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As "Hat Trick" (:30), directed by Richard Sabean, executive producer, Johnathan Gilson, (Access Films) opens, we see a Mickey in his famous sorcerer's apprentice costume. Waving his white-gloved hands over four wooden buckets containing different colored substances, Mickey adds a fuchsia-colored dash of classic magic. Then reaching deep into the next bucket, Mickey retrieves a gleaming neon-green orb and adds "a touch of all that's new." When he is finished, we see four fantastic theme parks, each with its own "amazing things to do."  The
following scene features brief glimpses of children having fun at the
parks. Then Mickey uses his conical wizard hat to collect magic from each
bucket, and throws the hat into the center of the action where a much
larger hat magically appears. The spot concludes with Goofy telling Mickey,
"You throw quite a party!" "We've worked with Yellow Shoes before, though not on such an animation-intensive spot," says David Shirk, head of the Quiet Man 3-D department and animation director for "Hat Trick." "This was a wall-to-wall effects extravaganza, with a great deal of animation in virtually every shot." "We were involved early in the project, so we had some input into how the spot would be put together, which always helps," he added. "The key challenge was to establish the look of Mickey's magic. We went through all kinds of versions, but it still took hours to nail the look. The effects were surprisingly complex. This was one of the most challenging jobs we've done in some time, not least because it coincided with the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center here in New York." Despite that horrendous circumstances, the Quiet Man team was back to work as soon as possible. Fortunately, they received help from Phoenix-based freelance artist Charlie Breakiron, who telecommuted. "It was an interesting experience," says Shirk. "We communicated via email, videotape, Internet messenger and an FTP site. That was something we've never done before, but it worked well."  Once
the extensive pre-production preparations were completed, the Quiet Man
team established a pipeline to create the effect that would be repeated
in virtually every shot. "We essentially had to take the same animation
setups and recreate them for each shot that involved Mickey and his magic
buckets," says Shirk. "Mickey ultimately throws different colors of magic at the various theme parks, each of which were filmed at different times of day. While everything looked great when laid over a black background, the lighter color backgrounds created some issues. But once we had established the general look, it was mostly a matter of reinterpreting each shot," he added. Quiet Man's Peter Amante was lead compositor on "Hat Trick." "The job required several passes over multiple layers, as well as compositing and believably integrating some heavy-duty 3-D into the live action," Amante explains. "It was great to work with Inferno because there were so many layers. Each bucket had about eight layers. I added appropriate reflections on the live action footage to make it appear that the 3-D animations were part of the scene. The job also required a great deal of rotoscoping and matte cutting. In all, it required 20 straight days of intense work, but then this was a great spot." Quiet Man is the winner of 2001 Cannes Grand Prix for Commercials and of a Gold Lion, The One Show Best of Show," and Best of Show at the Addy's for several Fox Sports network campaigns for agency Cliff Freeman & Partners. Quiet Man, a creative problem solving visual effects company founded in 1995 by Flame artist Johnnie Semerad and executive producer Amy Taylor has attracted leading brands like Pepsi and Fox Sports and won all of the industry's top awards, including: Clios, Emmys, One Show, Pencils, American Advertising Awards, Cannes Lions, a Grammy and AICP recognition. Credits: Project: Disney's 100th Anniversary Spot Title and Length: "Hat Trick," :30 Air date: October 15, 2001 Production Co: Access Films, NYC Director: Richard Sabean Director of Photography: Nick Taylor Producer: Stanny Park Executive Producer: Johnathan Gilson Ad Agency: Yellow Shoes, Orlando FL Agency Producer: Linda Hill Art Director: Tom Shumalak Creative Director: Joe Schneider Copywriter: Ross Snodgrass Music Producer: Michelle DiBucci Editing House: Crew Cuts, NYC Editor: Sabrina Huffman Executive Producer: Nancy Shames Effects: Quiet Man, NYC Executive Producer: Amy Taylor Producer: Dave Moore Lead Artist: Dave Shirk Flame Artist: Peter Amante 3D Artists: Eric Lampi, Charlie Breakiron, Bradley Gabe Effects Animator Charlie Breakiron and Eric Lampi 3D Matchmoving: David Bernkopf Music: Bilous-DiBucci Music, NYC Composer: Greg Kalember Arrangers: Michelle DiBucci Audio Post Prod: Buzz, NYC Mixer: Michael Marinelli Related sites: • Animation Artist • Digital Animators • Digital Post Production • Digital Producer • Film and Video Magazine • Hollywood Industry Related forums: Source: www.DigitalAnimators.com
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