Layla Atkinson Archives - Page 4 of 17 - Trunk | Animation Production Company
LA Shorts Fest
On 18, Aug 2016 | In news / blog | By Layla
Big Whoop! Layla’s film “Aftermath” is in the offical selection at this year’s LA Shorts Fest. If you’re in LA from the 1st to the 8th of September then go along and sit in the dark and check it out.
What Is Mitochondrial Disease?
On 12, Aug 2016 | In news / blog | By Layla
Back in the spring Layla made this little film about mitochondrial disease. Thankfully it’s relatively rare but once you know the symptoms you’ll definitely think that you’ve got it.
We Are All Zach Anner
On 14, Jun 2016 | In news / blog | By Layla
We’re thrilled to bits that Red Bull “We Are All Stories” has got a Vimeo Staff Pick! Hooray for us! and Made Visual Studio! and Red Bull! and Zach Anner! and everyone!
Zach Anner | Red Bull “We Are All Stories”
On 21, May 2016 | In news / blog | By Layla
Layla directed the animation on this funny little film last year. It came about through our old friend Justin Weyers of Made Visual Studios and is a tall tale full of horror, tension and comedy bears. Take a look if you’ve got 5 mins
http://beta.redbull.tv/…/AP-1M5CEMV992111:episode/zach-anner
Kylie | Only You | lyric video
On 26, Nov 2015 | In news / blog, Press | By Layla
Trunk Animation’s director Layla has created a beautiful lyric video for Kylie Minogue’s new cover of Yazoo’s chart topping hit ‘Only You’. The new classical arrangement is a duet with The Late Late Show host James Corden.
The brief asked for a simple and elegant video to mirror Kylie’s new arrangement. Trunk’s Layla poured through a mountain of source material before coming across a single image that for her captured the spirit of the song.
Previously Trunk’s lyric videos for the likes of the Rolling Stones, Vampire Weekend, and Lilly Allen have concentrated on the text being king. However for this song Layla felt a more pared back look was needed. Using After Effects she concentrated on animating two simple star elements that represented Kylie and James. Their journey and pace perfectly conveyed the relationship of the two performers captured in the duet. A simple typeface kept the focus of the video on the interaction of the elements with the text, rather than solely on the text.
The festive message was perfectly captured using a traditional Christmas palette with simple snowflake and star elements. Layla notes, “ I was thrilled to get the chance to work with Kylie. Once I had decided on the look and feel of the video I thought it would be a simple and straightforward process. However, we spent a long time trying to find a way to smoothly animate the star, its trail and the gap between them. After a morning of tests we found that using a concoction of particle emitters, masks and splines achieved the perfect look, and then it was just down to getting the timing right. I have to say that while it can be frustrating, the sense of achievement when you find a way to make something work rather than abandon the effect you want is wonderful. ”
The finished festive video happily joins Trunks growing portfolio of lyric and music videos for the likes of Blur, Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Take That and Elton John. Exec Richard Barnett notes ”Creating this video just before Christmas has put all of us at Trunk in a festive mood and caps a very busy and fulfilling year”
Click below for press coverage:-
Ong Ong in Computer Arts
On 29, Jul 2015 | In news / blog | By Layla
There’s a lovely feature on our Blur video in August’s Computer Arts magazine. Pete Mellor discusses how we managed to turn that whole thing around in just nine (intense) days.
Blur | ‘Ong Ong’ Music Video
On 03, Jun 2015 | In news / blog, Press | By Richard
Having just finished a new lyric video for the Rolling Stones and currently working on a top secret project for a rock legend, Trunk were approached by Parlophone to work on the video for Blur’s new single. ‘Ong Ong’.
The penultimate track on Blur’s newest and critically acclaimed, Number 1 album The Magic Whip is “Ong Ong”, which has been given the Trunk treatment by directors Layla Atkinson and Pete Mellor.
Blur’s Creative Director Tony Hung’s concept of a classic arcade game video required the animatic to be pinned down as quickly as possible. Working with Tony, Trunk’s directors nailed it in just a couple of days, whilst a crack team of animators were lured into the studio, and 7 days later with only one killer all-nighter, the video was complete!
Influenced by the classic games such as Mario Bros, Donkey Kong and Pac – Man the video features the cute Mr OK, a bouncing ball which can be seen on the Ong Ong cover art, on a quest to be reunited with his girlfriend. In this wonderful traditional narrative, each level features a ‘Boss’ that our hero has to defeat. The riotous live-action sequence at the end of the video identifies each ‘Boss’, which were superbly characterised in digital form by Peepshow Collective’s very own Spencer Wilson. The gorgeous colourful palette used and playful nature of the video perfectly mirrors the fun and pop feel of the song.
Layla notes, “The song is full of fun and is very catchy which lent itself perfectly to Tony’s arcade game theme. As a big fan of the look from those early video games it was great to research them and to recreate classic 8 bit games such as Pong and Astro pinball”
Click below for Press coverage :-
Credits:-
Band: BLUR
Track: ONG ONG
Director: TONY HUNG
Production company: TRUNK ANIMATION
Animation direction: LAYLA ATKINSON and PETE MELLOR
Producer: RICHARD BARNETT
Associate Producer: DANIEL NEGRET
Illustration: SPENCER WILSON
Animation: AMY SUTTON, LESLEY DART, LAYLA ATKINSON, PETE MELLOR.
1st ad: JONATHAN SIDWELL
DOP: PHIL POOLE
Costume design: SUSSIE JUHLIN-WALLÉN
Commissioner: WILLIAM NICHOLS
Management: ELEVEN MGMT
DAMON ALBARN as MR. CREAM
GRAHAM COXON as MR. BROWN
ALEX JAMES as MR. RED
DAVE ROWNTREE as MR. BLACK
MR. OK as MR. OK
MS. OK as MS. OK
Trunk creates a beautiful lyric video for ‘Wild Horses’ from Rolling Stones iconic album “Sticky Fingers”.
On 08, Apr 2015 | In Press | By Pip
Lightning does strike twice! That was the feeling at Trunk’s studio when Emily Tedrake from Polydor got in touch to create another lyric video for the mighty Rolling Stones. Following Trunk’s very successful lyric video for ‘Doom and Gloom’, which has had over 13 million hits, making it the Stones most watched video on their YouTube channel, the stakes were high! The team was tasked with creating a video for ‘Wild Horses’ the 3rd track on the band’s seminal album ‘Sticky Fingers’. The album is being re-released with a stunning 100+ page booklet to coincide with the 45th anniversary of its first release.
It was a daunting task as director Rok Predin notes. “Some jobs are just very special and this was certainly one of them. Although we had worked for the Stones before, working on an album that is so famous was ever so slightly intimidating! We knew we had to include a zip, which referenced Andy Warhol’s iconic artwork that was used for the original album cover, and the typeface from the new booklet that accompanies the re-release of the album. Other than that we were pretty much given a free hand. ”
The resulting video is stunning and beautiful. Created using Cinema 4D and After Effects, the team used the track’s gentle feel to pace the video while certain lyrics suggested themes and movements. Trunk Animation’s talented Layla Atkinson developed the artwork for the video using elements from the booklet that included the band members’ fingerprints and smudges. Photographs of the band were manipulated by the team and degraded in Photoshop, as was the typeface, to fit into the overall look and feel of the finished video.
The most challenging part for Layla “had to be scanning Rok’s beautiful 12 string guitar, to create the sequence in which the fret board is zipped up”. The zip ‘fob’ used, made from John Pasche’s famous lips logo, was especially appropriate as ‘Sticky Fingers’ was the first album in which the logo appeared.
Producer Richard Barnett was thrilled with both the job and the finished video, especially given the tight turn around. “While we love all the projects at Trunk it’s always nice to be asked by rock royalty to get involved with a release. Layla, Rok and the team have done a great job. The track was originally a lullaby to Keith Richards’s son Marlon, and the tender pace of this video is far softer than the passionate pace of our previous Stones vid. So far it has been a very exciting time at Trunk with a big studio move just after finishing our Coldplay project, and now seeing in our new studio with a job for the Rolling Stones, it’s been a great start to the year!”
Click below for press coverage :-
VOTD
Credits:
Animation/ Compositing- Rok Predin, Alasdair Brotherston, Lesley Dart
Production Assistants- Daniel Negret, Nic Sanchez
Artwork- Layla Atkinson
Director- Rok Predin
Producer- Richard Barnett
Music- The Rolling Stones
Music Producer- Jimmy Miller
Commissioner- Emily Tedrake
Record Company- Polydor
Trunk Animation’s Layla Atkinson directs two 30-second TV trailers for the BBC.
On 07, Apr 2015 | In Press | By Pip
To promote BBC Four’s new series The Sound of Song Red Bee Media contacted Trunk to create two TV spots. The up-coming series explores the story of modern music and how elements come together to form our favourite songs. An initial brief centered around two “factoids” featured in the series. The first was how a riff can be modified and used by a variety of artists. In this case Chic’s bass line from 1979’s Good Times was modified and used by many artists, ranging from Queen to Daft Punk. The second was how, in 1926 while recording Heebie Jeebies Louis Armstrong’s sheet music fell from the stand. Armstrong continues singing, improvising his lyrics and inadvertently inventing the “scat” singing style.
Layla notes “I wanted both trailers to share a restricted palette, a pared back illustrative style and sinuous lines to create unity across the two disparate stories”. To that end both spots use a simple and elegant graphic style infused with humour that flows beautifully with the music discussed in the trailers.
Each piece finishes with the voiceover strap line “You’ll never listen to your favourite songs in the same way again” a statement that is skillfully presented in these two lovely trailers.
Click below for press coverage :-
Credits: –
Director- Layla Atkinson
Animation- Leslie Dart
Line Producer- Pedro Lino
Producer- Richard Barnett
Commissioner- Matthew Shapland/Red Bee Media
