Crazybridge News

Our latest spots reel is online, including our original concept design and animation for Pretzamazings.

Crazybridge Studios Spots 2012 from Crazybridge Studios on Vimeo.

Work included:

On April 27, 2011, a giant EF4 tornado cut an 80-mile swath through the middle of Tuscaloosa, Alabama killing 65 people and causing billions of dollars in damage.  At its peak, the twister was 1 1/2 miles wide.  Tornado 360 follows the harrowing minute-by-minute experiences of some of those caught helpless in the giant storm’s path.  The graphics we produced for the special illustrate the peril facing the town that afternoon.

From the Weather Channel:

Cutting edge graphics and animations reveal exactly how a simple twist in the wind can grow into an EF5 Tornado – “The Finger of God” – and how a particular storm created four EF5 twisters in a single day… resulting in $11 billion dollars in damage.

The investigation begins in the moment a tornado supercell formed above Little Rock, Arkansas and continues through the series of twisters tearing through city neighborhoods in Alabama for hours… to the teams of volunteers providing support to survivors.

TORNADO 360 uses detailed computer graphics to examine every moment of this once-in-a-lifetime disaster.  We will zoom into locations directly in the storm’s path, then hear gripping accounts and witness first-person video from the men and women who met the storm head on.

Whether it’s the man who rushes out to save his neighbor… to a woman who holds onto her infants in a bathtub while her house disintegrates around her… we’ll discover stories of heroism in the face of the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded. Every angle is uncovered in TORNADO 360.

Tornado 360 is premiering as part of Tornado Week on the Weather Channel

Monday, April 29 at 9/8c and again Sunday, May 5 8:30/7:30c

Much of our work is in the world of non-fiction and documentary programming.  We’ve compiled some of the most compelling CGI we’ve created specifically involving living things for nature, scientific, travel, and true crime shows into one reel.

Crazybridge Studios Biology from Crazybridge Studios on Vimeo.

Work included from:

• Life After People (History)
• LA Forensices (CourtTV)
• Will to Live (TV One)
• Inside Extraordinary Humans (National Geographic)
• Bird Island: The Story of Isla Rasa (Independent Film)
  Merit Award for Animation, 34th Annual International Wildlife Film Festival
• Life After People (History)
• Off Limits (Travel Channel)

Join geneticist Spencer Wells as he traces the origins of a fascinating and surprisingly recent development in human evolution: lactase persistence, the genetic mutation that now allows 1/3 of the world’s adults to digest milk.  Through genetics, archeology, and genealogy, scientists piece together the puzzle of our DNA and determine that the lactase persistence mutation appeared only 10,000 years ago — right around the time humans started domesticating cows.  This timing and the speed with which it has since spread through the population make it a remarkable example of genetic co-evolution.

“Got Lactase? The Co-evolution of Genes and Culture,” the latest short film for high school science students from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is now online.

Watch it here. (15 minutes)

The graphics for a special we worked on last year have been nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy!

HISTORY’s The History of the World in Two Hours was nominated for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Graphic Design & Art Direction.  Congratulations to the talented artists here at Crazybridge (3rd time’s a charm!),  the other VFX teams that worked on the show, and to Flight 33 Productions!

The awards will be presented October 1 at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Earlier this year, we produced the VFX for a Milky Way spec spot, including sky replacement, 3D animation, and compositing.  We had a great time working on the project, which is why it’s even sweeter that the piece just won a 2102 Telly.  Congratulations to the team at United Film House and here’s to many more!

You can see the spot in its entirety on our site in the “Commercials” reel.

March 22 marks the premiere of the special Omens of the Apocalypse on National Geographic. It’s a compelling look at the 2011 mass blackbird die-off in Beebe, Arkansas. The film is unusual not only for its subject matter, but its quirky tone.  Crazybridge created some funny 3D and 2D animations that we’re really proud of, but are hard to describe.

Here’s how National Geographic describes the show:

The year 2011 gets off to a disturbing start. On New Years Eve, blackbirds die in Beebe, Arkansas by the thousands. Nearby, fish and more birds perish. Then a wave of unsettling animal deaths seems to sweep the globe. Are the deaths connected? A wide-ranging story begins with an investigation of the blackbirds death and ends by assessing how the human mind is inspired, or derailed, by seeming patterns or coincidences in nature.

Tune Thursday at 10pm Eastern/Pacific.

Following up last year’s successful Earth: The Operators’ Manual, PBS will be airing two new hours on our changing climate and cutting edge energy production.

Hosted again by Dr. Richard Alley, Powering the Planet and Energy Quest USA premiere on Earth Day alongside a rebroadcast of the original show.

Here’s a sneak peak at some of the CGI:

The three shows are scheduled to air on PBS Sunday April 22, local air times may vary.  You can watch the first show in its entirety on the E-TOM site.

Last summer, Crazybridge Studios was asked to create the motion graphics package and all 3D animations for a 10-part series on TV One called Will to Live.  The show features first person interviews and reenactments of people in dire, life-threatening situations and the inspiration they take from living to tell about them.

To emphasize the show’s focus on life-and-death situations, the show’s suspenseful tease is accompanied by a rhythmic heartbeat, visually represented by an EKG.  The pulse quickens and quickens until it flat lines, and as the title resolves, the beats resume.

The stories cover the gamut of harrowing situations, from spinal injuries to near death at the hands of a serial killer, so the 3D animations in each episode need to visualize emergency situations, bullet trajectories, medical procedures, and more.

In addition to these graphics, Crazybridge also created numerous visual effects, including bullet hits, muzzle flashes, and on-screen graphics.

Watch full episodes on TV One’s Will to Live site.

The buzz around Becoming Chaz is building and the reviews are great.  The documentary airs tomorrow on OWN at 9/8c.  There’s an in-depth article in the New York Times, and this one in the LA Times.

Crazybridge created the main title, as well as several motion graphics and medical diagrams.  We also designed the film’s poster.

OWN recently sent out promotional copies of their shows for Emmy consideration, and it was gratifying to see our poster adapted for the DVD sleeve.