Hollywood, Calif. - Demonstrating that they are smarter than the average design/production studio, yU+co. crafted a stereoscopic 3D main-on-end title sequence for the new Warner Bros animated film Yogi Bear.
The team--led by Synderela Peng, art director, on the design; Richard Taylor, VFX director, on the production; and Sarah Coatts, producer --created a sequence that incorporates stylistic elements of Saul Bass with the madcap nature of Hanna-Barbera's animation to create something truly unique.
"Designing in stereoscopic is very different than designing in 2D," states founder/creative director Garson Yu. "You have to offset the conversion process and bring things closer to the audience as well as further away to create that depth and dimension. You also have to give the audience enough time to enjoy the stereoscopic sensation, so you can't be too 'cutty' with scenes."
Although yU+co. is no stranger to stereoscopic 3D, having created the 2D and 3D main-on-end title sequence to Shrek Forever After and the 3D logo for 3Ality Digital, Yogi Bear offered the staff a chance to accomplish more creatively and technically in the 3D world.
"The initial concept was 'Saul Bass in stereo'--a clear use of shapes and lines that Bass' classic designs are known for, but married to the playfulness of the Hanna-Barbera animation style," says Art Director Synderela Peng. "We decided to show only silhouettes of main characters because we didn't want to mimic the 3D animation style seen in the film or the original look from 1960s cartoon. We knew the silhouettes would work because the image of Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo are so iconic that people would recognize them even without seeing their faces."
Set to a song by the alternative rock band Weezer, the title sequence begins with a series of red and orange hued vertical lines as an array of fruit falls all around. Suddenly, the chase is on as we see Yogi and Boo Boo silhouetted in the background driving a cart that drags a line of picnic tables filled with food, while the alarmed Ranger tries to stop them. The sequence cleverly uses food in every frame, such as cotton candy and popcorn clouds, trees with marshmallow flowers and giant turkey legs, watermelon slices, sandwiches, cherry pie, and hot dogs that dot the landscape and serve as a surface for the credit typography.
Some of the noteworthy scenes in the sequence include a nod to the Super Mario Bros., as Yogi and Boo Boo escape the Ranger by jumping and climbing various food items; and a scene in which Yogi and Boo Boo ride a raft down a waterfall.
"Once we agreed on the use of the silhouette concept, the challenge became to create enough gags to carry the sequence through," says Edwin Baker, yU+co's writer/designer. "We wanted to use the food in abstract ways that helped expand the visual language. The transitions needed to be clever, surprising and fluid. With the stereoscopic we wanted to find new ways to push the food landscape and make it more fun and exciting."
Among the key creative choices yU+co made was to bring a team traditional cel animators aboard to create the silhouetted version of Yogi, Boo Boo, the Ranger, and a new turtle character, created using Flash. While it may seem to some unnecessary to have a cel animation team work on silhouettes, Peng noted that a lot of expression needed to be conveyed in the arm and leg movements of the main characters.
"Because you don't see any facial expressions, it was imperative that we work with character animators because we needed a clear articulation of what the characters are doing based only on arm and legs movements," Peng says. ''Arms and legs had to show the emotions like joy, fear and frustration--very subtle movements and completely different from the motion graphics.''
"Thanks to the film's producer Donald De Line, we had the opportunity to work on this film which gave our design team another added dimension to use their storytelling talents," comments Yu. "As a result, we've developed a great 3D pipeline to produce stereoscopic work and our team can handle just about any kind of project that's out there."
In other yU+co news, the company recently completed work on the main-on-end title sequence for the feature length documentary Waiting for Superman, which was selected as Best Documentary by the National Board of Review and the title sequence for Universal Pictures' recent box office hit, Little Fockers.
Creative Credits:
Project: Yogi Bear main-on-end titles
Client: Warner Bros.
Design/Animation: yU+Co., Hollywood, CA
Creative Director: Garson Yu
Art Director: Synderela Peng
VFX Director/Supervisor: Richard Taylor
Producer: Sarah Coatts
Effects Coordinator: Sean Hoessli
Design Team: Edwin Baker, John Kim, Daryn Wakasa, Etsuko Uji
3D Stereoscopic Compositors: Stevan del George, Mark Velacruz
After Effects: Jill Dadducci, Andres Barajas, Gary Garza, Wayland Vida, Alex Yoon
Animators: Josh Dotson, Eddie Moreno, Noel Belknap, John Dusenberry, Dae In Chung,
Ben Lopez, Pota Tseng
Editorial: Jason Sikora, Latoria Ortiz