Kia Hamsters Awarded By Hollywood Post Alliance

Framestore's four months of intense CG and compositing work for Kia Soul This or That was singled out over the weekend for a prestigious Hollywood Post Alliance accolade.
The award was given for Outstanding Compositing - Commercials.
The sport, created for David & Goliath and helmed by Partizan's big post director, Antoine Bardou-Jacquet (Honda Cog), featured rapping CG rodents who needed to be seamlessly composited into live action plates.
From a total of 53 VFX shots, 45 required CG hamsters. These were realised by shooting actors in hamster-proportioned costumes with bluescreen covering the areas where CG hamsters parts would be visible - ie: face, hands and legs. These were then painstakingly body tracked and CG models were applied. Close-up performance reference footage was also shot as a guide for the rapping rodents' CG lip-synch.
Framestore's MD Helen Stanley said: "Our big VFX jobs always require a certain amount of blood, sweat and tears so it's extra rewarding when such a production gets singled-out as a winner, especially when it's Hollywood that's doing the recognising!"
The HPA trophy will join Framestore's two new Clio statues that were awarded earlier in 2010: a gold animation for Activision's DJ Hero game and a visual effects bronze for Pepsi Rising. Kia Soul This or That was also awarded the 2009 People's Choice award at the Australian Effects & Animation Festival (AEAF) and DJ Hero won Best Commercial Animation at the same event.
(KMcA)