Santa Monica, CA (May 18, 2016) — Boutique visual effects and animation studio Brickyard VFX teamed with production company Mercy Brothers and ad agency FCB West to bring a new two-spot Ghirardelli campaign to life. Brickyard provided complete creative solutions for the campaign from start to finish, including production, edit, motion design, VFX, and finishing.

" Chocolate Carving” plunges viewers into an all-chocolate world with detailed animated drawings that come to life in chocolate, carving out iconic San Francisco hallmarks – such as the Golden Gate Bridge, a cable car, and Ghirardelli Square. Brickyard’s Motion Designer Anton Thallner created the illustrations of each element in Adobe After Effects, which CG Supervisor/Creative Director David Blumenfeld then animated in Autodesk Maya to appear as if they were embossed within a 3D chocolate canvas.

For " Time-Lapse,” Brickyard worked with Director Chachi Ramirez of Mercy Brothers and Bix Pix Studios to create a time-lapse video capturing the creation of a miniature model of Ghirardelli Square, built over the course of 12 hours using over 8,000 Ghirardelli minis. Brickyard guided the spot from production through finish, including VFX to help transition the spot to nighttime with interior window lights and stars in the sky.

“These Ghirardelli spots were a really fun way to use a range of skill sets from motion design to CG,” said Brickyard’s Managing Partner Steve Michaels. “Building the time-lapse model required true teamwork from all parties and thanks to everyone’s advance planning and enthusiasm for the concept, the final result is stellar.”

About Brickyard VFX
Brickyard is a digital production studio skilled in high-end visual effects, animation, design and creative development for advertising, feature films and emerging media. With shops in Boston and Santa Monica, Brickyard is artist-centric at the core, fostering a close collaboration of not only artist-to-director but the entire creative team. Within a cozy eclectic production space, Brickyard assembles a customized crew of designers, animators, and compositors for every project. For company information please contact Kirsten with Brickyard VFX Atlantic at (617) 262-3220 or Steve with Brickyard VFX Pacific at (310) 453-5722, or visit http://www.brickyardvfx.com.

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CREDITS: “Chocolate Carving” and “Time-Lapse”
Air Date: May 16, 2016
Client: Ghirardelli

Agency: FCB West
Creative Director: Kelly McCullough
Art Director: Drew Mesier
Copywriter: Frank Fusco
Senior Producer: Andy Rosenthal
Account Supervisor: Crystal Thomas
Head of Production: Elizabeth Morse

Production Company: Mercy Brothers
Director: Chachi Ramirez
Editor: Jared Sloan
Second Unit Camera: David Broder
Camera Assistant: Thomas Saunders
Producer: Linda Jackson
Executive Producer: Steve Michaels

Studio: Bix Pix Entertainment
Executive Producer: Kelli Bixler
DP: Jeffrey Gardner
Production Design & Talent: Jason Kolowski
Model Makers: Rick O’Brien, Thomas Everts, Brent Johnson, Victoria Cloyes, Luke Matthews, Sadie Nash, Rachel Fisher, Jeff White, Hiroe Goto, Hillary Mattheny
Painters: Robyn Yannoukos, Sean Ghobad

Animation/VFX/Finishing: Brickyard VFX
Head of CG/Creative Director: David Blumenfeld
Motion Design: Anton Thallner
Lead VFX Artist: Mandy Sorenson
Design: Deva George, Sierra Hunkins, Thomas Saunders
3D Scan: Jan Huybrechs
Producer: Britney Frandsen
Senior Producer: Linda Jackson