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May
2009 |
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AOD:
Tell
us about
your
childhood...growing
up in
England.
HARRY
DORRINGTON:
I had
a happy
childhood.
I was
born
in the
south
of England
near
the
historic
naval
town
of Portsmouth.
Later
my family
moved
to Yorkshire.
There
were
always
televisions
in the
house
because
my father
managed
a factory
that
made
them.
This
was
a time
when
there
were
only
3 channels:
BBC1;
BBC2;
and
the
independent
channel.
The
channels
started
broadcasting
in the
morning
and
they
went
off
the
air
at midnight
–
sounds
positively
ancient
now!
When
I was
young,
the
TV show
that
I watched
religiously
was
Gerry
Anderson's
Thunderbirds.
(www.tvcentury21.com)
This
was
followed
by Captain
Scarlet,
Space
1999,
and
UFO.
Looking
at these
shows
now,
the
production
looks
quaint
but
at the
time
this
was
cutting
edge.
This
was
a time
when
children's
programmes
didn't
have
to generate
merchandising
opportunities
to justify
their
existence.
The
programs
were
made
to incredibly
high
levels
of design
and
production.
The
fact
that
the
actors
were
puppets
didn't
get
in the
way
of ambitious
plot
lines.
The
English
sense
of humor
is always
commented
on around
the
world.
British
TV excelled
at this
when
I was
growing
up and
a big
impact
for
my generation
was
Monty
Python's
Flying
Circus.
The
pure
blank
canvas
approach
to the
show
was
revolutionary,
the
surrealism
was
shocking.
At school,
two
teachers
played
an important
part
in awakening
my interest
in the
arts.
The
school
was
known
for
its
drama
productions
and
the
idea
of being
involved
in a
"production"
was
exciting.
I was
intrigued
in the
planning
and
the
direction
of the
productions.
I started
to do
stage
designs
and
also
direction.
At the
same
time
my art
teacher
was
a big
influence.
His
lessons
covered
a wide
base
from
life
drawing
to architecture
and
included
a lot
of history.
From
his
lessons,
I learned
to take
inspiration
from
everything
around
me.
By the
end
of school
I had
two
options
in front
of me:
studying
drama
or graphics
at university.
I remember
speaking
to a
graduating
student
at the
drama
university.
He described
the
ratio
of unemployed
to employed
actors.
It was
alarmingly
disproportionate.
I wanted
to direct
and
with
a quick
calculation,
my odds
of success
were
going
to be
even
thinner.
The
design
university
liked
my artwork
from
school.
I was
already
experimenting
with
storyboarding
for
animations
and,
as this
university
offered
an exciting
TV and
animation
major,
I accepted
a place.
I was
off! |
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| Snog
–
Half
snail
- Half
frog |
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AOD:
Can
you
recall
your
'breakthrough'
moment
in the
industry?
HARRY
DORRINGTON:
I had
left
the
BBC
to work
for
a group
of ex-BBC
designers
in Soho,
and
the
industry
was
changing;
the
digital
transformation
had
begun.
Computer
Graphics
were
beginning
to become
viable.
Motion
Control
Camera
systems
were
offering
incredible
possibilities.
The
first
generation
of digital
compositing
systems
were
arriving
in London
facilities.
In London,
the
people
who
really
understood
these
systems
were
TV graphic
designers
who
were
using
them
for
designing
title
and
presentation
sequences.
In the
commercial
world,
there
was
a gap
of knowledge
about
how
this
technology
worked
but
the
agencies
were
eager
to use
it.
Agencies
approached
the
few
companies
made
up of
TV designers,
most
ex-BBC,
and
started
to ask
them
to direct
commercials.
I had
done
a lot
of TV
titles
and
promotional
work
by this
stage.
There
were
still
reasonable
budgets
and
I had
the
chance
to incorporate
lots
of techniques
including
stop
frame,
CG,
models,
and
live
action.
A script
came
in from
Young
and
Rubicam
for
Arthur
Andersen
Consultants
(now
Accenture).
The
script
called
for
a snail
to transform
into
a frog,
visually
representing
the
importance
of adaptation
in a
changing
economic
environment.
The
usual
approach
would
be to
cut
away
to close
ups
and
then
back
to the
wide
to reveal
the
transformation.
I wanted
to have
no cuts
so the
viewer
would
see
the
whole
transformation
happen
in one
shot.
After
lots
of research,
I decided
on a
mixed-technique
solution.
It utilized
a line
test
animation
to describe
the
gradual
transformation.
This
showed
how
limbs
changed,
how
the
shell
became
the
frog's
back
and
how
the
snail's
eye
stalks
shrunk
to form
the
frog's
eyes.
With
this
blueprint,
I had
some
amazing
models
built
(www.asylumsfx.com).
These
models
were
also
animatronics
and
could
be puppertered.
We had
four
stages
of models:
snail;
half
snail;
half
frog;
and
full
frog.
I filmed
the
four
models
with
a motion
control
camera
and
then
we combined
them
at Framestore.
We built
some
CG limbs
to help
the
transformations.
The
spot
was
called
'Snog'
(half
snail
- half
frog).
It won
a lot
of awards
and
allowed
me to
move
into
more
commercial
direction.
Ultimately
it got
me noticed
in Europe
and
eventually
the
USA
where
I worked
at R.Greenberg
Associates.
(www.rga.com) |
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| Ruby's
Headquarters–
ATI's
Digital
Superstar |
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AOD:
You
have
won
numerous
prestigious
awards,
but
what
was
your
most
satisfying
project?
HARRY
DORRINGTON:
Difficult
one.
Part
of me
thinks
that
the
most
satisfying
ones
are
the
ones
that
never
got
made.
They
play
perfectly
in my
head;
they
haven't
gone
through
all
the
various
compromises
of production.
In hindsight,
and
you
need
time
to realize
these
things,
I think
the
series
that
we did
for
ATI
were
a lot
of fun
and
a real
challenge
from
creative
to technical.
I was
really
fortunate
to have
a great
team
at Rhino
when
this
project
came
in and
everyone
who
worked
on it
benefited
from
being
involved
in this
project,
which
was
satisfying.
The
project
started
as a
one-off
technical
demo
for
ATI's
new
real
time
graphic
card.
They
wanted
to show
how
their
card
could
produce
real
time
'cinematic'
CGI.
I designed
a character,
named
Ruby,
and
a short
story
to show
off
the
technology.
I felt
it was
important
to have
something
the
audience-
video
gamers
–
could
engage
with
as a
character
and
a story.
It had
to be
cutting-edge,
this
was
showing
off
technology
that
was
about
to happen.
The
series
culminated
in demonstrating
the
technology
being
used
in the
Xbox
360.
The
project
was
a challenge
as we
were
always
pushing
what
the
graphic
board
could
produce
in a
real
time
mode.
For
example,
how
many
characters
could
be on
screen
and
how
much
detail
they
and
the
environment
was
rendered
with.
As the
prototypes
of the
board
were
being
built
we were
producing
the
demos,
so there
was
a lot
of going
back
and
forwards.
The
character
and
the
first
installment,
The
Double-Cross,
really
took
off.
It was
launched
on the
Web
and
on the
first
day
their
Web
site
went
down
due
to the
amount
of hits.
The
character
became
a big
success
at conventions
and
became
the
company's
brand
icon.
There
were
competitions
in Asia
to find
a look-alike
Ruby.
There
is even
an action
figure
that
ATI
manufactured.
I gauge
the
success
of a
character
design
on the
fact
that
the
client
makes
a costume
based
on the
digital
design
for
promotional
use
in the
real
world.
There
have
been
many
versions
of Ruby
around
the
world.
(ati.amd.com/ruby/index.html) |
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| VISE
–
Grip |
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AOD:
What
is your
favorite
creative
medium,
and
why?
HARRY
DORRINGTON:
I have
had
the
opportunity
to work
in a
lot
of areas.
I have
done
TV title
design,
TV design
brand
identity
when
I worked
with
the
brilliant
Martin
Lambie-Nairn
(www.lambie-nairn.com).
TV commercials,
film
FX,
with
Rhino,
and
now
new
media.
Ultimately
they
share
the
same
design
criteria
and
end-result,
which
is engaging
and
entertaining.
These
productions
have
used
every
animation
and
live
action
technique
available.
Each
technique
I have
used
has
informed
the
next.
They
are
all
related.
For
example,
my experience
with
actors
has
helped
me with
directing
animation.
My experience
with
music
informs
how
the
sequences
are
edited. |
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| Kmart
–
Storyboards |
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AOD:
How
did
you
land
the
Kmart
project,
and
how
difficult
was
it to
adapt
to a
different
retail
culture?
HARRY
DORRINGTON:
We were
approached
by the
agency,
Grey
New
York,
who
had
the
account
at the
time
and
asked
us to
pitch,
for
developing
a character
and
to produce
an initial
campaign.
I was
lucky
to work
with
a great
animator
at Rhino
called
Goran
Ognjanovic.
We were
able
to produce
a finished
test
in five
days
that
explained
to the
agency
and
client
every
stage
of production
from
character
design
to final
compositing
with
live
action.
This
test
won
us the
job.
We have
been
working
on Kmart
and
Mr.
Bluelight
for
the
last
two
years
and
it has
offered
us some
unique
challenges.
The
turnaround
for
the
commercials
are
very
quick
(two
weeks
in some
cases)
and
there
is a
large
amount
of production
with
holiday
campaigns.
We often
have
to work
with
live
action
directors
who
have
no experience
in animation
or visual
effects.
I am
unaware
of a
CG character
done
to a
photo-real
level
that
is combined
with
live
action
on such
a quick
turnaround.
And
the
reason
is the
retail
aspect.
This
is a
demanding
business
that
often
has
to change
to accommodate
shifting
sales
very
quickly.
Invariably,
things
need
to be
changed.
Having
said
that,
Kmart
and
the
current
agency,
Draft/FCB
Chicago,
are
excellent
to work
with.
At the
beginning
of the
relationship,
I was
able
to invite
them
to Rhino
and
walk
the
agency
and
client
through
the
studio
and
show
them
all
the
various
production
stages.
With
CG commercials,
production
time
is such
an important
aspect
of the
process.
Planning
and
allowing
for
approvals
is really
crucial
to giving
Rhino's
team
a chance
of producing
quality
work.
The
agency
and
client
really
try
to honor
this.
We have
adapted
our
production
pipeline
and
can
offer
storyboarding,
pre-visualization
sequences,
animation,
lighting
and
compositing
very
quickly
with
time
for
reviews
and
client
approvals.
The
character
has
been
really
successful
in raising
brand
awareness.
And,
yes,
there
is a
Mr.
Bluelight
suit! |
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| Kmart
–
Mr.
Bluelight |
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AOD:
What
are
you
working
on right
now?
HARRY
DORRINGTON:
Two
very
different
projects,
which
is great
because
variation
keeps
it fresh.
One
is for
Oreo
and
features
a live
action
cow
and
a boy.
The
boy
has
found
out
that
his
Oreo
cookie
magnetically
attracts
the
milk
inside
the
cow's
udder.
Myself,
Jim
Rider
(Flame
operator)
and
Yuval
Levy
(CGI
supervisor),
have
spent
the
last
weeks
studying
every
aspect
of a
cow's
udder
so that
we can
animate
it in
CG.
A strange
commercial,
but
very
funny
and
a nice
use
of some
lateral
thinking
from
the
agency.
The
other
is a
Web
and
viral
campaign
for
Kleenex.
It depicts
a character
that
represents,
topically,
a flu
bug.
We are
working
on character
design,
some
animations
for
the
Web
site,
banner
adverts
and
some
Webisodes.
(www.battlethebug.com).
And,
of course,
they
are
building
a costume
for
public
appearances. |
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| Kleenex
–
Flue
Bug |
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