What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?Â
I wish I had some stories about odd jobs, but honestly I really don’t. Besides, animation is crazy enough as it is… What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?Â
My first professional gig is also the one of which I’ve been most proud. Years ago I worked as a concept and story artist on the feature film “9” directed by Shane Acker. I was incredibly green, but I learned so much working closely with Shane as his assistant during the development stage of the feature, and then Continue reading
Sometimes during the holidays we can get too distracted by decorations and presents. It takes a good friend’s absence to remind Mr. Woop Man what really matters. Woop woop.
Super Deluxe presents funny and smart videos from funny and smart weirdos who are probably a lot like you. Shorts, series, animations and a smattering of documentaries and music. Something new every day.
Director: Max Winston
Sound Engineer: Chris Votek
Coordinator: Sabine Doerstling
A short film made by Academy Award-winning studio, Aardman Animations (creators of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep). The interesting thing about this film for me is that it’s interactive. Use your mouse to rotate the view to follow Santa and the guard around the courtyard. Pretty cool little device to tell a story!
Find yourself following the adventures of a humble caretaker, who is disturbed by a mysterious stranger on the roof. Who’s there? And the chase begins… room to room… up and down… somehow, mysteriously, just out of sight. But the elusive stranger is always one step ahead, leaving behind only a trail of gifts…
These interactive stories are optimized for a fast connection (WiFi or LTE) and a supported Android device. Also, please update your YouTube app for the best experience.
Full Interactive experience currently optimized for following devices: Nexus 5, 6; Moto X Gen 1st, 2nd; Moto G Gen 1st, 2nd; Droid Ultra, Turbo, Maxx; Samsung Galaxy S5; Samsung Galaxy Note 3, 4, Edge; LG G2, G3; Sony Xperia, Z2, Z3, Z3 Compact; HTC One M7, M8; Nexus 7 (2013); Nexus 10; Samsung Galaxy Tab S2
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About Spotlight Stories:
Google Spotlight Stories is a new form of storytelling made specifically for mobile and VR. In these 360-degree, interactive stories, your phone becomes a window to a world all around you. The sensors on your phone allow the story to be interactive; when you move your phone to various scenes, you are able to unlock mini-stories within the story. Look anywhere, follow individual characters, watch it over again and again on your phone or in Cardboard. If it makes you smile, share it with a friend.
Executive Producers
Heather Wright
Karen Dufilho
Regina Dugan
Technical Project Lead
Rachid El Guerrab
Creative Director, Music & Sound
Scot Stafford
Lead Technical Art Director
Brian Collins
Technical Art Lead
Luca Prasso
Aardman Animations
Story by
Peter Lord
Tim Ruffle
Andy Janes
Sam Morrison
Aardman Animations:
Head of CGI Production: Jess McKillop; Production Manager: Danny Gallagher; Production Co-Ordinator: Hannah Campbell; Technical Supervisors: Philip Child, Ben Toogood; Technical Story Director: Lee Brown; Technical Co-Ordinator: Shane Simms; Camera Programmer: Marco Weber; Storyboard Artist: Andy Janes; Character Design: Nigel Davies; Set Design & Colour Keys: Aurelian Predal; CGI Environment Build: Andy Lavery, Christopher Livesey; Additional Environment Build: Clare Price; CGI Modellers: Christopher Livesey, Tom Lord, Jonathan MacDonald, Antonio Mendoza Salado; CGI Riggers: Christelle Girard, Nathan Guttridge, Chris Kilshaw, Martin Parsons, Clare Price, Vincent Touache; CGI Animation and Supervision: Mathew Rees; CGI Animators: Eva Bennett, Olly Davis, Andy Fossey, John Ogden, Terry Reilly, Inez Woldman; CGI Junior Animators: Morten Andersen, Lasse Rützou Bruntse, Sara Jespersen Holm; 2D Animator: Philip Parker; Voice Talent: Janitor: Rich Webber; Santa: Peter Lord; Pigeon Lady: Jason Fletcher-Bartholomew; Angry Neighbor: Doug Sweetland; Editor: Dan Hembery; Sound Editor: Laura Izzard; Studio Publicity: Anna Lewis
Google Spotlight Stories:
Software Lead: James Ritts; Engine Lead: James Beattie; Tools Lead: Brendan Duncan; Support Engineer: Josiah Larson; Engineering Manager: Brian Clark; Program Manager: Ellen Yang; Technical Artists: Ryan Enslow, Matthew Oursbourn, Kye Wan Sung; Software Engineers: Darren Austin, Andrea Hemphill, Tim Leahy, Guruji Panda, Jamieson Pryor; Support Engineers, Digital Fish: Ken Brain, Mark Decker, Adam Wagner; Graphics Engineers: Jeremy Chernobieff, Daniel Jeppsson, Shaveen Kumar, Houman Meshkin, Timothy Richards, Owens Rodriguez; Tools Engineers: Morgwn McCarty, Eric Mueller, Ciaran Wills; Designer & Compositor: Bryan Woods; QA Lead Test Engineers: Ravi Aluru, Charles Darakdjian; QA Engineers: Jose Camba, Zhichao Ren; Production Assistant: Sara Diamond; Music: Scot Stafford & Dave Lebolt; Music Production: Pollen Music Group; Sound Supervision: Scot Stafford; Sound Design: Jamey Scott; Audio Software Engineer: Wayne Jackson; Google ATAP – Deputy Director: Dan Kaufman; Director of Operations: Holly Lim; Director, Strategy and Partnerships: Cameron Walker; Financial Analyst: Jonathan Bradley; Chief of Staff: Rachel Lillestolen; Program Administration: Matthew Yonaki; Corporate Council: Tom Lue, Zachary Patton; Marketing: Jessica Beavers; Communications Managers: Victoria Cassady, Iska Saric; Social Media Manager: Jaime Schember; Public Relations, the pr kitchen: Fumi Kitahara Otto
Production Babies: Brendan, Caleb, Philip, and Grayson
What is your name and your current occupation?
Name: Ron Yavnieli. Occupation: Animator at Bento Box. I’m also a Voice Actor and Stand-Up Comedian.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
When I was a teenager I worked for a birthday clown company as a character performer. I usually dressed up as Batman but once they sent me out as Barney the Dinosaur. The Barney costume didn’t fit me. I’m 6’2″ and the feet of the costume only came down to my shins. So I was walking around the mall that day with my feet sticking out. People kept saying to me “Nice Sandals Barney” or “You look like Barney on Crack!” At one point a group of mentally challenged adults came up and hugged me, then they tried to pull my mask off but their caretaker called them off before they could. I never did that character again.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Currently my favorite project is “The Sketchy Comedy Show” which I produce and perform in with several other multi- talented Comedians at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank. It’s a show that blends stand-up comedy with Sketches: both the drawn and the performed variety, and music. We have a roster of great Comedians who all Continue reading
My name is Boris Hiestand, and I’m an animator/storyboard artist/character designer/voice over guy.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?Â
I worked as a waiter in a hotel and on a construction site shoveling bricks as a teen, so nothing that crazy really. I knew I wanted to be an animator when I was 14, so focused on that from an early age. I got fired from most of those other jobs as I wasn’t committed to them at all, probably because I was constantly day dreaming about animation!
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?Â
Working at Aardman on “The Pirates; In An Adventure With Scientists” was incredible, because I had never worked on a stop motion project before, and it made me feel like a student again, or a kid in a sweet shop. Being able to walk around those mind blowing sets every day was amazing. Everything you see on the screen is really there physically; the talent and craftsmanship there is truly humbling. “Hotel Transylvania” was very rewarding creatively for me because the style of movement required was very cartoony which is right up my alley. The old Warner’s and MGM Tex Avery shorts were a big inspiration, and I hadn’t seen that done well in CG before. Also, Genndy(Tartakovsky, the director) knew exactly what he wanted and trusted the animators to get on with it, rare qualities in directors of big CG productions unfortunately. It’s easier to change things in CG than it is in hand drawn or stop motion animation, so on CG productions with big budgets they tend to tell you to change shots again and again and again, which is quite draining creatively and rarely improves the quality of a scene. You become a “motion editor” rather than an animator. Genndy however pitched you the shot, you’d go and animate it, show it to him, he’d approve it, done. All the animation I did in that film is really mine, and that felt good.
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands but grew up in a small town called Vught in the south of the country. I always loved drawing and was a big Disney fan, trying to master their drawing style by Continue reading
 In typical Google fashion, today’s Google Doodle is a cool little animated story about Beethoven’s horse eating his symphony where you actually help him place bits of his famous symphonies in the right order.
The style is nicely done as well, sort of looking like visual development for a Disney feature or maybe some cut out animation.
