After my internship ended at HouseSpecial, I was fortunate enough to be brought back for the Travel Portland campaign, which included a commercial and an online campaign. It was a real treat to see this project from the very early concept stages through fabrication and production.
The goal of this spot was to showcase a number of Portland businesses and attractions in a short amount of time. By keeping the camera stationary and using in-shot transitions the team at HouseSpecial did just that.
With the skills I had learned on previous projects, I wanted to stick my hands into as many areas of this production as possible. Starting in pre-production, along with a small team of artists, I helped visualize characters, outfits, props, and environments. While there were only a few base puppets made for this spot, each character had a variety of different outfits, hairstyles, and accessories.
Following the conceptual phase, I jumped into the fabrication world to help bring the designs to life. Having knowledge of illustrator, I would often be put to work helming the laser cutter to create all kinds of bits and bobs ranging from large shelving to the tiniest pair of sunglasses. When not laser wrangling, I helped out in background painting, model making, and set painting. One of the most rewarding aspects of being at a place like HouseSpecial was the ability to explore so many avenues of making.
The final element of this project that I worked on was the online component which can be seen here or via the link above. I was responsible for designing and painting the Squatch and his accessories. The goal was to follow the same design aesthetic as the pre-production artwork. The accessories underwent multiple rounds of changes, but I am really happy with how it all turned out. Keeping track of everything got a bit crazy at times, but forced me to stay super organized while working. I couldn't be happier to have participated on such a unique project for a wonderful city. Many thanks to HouseSpecial for keeping me on for this spot!
For a quick glimpse at what it took to make this commercial come alive, check out the the making of video below! (das me at 0:19)