2009
TAXI FILM WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR ANIMATION IN TV CAMPAIGN
A television campaign produced by Taxi Film Production for RAC Insurance has won an international award in Non-computer Animation from the Mobius Awards.
The campaign, which featured one of the largest and most technically challenging stop motion projects attempted in Australia, received a Certificate for Outstanding Creativity.
The Mobius Awards advertising competition is in its 38th year and drew entrants from 33 countries.
Taxi staff and director Liz Murphy pushed technology to the limit for the ads done through The Brand Agency in Perth. All the spots are one continuous shot - a painstaking stop motion style.
“Most people do stop motion with a locked off camera as it’s hard to move it smoothly. This job was really technically demanding as we moved the camera to shoot 3,375 individual frames,” explains Murphy.
Camera movement was pre-plotted with measuring tape on the floor, on set walls and on a variety of portable stands. Each camera and dolly or crane had a minimum of three lasers measuring tiny increments of camera movement on up to five axis at once throughout each set. The camera sometimes moved less than one millimeter per frame, Murphy says.
Animators used rulers and calculators to coordinate the movement of objects through the sets, which were built full scale. The production involved more than 25 animators and 10 technical staff, plus three mechanics who were on hand when a car was shot being dismantled for one segment.
The commercials ran July 20, 2008, to Jan. 25, 2009. They can be viewed at www.taxifilm.tv.
Founded in 1967 to recognize outstanding Business, Television, Documentary, Educational, Entertainment, Industrial, Informational and Student productions. A sister competition of Mobius Awards. Deadline for entries is March 1.
www.filmfestawards.com.