Z Animation and John Ryan Create Animated Spots for Lee Company and GS&F Advertising

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GS&F picked Z Animation, and director, John Ryan to design and animate a campaign of 4 spots for their client Lee Company.

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Z Animation

(323)251-1655
Contact: Peter Barg

Z Animation and John Ryan Create Animated Spots for Lee Company and GS&F Advertising

GS&F picked Z Animation, (www.zanimation.tv), and director, John Ryan to design and animate a campaign of 4 spots for their client Lee Company.

Created by agency GS&F Advertising in Nashville, TN, the multi media spots blend paper cutout with photo collage and traditional 2D animation. The spot was produced by Z Animation Executive Producer Peter Barg, and animated by John Ryan and Lucas Ryan.

In one spot, we are introduced to a nice suburban neighborhood in the middle of summer. On this particular day, three separate households are experiencing a familiar dilemma. The first house is suffering from a truant AC repairman. The second house is having trouble with their sink and their inability to find a plumber. The final household has a smoking ceiling fan. The Lee Company van drives up to the rescue with narration that points out that “when home emergencies happen, you don’t always have time to find the right people, unless you rely on Lee Company. When it comes to home services, Lee Company is all you need.”

Animation Director John Ryan says that the decision to use this paper cut-out/photographic model technique for the spot was based on trying to achieve a level of animation that depicts the environment as being richly textured, but with a hand-crafted feel to it.

Ryan also points out that it was a unique opportunity to never show the families arguing/complaining about their home service troubles. The two reasons he pointed out for this are: 1) the Lee Company Van and repairman needs to be revealed in the end as the hero, and 2) it is more fun for the audience to create their own image of the drama taking place behind closed doors.

Using Softimage TOONZ and Corel Painter, Animation Director, John Ryan, set forth to create a visually-interesting world that closely-resembled reality, while maintaining that abstract edge that would make the spot impossible to create using live action. Paper cut-outs and photographic models were used for every element seen on screen.

The GS&F Team for the Lee Co. is headed by:
Steven Napoli – Sr. Account Executive
Kerry Oliver – Sr. VP Creative Director
Adam Pawloski – Sr. Copywriter (Who also wrote and performed the music bed)
Joe Weaver – Sr. Art Director
Rebecca Scarpati – Producer

Post-production audio was conducted by Phil Gazell at NPALL Audio.

GS&F provides advertising and marketing services with a little help from its friends. Services include creative development in print and broadcast media, media buying services, public relations, interactive marketing, and design services

Z Animation is an independent commercial animation design and production company whose goal is to be a valuable creative toolbox for agency art directors, writers and producers. Founded by former Agency Executive Producer Peter Barg, Z Animation’s directors include Caroline Attia, Orrin Zucker, Odd Todd, John Vondracek, Paul Fierlinger, and 20 more with a full range of techniques including 3D, Flash, Cel, rotoscope, papercut out, and motion graphics.

Z Animation is represented nationally by:
Mark Mirsky, 212 753 1312; East Coast
Dan O’Brien, 312 828-0990; Midwest
Doug Stephen, 773 610 6881; Midwest
Gilles de Bohnfilhs, 818 788 3309; West Coast

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