Resolution Design outstripped competing post production houses in a year that judges dubbed as played safe, reports Heather Jennings.

“Resolution’s done some dangerous work in what has been a very safe year,” said one Hotshop judge.

It is testament to Resolution Design’s breadth of work that it knocked Animal Logic off its perch after winning the Post Production & Visual Effects category for four consecutive years.

In 2009, Resolution Design faced the challenge of shrinking client budgets but still managed to produce a strong body of animation, broadcast design, post production and visual effects work.

With the advantage of an in-house creative director as the interface between clients and designers, Resolution worked on all aspects of campaigns for clients.

For the MTV Awards, Resolution created the broadcast design package; designed, produced and edited the TVC promoting the show; and appointed the VFX team to create a polished version of the “speaker” featuring on the Awards design package, combining it with additional wind effects.

As one judge put it, “Resolution really put in the most effort across the board. Great looking, stylish design and slick as hell”.

For Ogilvy & Mather’s “Open Happiness” TVC, launched in November 2009, Resolution was charged with the task of making it look like bronzed Aussies were “diving” inside a Coca Cola bottle floating on a pontoon in the tropics.

With over 50 visual effects shots in the spot, Resolution Design designed the Coke bottle pontoon in 3D, as well as integrating the 3D Coke bottle with live action elements including talent shots in rigs against a green screen.

“The post/VFX on Coke were awesome,” the judges said. “All of the spots were executed with outstanding precision.”

Judges also praised Resolution Design’s “Wicked” energy drink spot for agency 7, 9, 11, which launched in October 2009. This was a four-months-in-the-making TVC in which director Tim Dyroff, along with a team of compositors and 3D artists, brought to life the idea of pole-dancing Geisha girl tattoos coming to life.

Resolution Design collaborated with graffiti artist and tattoo aficionado Mr Perso to create over 20 original tattoo designs and animated characters, with each one modelled and hand-painted individually and true to their genre and time period.

Dyroff then mapped the “animating” tattoos onto the contours of the male body for the live action shoot, before integrating it with the 3D body double.

Resolution Design’s animation work included helping advertising agency Smart turn its live action spot for energy drink Mother, which had been banned by the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) due to excessive and gratuitous violence, into an animated stick figure spot.

Resolution Design also collected its share of gongs in 2009, picking up Gold at the Promax BDA 2009 Asia Awards for the image promotion "Amaze your mind", directed by Tim Dyroff and produced by Will Alexander for BBC Worldwide Channels Asia.

“A clear winner,” one judge said. “All the spots showed innovation in a year and category that was overall lacking compared to previous years’ work.”

Commendation:

Cutting Edge