Lightborne, a production and design collective, recently wrapped a campaign to promote the latest interactive music toys from the Hasbro Tiger Electronics division: I-DOG, I-CAT and I-FISH. Using a fusion of graphic design and animation, Lightborne worked closely with ad agency Wondergroup to make these robotic "pets" come to life.
The spots for I-DOG, I-CAT and I-FISH showcase the toys' unique abilities to plug into any portable MP3 player or listen to any type of stereo system, and move and groove to the music. Their mood changes with the music they hear, displaying different colored LEDs and expressive movements. During the spots dynamic graphics and colorful dots interact with the electronic pets, which are set against a white background. The commercials conclude with the catchy and very fitting taglines, "Cat scratchin' the beat," "Beggin' for the beat," and "Swimmin' in waves of music."
The goal with the campaign was to introduce the new toys and show their personalities in an energetic manner. Lightborne was responsible for executing the entire process from production to post (save the voiceover). This included storyboards, animatics, live-action shoot, editorial, animation, color correction and supervising the music with composer Blazing Lazer.
"The spots look like CG, but they're really not," explains Chris Gliebe, Lightborne Creative Director. "The products themselves are very shiny, clear plastic, and chrome. They have a smart tech-y look to them. By placing them in a graphic environment, and giving them dynamic movements, the spots appear to be completely CG."
The graphics and animation were done using After Effects and Lightwave. The backgrounds were designed to be graphic representations of environments, sound waves and other electronic devices. For example, MP3 players are represented in the spots, but in an iconic way so as to maintain focus on the product itself.
Gliebe says special attention was paid to pre-planning in terms of lighting and boarding everything out so the Lightborne team would get all of the shots they needed.
"This is our fourth project with WonderGroup, and we've really enjoyed the partnership," concludes Gliebe. "The creatives were open to our ideas in terms of the supporting graphics, and how the products would animate and move. They trusted us with the aesthetic choices such as the music, which was a great validation of our work."
Lightborne also created an additional version of the I-DOG spot, which plays in Target stores, and is specific to the Target special edition of the product.
Spot Titles
I-DOG (for Target):15
I-DOG:15
I-CAT:15
I-FISH:15
Ad Agency: The WonderGroup/Cincinnati, OH
Creative Director: Matt Fischer
Art Director: Charlie Padgett
Production Company: Lightborne/Cincinnati OH
Director: Chris Gliebe
DP: Jeff Barklage
Executive Producer/Producer: Molly Gray Where shot: Lightborne/Cincinnati, OH
Editorial Company: Lightborne/Cincinnati, OH
Editors: Tom Acito & Nate Clark
Assistant Editor: Brad Trimble
VFX Company: Lightborne/Cincinnati, OH
Animators: Dave Irion, Kyle Shoup and David Lombardi
Music Company: Blazing Lazer/New York, NY
Composer: Chaz Windus
Lightborne: https://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/7905