Not only is he hilarious, but his diminutive size next to Trevor made him perfect. What we didn’t expect was that Trevor would go toe-to-toe with Graeme in the improv ring, one-upping our scripted lines as he went. In fact, his acting was so good that Graham had to break character on a few occasions to see if Trevor was actually as uncomfortable as he seemed. Of course he wasn’t—he was just so “in character” that he had us all fooled, causing Leah to stop the filming and say “Ok stop. Who is acting right now?”. So, there you have it; Trevor Linden can act. What’s more, he was probably the most pleasant actor we’ve every had the opportunity to work with.

Stay tuned for more behind the scenes action in the Clearly Contacts YouTube stream, or on Twitter.

Site Update

Jay Grandin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:36:35 +0000

Hi everyone. We’ve just thrown down a little portfolio update with four new projects, including this video for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Gala of Hope.

Icograda Design Week 2010

Jay Grandin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:27:26 +0000

By now, this is sooooo last week, but we wanted to show-and-tell a project we worked on with Rethink Communications to promote the upcoming Vancouver Design Week. It started with a great concept and a lovely set of graphics designed by the Rethink creative team, which we (with Todd Smith) animated into a 2200 frame video. We then printed those 2200+ frames onto custom bills and filmed them at high speed, 10 at a time, rifling through a currency counter. The end result is a really cool flipbook-style video that we all had a blast putting together.

Don’t miss the conference. It will be worth it.

Trevor Linden + Clearly Contacts

Jay Grandin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:44:29 +0000

If you’re like me, and if you’re from Vancouver, you watched Trevor Linden captain the Canucks through some pretty awesome times, including the infamous ‘94 playoff run. Needless to say, we were excited, honoured and charmed to work with Clearly Contacts to write, produce and direct this television spot featuring Trevor and his pair of magic (yet inexpensive!) glasses. Thanks to Faction Creative for bringing them to life.

Stand by for the outtakes!

PBS + Memelabs + GAM = Fun!

Jay Grandin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:32:04 +0000

Not too long ago we got a call from Memelabs, Vancouver-based video contest platform. They were putting together a contest for PBS to promote all of the exciting, new digital media experiences they’re offering.

We were engaged to work with the Memelabs and the PBS creative teams to produce the seeder video. After a number of story iterations, we landed on a script from the PBS team in which Dick, a private detective, acts as reluctant spokesperson for the contest.

We had a ton of fun art directing and animating the spot. Thanks to our pal, Chad Brealey, for being the face of Dick, and to Ryland Haggis for the great sound design (we liked working with him so much that we talked him into joining Team Ant on a full-time contract to soundify all of the fun stuff we’re working on right now!).

You can also see the spot here in our portfolio in higher res.

Calling All Ants

Jay Grandin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:36:49 +0000

We’re looking to add some more brains to our team. Although it might only be one person, we use the plural of “brain” intentionally, because we want you to have lots of ‘em.

·We’re a group of storytellers that use video, motion, interactive, or anything else that we feel best achieves our, and our clients’, goals.

·We’re a group of artists that want to make great work, not just more work.

·We’re pleasant.

If that sounds like you too, send us a link to your reel with some factoids about why you’ll be a good fit.

Also of interest: Interns.