The Briefing Room

The Brief

In a recently released video for Kanye West, the rhinofx team helped create other-worldly effects to help the artist get Stronger. Filmed in New York, Los Angeles, and Japan, the video pays visual homage to an anime style and includes CG holograms, machines, and animated effects for West‘s hit song featuring a prominent sample from Daft Punk. The clip has already received a 2007 nomination for the MTV VMA‘s Video of the Year.

From rhinofx VFX Supervisor Vico Sharabani

The process of this project was totally unconventional. Kanye approached the creation of this video the same way he writes a song. He wanted to put different elements together and according to how they relate to each-other he would then take the next step. This made for a very creative environment with a quickly-evolving vision. Originally, there were supposed to be just four machine shots, but when we showed them the style frame we created for the machine, Kanye decided to re-edit the video around the machine, adding a dozen more shots. Kanye is a very talented visual artist and his passion translates to the way he manages the process. The whole process was very intimate and fast paced, with ideas flying around 24/7. It was a truly amazing creative collaboration between Kanye, Hype, our team, and editorial; everyone contributed to every aspect of the job. It was also very rewarding to hear of the video nomination for the MTV music awards.

From CG Director/Project Lead Natasha Saenko

When rhinofx was officially hired for Stronger, we all felt that it was a really amazing job, out of the ordinary, and with a ton of potential. With a very tight deadline, the creative process moved quickly and all of the artists contributed some their best work. Internally, it was truly a combined effort as our 3D modelers had to design and model on the fly, our animators had to quickly compose, track, and animate various versions of the scanning machine and our lighters had to create the look and the most efficient ways to render. Our Fusion/Inferno compositors then created the magic of placing live-action Kanye into CG-generated environments and gave it that final filmic feel to make it all blend. The Inferno team also came up with various ways of quickly generating anime style backgrounds and cartoon shaded fire and smoke.

The mega-hit single will be part of West‘s upcoming Graduation album and video is airing across MTV networks and has already registered millions of online views. Rick Wagonheim, rhinofx‘s Partner/Managing Director notes, “This was a really challenging project with a lot of moving visual parts and it took a real team effort under Vico‘s direction. We are really happy with the output and thrilled at how much interest and recognition video has already generated.”



View Media: rhinofx Media Center

Creds

Artist: Kanye West

Song: Stronger

Airdate: August 2007

Prod Co: GOOD Pictures

Director: Hype Williams

Post Supervisor: Amelia Torabi

EP: Susan Linss

Add‘l Production: Naaila Entertainment

Post/Effects: rhinofx

VFX Supervisor: Vico Sharabani

CG Director/Project Lead: Natasha Saenko

Modeler(s): Brian DiNoto, Bogdan Mihajlovic

Compositing Artist (s): Chris DiFiore, Nitant Karnik

Rodrigo De La Parra

Lighter(s): Ivan Guerrero, Jasmine Katatikarn, Aditi Kapoor

Digital Artist: Neo Afan

Animator(s): Walter Lubinski, Ian Brauner

Inferno Artist(s): John Budion, Niklaus Schlumpf, Julie Mai

Inferno Assistant: Barry Furlano

Roto/Smoke Animation: Sal Randazzo

Exec. Producer: Yfat Neev

SVP Production: Camille Geier

Managing Director/Partner: Rick Wagonheim

About rhinofx:

Since its launch in 2000, rhinofx has created award-winning visual effects, design, and animation for commercials, VFX for feature films, episodic television, webisodic mini-series, and videogame cinematics. The company‘s principals and artists have also led the industry‘s exploration into the boundless potential of branded digital content. By cultivating extensive relationships with key brands, advertising agencies, and film/TV studios, rhinofx utilizes its creative directors and artists to develop and execute powerful branded entertainment to build both identity and awareness. The company‘s principals include: Partner/CD/Director: Vico Sharabani, CD/Director: Harry Dorrington, CD/Director: Arman Matin, CD/Director: Natasha Saenko, SVP of Production: Camille Geier, and Partner/Managing Director: Rick Wagonheim.

For additional information, please contact: xtrainfo@trustcollective.com