Mill+ had the honor of creating the Opening and Category Titles for the 2014 AICP Awards, held in The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Creative director Clarice Chin led the team in building an incredible installation to celebrate the art and technique of the American commercial.
With a wealth of quirky, colorful objects placed in a clean setting, the Mill+ team bought their concept "A Delicate Balance" to life. Clarice explained: "It was important to make all our concepts relevant to each category. We thoroughly considered the purpose, the venue and the AICP Awards themselves. We wanted to make sure the elements were fun, quirky and uplifting and that they all had a sense of humor! And after looking at the details, we moved to the macro - looking at the actual sculpture as a whole and how it pieced together. The whole concept was 'A Delicate Balance', so it was about ensuring all the components came together and had a sense of harmony - just like a concept does in great advertising, which is what AICP is all about celebrating."
"We chose to build it physically, which was exciting as it's something different for us that we don't get to do every day! There were certain qualities that we could only achieve through shooting it live-action that were really important to the piece, like physical textures and subtle, natural lighting. We wanted to make it feel tactile and relatable - and decided the best way to go was to actually build it!"
"Finding the right production designer was key and Robin totally suited the project. We felt he had the right sensibility. When he puts things together, they feel very raw, handmade and real - but the overall piece feels very finished and like it could live in an actual space. He had a collection of all these quirky toys and objects and costumes, so we were able to browse his studio and see what we wanted to use for the categories. If we didn't find the right piece in Robin's studio, he'd go to these amazing doll exhibits and junkyards and search through eBay and art stores. There was a whole range of places he trawled through!"
"Some of the categories were a little more obscure visually, but we were always checking an object's relevance. A lot of the items had to be rigged so that they could move on set with some CG work in there. When it came to the installation we only bad a couple of days to put it up in the location, a beautiful space in Venice Beach with amazing ceilings. It was exactly what I had in mind and everything came into place!"
Watch the Behind the Scenes here.
Agency: AICP
Producer: Ileana Montalvo
Production Company: Mill+
Director: Clarice Chin
Executive Producer: Kim Wildenburg
Producer: Elizabeth Newman
Director of Photography: Armando Salas
Production Designer: Robin Banks
Live Action Producer: Richard Berman
Record Company: HUM Music
President/CEO: Jeff Koz
Executive Producer: Debbi Landon
Creative Director: Scott Glenn
Composer: Kristin Dyrud
Sound Designer: Dan Hart
Editing Company: Mill+
Editors: Victor Jory, Luke Kraman
VFX & Design: The Mill
Executive Producer: Kim Wildenburg
VFX Producer: Elizabeth Newman
Shoot Supervisor: Jeannie Huynh (Remedy)
Creative Director: Clarice Chin
2D Lead Artists: Chris Knight, Nick Tayler, Lisa Ryan
Colourist: Shane Reed
Smoke: Robin McGloin
Animation: Justin Sucara, Greg Park
Designer: Clare Carrellas