Rhino’s Harry Dorrington directed a dazzling, 100 percent CG spot promoting Comcast’s Triple Play Rewards program. Dorrington directed the :30 entirely in-house at Rhino, completing it only five weeks after Agency M approached the studio for the project.

Gift Box centers around a Kubrick-inspired under-lit cube floating in a stark white world. The cube rotates through space, each side featuring a different element of the triple play (Digital TV, high-speed Internet, phone service), while a voiceover details the rewards program.

When a red ribbon ties itself gift-wrap style around the cube, it begins to shake until the top springs open like a jack-in-the-box, releasing a thundering stream of tiny CG props – popcorn, video game controllers, drum kits – representing potential rewards.

The props continue to swirl around blizzard-like behind the typography for the spot’s remainder, injecting the spot with a magical feel. Dorrington and his team executed the spot entirely in Maya, then topped it off with particle simulation and an HD Flame finish.

Since its launch in 2000, Rhino has created award-winning visual effects, design, and animation for commercials, VFX for feature films, episodic television, webisodic mini-series, and videogame cinematics. The company’s principals and artists have also led the industry’s exploration into the boundless potential of branded digital content.

By cultivating extensive relationships with key brands, advertising agencies, and film/TV studios, Rhino utilizes its creative directors and artists to develop and execute powerful branded entertainment to build both identity and awareness.

The company’s principals include: CD/Director Vico Sharabani, CD/Director Harry Dorrington, CD/Director Natasha Saenko, COO/EP Camille Geier, Managing Director Rick Wagonheim, and CEO North America Zviah Eldar.

CREDITS
Client: Comcast
Spot Title: Gift
Air Date: November 2009

Agency: Agency M
Executive Producer: Conrad Layson
Creative Director: Rob Linsalata
Art Director: Heather DiPiazza
Account Executive: Kelly Horst
Copywriter: Courtney Abud

Post/Effects: Rhino
Creative Director/Director: Harry Dorrington
Executive Producer: Yfat Neev
Producer: Cara Buckley
CG Supervisor: Yuval Levy
3D TD: Ivan Guerrero
3D Modeler: Brian Dinoto
3D Modeler: Bogdan Mihaljovic
3D Previz: Sean Curran
3D Animator: Goran Ognjanovic
3D Texturing: Yuheng Chiang
3D Lighter: David Bernkopf, Rob Pearson
Flame Compositor: Micky Gorenstein
Flame Assistant: Barry Furlano
Production Manager: Lauren Montuori
COO: Camille Geier
Managing Director: Rick Wagonheim
CEO: Zviah Eldar

Music & Sound Design: Wicked Music
Original music: WickedMusic.com
Sound Design: WickedMusic.com

Audio Mix: Studio Center
Audio Mixer: Pete Romano

RELATED LINKS
www.rhino-gravity.com