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Sunday, 23 April 2006 | Levent OZLER
PSYOP Creates Visual Haiku for MTV HD
 mtvhd 90 sm.mov ( 20MB )
It has been said that "God is in the details." That sentiment is strikingly rendered in a series of new station identification spots for MTV HD, co-directed by Psyop's Marco Spier and Marie Hyon. The revolutionary network will feature exclusively HD work and 5.1 surround sound from MTV, VH1 and CMT. Psyop designed six 15-second station IDs which are extracts from a strikingly detailed 90-second film, also to be aired in its entirety on MTV HD.
"This was a great opportunity," says Justin Booth Clibborn, Psyop's executive producer. "MTV asked us to "do our thing" and create a spot that would really push the limits of the format. They gave us their complete trust and support to come up with something very different and unexpected. What we gave them can best be described as a 'visual haiku,' a spot that is all the more detailed and effective because of its seeming minimalism."
"MTV gave us complete creative license," agrees Hyon. "The only creative rule we had to follow was that it was about music. Our creative exploration focused on the intersection of visual art and sound, and we were determined to create something stark in color and organic in motion. Our task was ultimately to translate the purity of the music into a moving picture. Following that, we approached this project as if it was a video installation, rather than on-air packaging- HD would allow us to create a more powerful and more fully immersive experience. We wanted to create a truly epic piece."
Opening with a stark white background, three jet-black birds fly smoothly across the scene emitting a branching black energy. A spare yet profoundly resonant musical score plays in the background. As a single bird alights on a solitary tree branch it multiplies into a thick, yet leafless tree. A huge flock of birds form a dense mass swirling in the sky, only to suddenly freeze against their desolate landscape and smudge into the bark of a birch tree. The birch is quickly blended into an increasingly dense forest of black and white trees, which is overrun by an even denser flock of the black birds. As the screen turns almost entirely to ebony, a few stray spots of white form a reflective gloss on the many-feathered wing of a single bird. The piece ends with the bird spreading its wings as it drops a single feather.
"We were fascinated by the particulars of this project," says Spier. "We've done HD work before, but always with the knowledge that the work would also be viewed in NTSC. This time, viewers will only be seeing this in HD. We had the unique opportunity to take advantage of the technology and include detailed elements that would be very problematic to accomplish in NTSC. That's how this spot ended up with so many thin, high-contrast lines that would buzz like crazy on regular television. We were able to actively work with those kinds of elements, knowing the resolution would support it."
Interestingly, the luxury that allowed such intense detail proved to be the project's biggest challenge:
"When working with HD, every frame becomes insanely big," explains Hyon. "That makes for increased render times and much slower processing, especially when you're creating some 120 forest scenes, as we did for this. In many ways, it felt like the way we worked in NTSC five or six years ago. And more than that, HD won't let you hide little errors the way you can in NTSC. With this level of detail, it has got to be flawless."
If one listens closely, the spot's music as composed by Q Department-founder Drazen Bosnjak can be interpreted as a distinctly modernized version of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," an immortal piece known for its myriad layers.
"It was great working with Drazen," says Spier. "We were very much in sync about how the project would evolve. Throughout the project, we were interested in walking the line between abstraction and realism, all while experimenting with different forms and shapes. Listening to the music, birds came to mind, because they have this incredible range of form. They can be very still and smooth, then suddenly become frenetic and full of energy, much like music. We wanted to convey this sense of extreme density, yet also focus on the minute detail that makes up that density."
The subtle yet visceral imagery of the spot was created using a combination of SOFTIMAGE|XSI and Autodesk Maya for 3D, together with Adobe Photoshop and Discreet Flame for effects and finishing. Although they have worked in HD many times before, Spier and Hyon faced a new and uniquely tempting challenge with the MTV HD project:
MTV HD Station ID's: "Crow"
Airdate: March 2006
1x 90sec
6x 15sec
Directors
Marie Hyon and Marco Spier
Executive Producer
Justin Booth-Clibborn
Producer
Lucia Grillo
Flame Artist
Eben Mears
Lead 3-D Artist
Pakorn Bupphavesa
3D Artists/Animators
Laurent Barthelemy
Alvin Bae
Todd Akita
Kevin Estey
Damon Ciarelli
Dave Barosin
Jason Goodman
Lutz Vogel
Mate Steinforth
Ajit Menon
2D/Rotoscope
Ella Boliver
J Bush
BeeJin Tan
Junior Flame
Jaime Aguirre
Editor
Brett Goldberg
Music: Q Department
Producer: Julie Hurwitz
Composer: Drazen Bosnjak
MTV On Air Design
Producer: Raffaela Saccone
Senior Design Director: Rodger Belknap
Vice President: Romy Mann
Tech Credits for MTV:
SOFTIMAGE|XSI
Autodesk Maya for 3D
Adobe Photoshop
Discreet Flame
About PSYOP
New York City-based PSYOP is an inspiring culmination of creativity, collaboration and production focused on providing visual solutions in motion for the advertising & marketing, video gaming, broadcast and music video industries.
Founded in 2000 by five creative partners, the company continues its insurgence into these industries with its distinct conceptual approach, collaborative nature and dynamically fresh aesthetics. Seamlessly blending the disciplines of design, animation and live-action directing PSYOP approaches elaborate challenges with extraordinary creative and technical flexibility providing unique solutions and design with meaning.
PSYOP's appropriation of the identity of the United States government's division of psychological operations represents a critical awareness of the power that advertising has and the importance of accurate and targeted communications. Their motto is "Persuade, Change & Influence"
PSYOP's work has garnered award recognition at, amongst others, the AICP, the Clios, the Broadcast Design Awards (BDA), ID Magazine and British Design and Art Direction (D&AD), and is receiving wide attention in numerous publications around the World.
PSYOP: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/7691/
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