For the second season of A&E network critically acclaimed half-hour series Criss Angel Mindfreak, an eerily entertaining series that juxtaposes reality with surreality, FlickerLab, the New York-based development, design and animation studio, created an animated promotional package, a :30, :15 and :10, which began airing on A&E October 16. In addition, FlickerLab created two :20s and a bug for Criss Angel Halloween special which aired at 10:00pm/et on the 31st.

In each episode of Criss Angel Mindfreak, which airs nationally on Wednesday at 10pm/et on A&E, Criss demonstrates his visionary approach to the art of magic that escapes the confines of tradition and gives birth to a new breed of modern mysticism. Dubbed “the new Houdini,” his repertoire includes mentalism, hypnosis, illusion, and escape, which blur the line between reality and illusion. Criss Angel captivates his audiences with mind-boggling demonstrations of his skills; goes behind-the-scenes as he researches and executes his demonstrations with his crew; and meet celebrity friends who drop by to willingly participate in his antics.

To promote ‘the wilder, weirder and freakier’ second season, FlickerLab animated Criss deck of cards which fly through the air revealing mind blowing clips from last season on their backs. The cards eventually fly into Angel hand and resolve into the show logo.

FlickerLab Managing Partner/Creative Director Harold Moss, explained ‘Our job was to capture the mystique and mood and supernatural flair that Criss Angel brings to his work and inject that feeling into the promotional campaign. We animated his personal deck of custom cards and, rather than just using the graphics as an accent, the entire spot was immersed in his magical world. A dove explodes into individual cards, and the cards reveal clips that are integrated into the promos. On the technical end, I think most people would assume this was done in flame or 3D but we pushed the boundaries of what can be accomplished with a desktop system and did it all in After Effects.’

‘For the Halloween promos, we took the same mysterious spooky mood and pushed it over the edge playing with the icons of Halloween and with the A&E logo which we turned into bats made of A&E logos,’ Added Executive Producer Karen Stewart.

A&E Producer/Director Kevin Jordan said of the collaboration with FlickerLab, ‘Their work is fantastic. They kept me constantly updated with Quick Times, and turned around a wonderful product even though we were crunched for time,’ A&E Associate Producer, Andrew Borden-Chisholm, added ‘The Flickerlab team views every job as a fun opportunity which is why it is always a joy to work with them. It always a conversation. They are receptive to ideas, very collaborative and very creative. On the Halloween promo, for example, the A&E logo bursts into bats. It is a very creative approach to incorporating the branding into the animation.’

The FlickerLab team included Creative Director/Animation Director Harold Moss; Executive Producer Karen Stewart; Designer/After Effects Artist Craig Hubbard (Mindfreak); Associate Producer Scott Brewster (Mindfreak); Designer/After Effects Artist/3DAnimator Bryan Cox (Halloween); and Producer/Technical Director Franklin Zitter (Halloween).

FlickerLab utilized Adobe After Effects and Photoshop, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Panic Transmit, PowerMac G5 Computers, Apple Display 20′ displays, Dell Ultrasharp 24′ widescreen displays and Wacom Intuos 3 tablets in the execution of these projects.

Representing A&E were Vice President On-Air Promotions Valerie Albanese, Producer/Director Kevin Jordan (Mindfreak), Associate Producer Andrew Borden-Chisholm (Halloween), Editor Rich Gold (Mindfreak) and Editor Rich Santoli (Halloween).

The audio post for Mindfreak was handled at Sound Lounge (New York, NY) by Sound Designer/Mixer Roger Licari. The audio for Halloween was completed at Digital Arts (New York, NY) by Mike Dillenberger.

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.

RELATED LINKS
www.aetv.com/criss_angel
www.flickerlab.com

CREDITS
Airdate: Oct./Nov., 2006 (Mindfreak);Oct. 24- Halloween (Halloween)
Product: promotional campaigns for both and a “bug” for Halloween
Title: Criss Angel Mindfreak and Criss Angel Halloween Special
Length: :30, :15, :10 promos (Mindfreak) and 2 :20 promos (Halloween Special)
Description: To promote ‘the wilder, weirder and freakier’ second season, FlickerLab animated a deck of cards that fly through the air revealing mind- blowing clips from last season on their backs. The cards eventually fly into Criss Angel hand and resolve into the show logo. Building on the look they created for the Criss Angel image promos, FlickeLab, customized the spots, taking them to the limit, for the Halloween promos.

Production Company: FlickerLab
City/State: New York, NY
Creative Director/Animation Director: Harold Moss
Executive Producer: Karen Stewart
Designer/After Effects Artist: Craig Hubbard (Mindfreak)
Designer/After Effects Artist/3DAnimator: Bryan Cox (Halloween)
Producer/Technical Director: Franklin Zitter (Halloween)
Associate Producer: Scott Brewster (Mindfreak)

Hardware/Software:
Adobe – Aftereffects, Photoshop
Macromedia ?Äì Dreamweaver (client posting site)
Panic ?Äì Transmit (file transfer software)
PowerMac G5 Computers
iMac Intel Computers (Halloween)
Apple Display 20′ displays
Dell Ultrasharp 24′ widescreen displays
Wacom ?Äì Intuos 3 tablets

Location of Shoot:
City/State: New York, NY

Client: A&E
City/State: New York, NY
Vice President On-Air Promotions: Valerie Albanese
Producer/Director: Kevin Jordan (Mindfreak and live-action direction)
Associate Producer: Andrew Borden-Chisholm (Halloween)
Editor: Rich Gold (Mindfreak)
Editor: Rich Santoli (Halloween)

Stock Footage Company: Getty Images
City/State: Seattle, WA

Audio Post /Sound Design: Sound Hound
City/State: New York, New York
Sound Designer/Mixer: Roger Licari (Mindfreak)
and
Digital Arts
City/State: New York, NY
Sound Designer/Mixer: Mike Dillenberger