Hooch the Clown

[WARNING: This post contains graphic clown content. If you or someone you know has Coulrophobia, please step away from the computer now]

So, one of our clients, Phil Smith (of Laughlin/Constable) presented me with a prestigious and UNUSUAL little gift at our party. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…HOOCH, the clown!

Now, to truly understand the genius of Hooch, you need to understand a few things about me and OBVIOUSLY about Phil…not that Hooch isn’t captivating enough on his own, but…

First of all, my office, which was recently completed, is a little different from the other offices at Foundation. You see, I’m five feet even and my doorway was built to accommodate the vertically challenged. They actually measured me with my tallest shoes on so that in the off chance that I ever wore my 6 inchers to work, I would still fit.

Apparently, Phil searched the internet for a vintage carny sign a la “You must this tall to ride” and this is how he came across Hooch. I don’t wanna play favorites here…but Phil Smith is one of my favorite people in Chicago! Stay tuned for the next blog and you may even get to see pictures of Phil playing harmonica and singing his heart out on our stage!!

Anyway, I am very grateful to Phil for bringing Hooch into my life! I’ve really grown quite attached to the little guy…And boy, is he efficient or what?!

Lights…Camera…PARTY!

We’re having our first big party since we expanded our company! And everyone who’s anyone is invited!!!

Jordan Spritz, who was just accepted to be on Top Chef’s next season will be catering the event THIS THURSDAY!!! DJ, full bar, live band karaoke and good times! Plus we get to officially welcome three new staff members, Erik Crary, Kara Stallings and Jeff Landsman!

Be there!!!

Seeing is Believing

This one is for all you editors out there; you know how when you work on a spot for soooo long that when it finally ships it’s “out of your life” and you’re already working on something else and somehow you seem to miss it every time it airs? Well…Matt Egan (editor/director) just finished a spot for Target’s Channel Red to promote their line of Hulk themed toys/action figures and it is airing NOW in Target stores across the country!

See?!! (photograph courtesy of Jeff Landsman)

It’s fun to see work we do in a setting like this.

“The Red Channel Hulk spot was full of many challenges. Creating and compositing 3d animation with live action from the movie, designing a lower third animation that complimented movie footage as well as 2 different segments of product footage, building a set for the Gama Glow action figure, composing a bed of music and sound design to support the various imagery and bringing all this together into a slick 30 second commercial. Creating the table top set for the Hulk Gama Glow action figure was the first exciting challenge in the project. The set and the shots needed to maintain the look and feel of the film as well as capture the imagination of the demographic. To best showcase the detail and glow of the action figure I wanted to create a twilight scene of a city in distress. Blackened burnt out buildings, fog in the streets with a blueish green glow and the Hulk in the middle of it all. Using household items sparks the imagination of the children who will be playing with these toys to create their own sets.” -Matt Egan

This spot was done tabletop in our studio and all the 3d animation was done in house as well. Gotta love those graphics guys! And quite honestly, I think the guys still play with those hulk hands upstairs when no one is watching.

Use Protection

You know you’ve been in creative marketing too long when stuff like this actually seems like a good idea!

I think my favorite one and possibly the most plausible is: Chevy!

Mmmm…mac-aroni

Hey all!

So…Jeff Landsman ( foundation editor/director) has started a podcast called Mac-Aroni! If you are a Mac person or just need some info on certain mac products, functions, etc. it is an AWESOME source of information!

I have always been a pc girl but at Foundation, we are completely mac based, so his podcast has been really helpful in terms of technical stuff. For example, he recently did an episode which compared iWork to Office 08…VERY informative!!! Plus, he just announced that he’s going to including iPhone apps as part of his regular show!

Anywho, for all my geeky homies out there…I give you http://www.mac-aroni.com

And check out his podcast on iTunes!

Paraskavedekatriaphobia

According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute of Asheville, North Carolina, “It’s been estimated that [U.S] $800 or $900 million is lost in business on Friday the thirteenth because people will not fly or do business they would normally do.”

WOW.

Now, I know there are a lot of theories on this most “unlucky” day…but, come on…

Bad things, unlucky things, unnecessary things happen every day. So, I’m supposed to believe that just because Gioachino Rossini died on Friday the 13th, The Battle of Hastings followed a Friday the 13th and some guy wrote about a conspiracy involving “the knights of templar” which deemed the 13th of Friday unlucky; that every Friday the 13th is going to bring doom?!

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Hmmm… personally I think its just another way to control people with FEAR. But then again, the Olsen twins were born on a Friday the 13th..

Creative Advertising…Decoded

So, National Geographic has been running some new ads to promote their “Stonehenge Decoded” special this month and they’re kind of brilliant!

Remember Spinal Tap? If you answered no…please educate yourself.

If you answered yes, then you already know that Nigel Tufnel is of course a leading expert on Stonehenge and all things druidic.

Admit it…you’re still laughing.

I have to say, the folks over at National Geographic sure live up to their tagline “Inspiring People to Care About the Planet”. This one is my favorite but you can see the rest of their youtube page. Go check it out!

Who Knew…

that a THERMOS could change someone’s life so completely?!

I really can’t say what it is about my new thermos has been so life altering, but I’ve compiled a short list to try to convey the awesomeness to you non-thermos folk…

1. No longer will I have to pay $1.50 for “green tea” (okay, just because in a green packet, doesn’t mean it’s REALLY green tea) on the way to work

2. No longer will I have to come back to my desk after a long meeting to a lukewarm cup o’ joe

3. Now NOBODY knows what I’m drinking…I can drink whatever the hell I want, judgement free!

4. I find that now that I have a “special container”, things like water just don’t seem as humdrum…I find I’m drinking way more water lately because of it.

5. It makes being green super easy!

6. I’m not gonna lie, it’s kind of a Linus security blanket thing.

Anyway…go buy a thermos and you’ll totally see what I mean. Seriously…I may never go back to regular old cups again!

Awwww…

So, remember this post?

Well, Kelly O’Brien, the executive director of Girls on the Run Chicago just sent me a very sweet email and I wanted to share it!

All together now…AWWWW! But seriously, we’re so proud of Nichyria and wish her the best! And if you haven’t voted yet….rock the vote! (Our girl is in the lead right now!!!)

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s…

A fourteen year old hip-hop artist?!

Phil Lee recently directed a music video for Adero Neely, an up and coming talent with a passion for rhythm and rhyme. Adero’s song “Animated” has already dominated the local Chicago radio waves but he’s not about to stop there! With this debut music video, Adero hopes to broaden his audience on a national scale

The video was shot in HD and the locations were awesome! We started early at the Victor Hotel over in the warehouse district. Pretty cool club. We had about 40 dancers and extras…all under the age of 17!!! It was great seeing kids actively engaging their talents and having so much fun!

After we wrapped at the Victor Hotel, we headed over to the Ping Tom Memorial Park near Pilsen. The park had a wonderfully industrial feel to it and the footage really came out nice despite the awful weather…oh, did I forget to mention that it was raining and about 30 out?

Did I mention it was starting to rain and was about 30 degrees? Anyway, after the park we still had one more whole day of shooting ahead of us!! The next day we started out bright and early at Foundation. Once Adero and our “catwoman” were ready to go, we transformed our client lounge into the teenager’s bedroom and our studio, with the awesome power of green screen, became a lair befitting of a superhero on-the-go!

This bridge is located on “lumber street” here in Chicago and it provided the perfect perch for a damsel in distress!

Overall, I’d say the shoot was a major success! We had a blast making this video and look forward to sharing it with everyone when it is completed… SO STAY TUNED!

Oh yeah, and there was cake.

P.S. Our PA, Beren, and I broke the cake while driving the Foundation minivan through Chinatown… a few vats of cooked cabbage were also lost in the process.