Design in Motion
Head Gear Animates Naturegg 'Encounter Group' by Katie Makal
Head Gear Animation created a stop-motion animated spot for Burnbrae Farms, one of Canada's largest egg producers, and its Naturegg product line via Toronto's Round Table Advertising. "Encounter Group" features a group therapy session populated by chickens. The lead chicken, Ellen, starts out with the classic support group statement, "Hello, my name is Ellen," then goes on to describe how her eggs have been changed to be cholesterol reduced. The other chickens, who are at first put off by her admission, come to see it as the dietary breakthrough it is and end up cheering in support. There is a final flourish with a group hug as an emotional Ellen declares, "I'm going to be OK!"
The entire spot was created in-house at Head Gear Animation, with Steve Angel as designer and director. Drew Lightfoot animated all the chickens, which were created with wire armatures and then cast in foam latex by Dave Asling. The models and the hotel meeting room set were built by Drew Lightfoot, Darren Stamos, Kathy Shultz and Miru Salzberger. The set features a chalkboard with motivational slogans and a snack table complete with coffee and chicken feed. As many real textures and fabrics as possible were used to give a realistic feel to the therapy session surroundings.
"This was a really fun job," said Angel, who went through a number of chicken prototypes before deciding on the endearing lumpy-headed design. "The idea and the chickens were pretty weird, so we made the set and lighting as realistic and the acting as naturalistic as possible. We shot it as if it were a live-action spot, which created a nice balance and, I hope, heightened the comic effect."
Drew Lightfoot found the animation process demanding: "It was challenging to animate because chickens don't have features typical for emoting, such as eyebrows and teeth, so I had to use the subtleties of the eyes to create expression."
Nick Fairhead took care of the post-production and Sue Riedl produced. Round Table creative director Brent Peterson came up with the idea for the spot, which hit the airwaves on September 15.