Designing Blind? A&E Network Saturday afternoon Lifestyle programming block, which includes Sell This House, Find & Design, and Big Spender, can help viewers take off their blindfolds and learn something about great home design. For A&E, FlickerLab lensed the live-action and created the effects and graphics for the :60 promo, ‘Blindfolded,’ which began airing August 1st.

For FlickerLab, known primarily as a development, design and animation house, Founder/Creative Director Harold Moss explained, ‘This :60 live-action comedy spot was great fun. Degan Snyder came up with the creative concept and script and then collaborated with FlickerLab and Adam Reid on the final script and execution of the project.

The team spent two days shooting at an upstate Home Depot and in The Douglas House. Scouring stores to find the silly and outrageous combinations of props that demonstrate just how blind to good taste our shoppers really are was half the fun of creating the spot. However, shooting in a Home Depot while customers are shopping, and redressing the entire last scene after it was shot, did provide us with a few challenges.’

‘I was in creative Nirvana,’ added Director Adam Reid. ‘We had amazing creative and a concept that was funny and relevant. Essentially, the idea is that without A & E Network Lifestyle shows, everyone is designing blind, so our do-it-yourself decorators are blindfolded as they shop for lamps, choose paint colors, and hang paintings. Harold and I share a twisted sense of humor so to be able to incorporate a cartoon-y sensibility into a live-action shoot was great fun. We had the opportunity to push some really bad interior design. The world we created is not sanitized. Nothing going on there is normal.’

A&E Senior Producer of On-Air Promotions, Degan Snyder said that, ‘Working with FlickerLab’s film production unit was a great experience. I came up with a rather kooky concept and presented it to them, and they just ran with it. Promo budgets are nothing like commercial budgets, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the final product. They truly did not skimp on anything. FlickerLab is like the ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§genie in a bottle’s of production houses. You rub the bottle, they make your commercial come true.’

The FlickerLab team included Creative Director Harold Moss; Executive Producer Tammy Walters (both of whom were extras in the checkout line); Live-action Director Adam Reid; DP Helge Gerull; Designers Bryan Cox and David Michael Friend; Storyboards Ben Chan; Producers Blythe Frank (Shoot) and Franklin Zitter (VFX/Graphics); and After Effects Artists Bryan Cox and David Michael Friend.

FlickerLab utilized Adobe After Effects, Photoshop; Panic Transmit (file transfer software); PowerMac G5 Computers; iMac Intel Computers; Dell Ultrasharp 24′ wide-screen displays; Wacom Intuos 3 tablets and Wacom Cintiq Tablets in the execution of this project.

The musical underscore comes from the MasterSource Music Library. It was however, reworked for the spot and composed to picture by the original composer, Michael Tremonti. James Twomey of Mixopolis (New York, NY) provided additional sound design.

The film-to-tape transfer was completed at PostWorks (New York, NY) by Colorists Tim Hedden and Jake Caffera.

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About FlickerLab:
Founded in 1999 as a design and animation studio, today FlickerLab principals, long-term collaborators and strategic partners employ their skills, technology and industry experience on a variety of projects be they concept-to-screen development and production, design and execution of commercials or broadcast promotions. In addition to high quality creative digital content development, FlickerLab works with clients to extend their project reach through advertising, Internet impact, online marketing, and merchandising.

The company portfolio includes high profile work for media and entertainment companies including A&E Networks, Bravo, Comedy Central, Discovery Home, Disney Channel, Lifetime, Lions Gate Productions, Michael Moore Productions, MTV, Nickelodeon, Planned Parenthood, The Cartoon Network and The WB, and product/service companies including Bassat Ogilvy, Continental Airlines, Grey Worldwide, Johnson & Johnson, McCann Erickson, Microsoft, Party City and Procter & Gamble, among many others.

Visit the FlickerLab website at www.flickerlab.com

Credits:

Airdate: August 1
Circle one: National
Product: Promo for A&E Saturday afternoon Lifestyle programming (which includes Sell This House, Find & Design, Big Spender)
Title: Blindfolded
Length: 1 x :60 and numerous cut down versions

Description: Designing Blind? A&E Network Saturday afternoon Lifestyle programming block, which includes Sell This House, Find & Design, and Big Spender, can help viewers take off their blindfolds and learn something about great home design.

Production Company: FlickerLab
City/State: New York, NY
Creative Director: Harold Moss
Executive Producer: Tammy Walters
Director: Adam Reid (live action director)
DP: Helge Gerull
Designer: Bryan Cox, David Michael Friend
Storyboards: Ben Chan
Producers: Blythe Frank (Shoot) and Franklin Zitter (VFX/Graphics)
After Effects: Bryan Cox, David Michael Friend

Hardware/Software:
Adobe ?Äì After Effects, Photoshop
Panic ?Äì Transmit (file transfer software)
PowerMac G5 Computers
iMac Intel Computers
Dell Ultrasharp 24′ widescreen displays
Wacom ?Äì Intuos 3 tablets
Wacom ?Äì Cintiq Tablets

Location of Shoot: Home Depot and Douglas House
City/State: New York, NY

Client: A&E

City/State: New York, NY
Vice President On-Air Promotions: Valerie Albanese
Senior Producer: Degan Snyder
Film-to-Tape: PostWorks
City/State: New York, NY
Colorists: Tim Hedden and Jake Caffera
Music/Sound: Master Source Music Library
City/State: New York, NY and Agoura Hills, CA

The track was reworked for the spot and composed to picture by the original composer, Michael Tremonti.

Audio Mix/Additional sound design: Mixopolis
City/State: New York, NY
Mixer: James Twomey