Pinnacle Horny Goat Weed is a natural aphrodisiac manufactured by Bodyonics. They went to HQ Productions' Mitchell Stuart to do their first broadcast advertising. Mitchell Stuart saw the benefits of having an animated spokesman tout their product-- but there was a problem-- TIME! He had a couple of weeks before his live action shoot, but the deadline for postproduction was extremely short-- about two weeks.
Buzzco Associates came up with a solution. A combination of vast experience and new technology enabled Buzzco to start the animation before the live was shot. They were able to have a video pencil test at the shoot, which they fed into a switcher to see the live action and animation together. And Buzzco, Mitchell and the actor could check the interaction and eye contact right there on the set! The result was a seamless spot, conformed and combined a few days after the final cut was approved by the client.
When we got the call to create the animation for Horny Goat Weed, we thought it was a joke!
But no-- this was a real product and a very real live and animation shoot!
This was a time when we were getting used to the digital revolution. Within the previous decade we would have had to shoot and combine on film or tape-- a tedious and long process involving rotoscoping and making mats for the animated characters. But having the possibility, with a very tight schedule, of creating the animation independent of the live shoot and having it available for the actor's performance and camera positioning was close to a miracle!
And by the way, many clients seeing our demo reel thought it was a Saturday Night Live fake ad!
Agency: West End Stories, inc.
Production House: HQ Productions
Agency Executive Producer: Mitchell Stuart
Agency Producer: Mauricio Vasquez
Agency Creative Director/Writer: Mitchell Stuart
Agency Art Directors: Matt Karol
Account Executive: Jared Alechman
Director: Mitchell Stuart
Cinematographer: Nicholas Hoffman
Off-line edit: Helen Pfeffer
Animation Production House: Buzzco Associates, Inc.
Directors: Candy Kugel and Vincent Cafarelli
Design: Candy Kugel
Goat Design: Matt Karol and Bill Peckmann
Layout: Bill Peckmann
Animators: Vincent Bell/Vincent Cafarelli
Assistant: Richard Broas
