Nexus is hiring (see below – thnx Rebecca!).

Watch Paint it Black – directed by the always impressive Smith & Foulkes (thnx Alie!)

Watch Volkswagon Autostadt – directed by Jim Le Fevre (thnx Alie!)

JOB POST ~ Nexus Productions is an independent animation studio based in London and they have been doing plenty of incredible work with some more-than-impressive spots lately (see above and below). From Nexus: “We are urgently looking for freelance motion graphic designers with some knowledge of 3D to work on a number of projects for our Interactive Arts Divison. We are especially keen to hear from designers with experience in 3D Studio Max. All positions are on a freelance basis and work is based in-house in our studio in Shoreditch.

TO APPLY please send a link to your online reel and copy of your cv as a pdf to: jobs@nexusproductions.com

Some of Nexus’ recent works:

Paint it Black for Panasonic: Nexus directors Smith & Foulkes worked their own brand of black magic for Australian agency the Campaign Palace, creating a brilliant CG animation for the launch of the new Panasonic Neoplasma television. Running through some of the dark associations that can be made with black, under a classic B-movie voiceover, the film ends with an explosive celebration of the fact that black allows other colours to stand out.

Smith & Foulkes added, “We’ve spent a lot of time recently inventing labyrinthine technicoloured universes of animated tomfoolery and a lot of dancing robots. Which is fine by us. But occasionally it’s nice to get our hands on something a little more minimalist. A simple lump of ‘black’, whatever that is, that can instantly transform from one thing to the next. The biggest trap to fall into with this format is to turn it into a bit of a list. So the challenge for us was to keep the ‘see what you say’ narrative interesting, surprising and fun throughout. We wanted the design of the characters to have the extra sophistication that would suit the ‘high-end’ product, so we worked with the designer Mark Gmehling whose incredible character designs we have long admired.”

Volkswagon Autostadt: Autostadt Gmbh in Wolfsburg, Germany, showcases the Volkswagen brand as well as being a cultural platform for its customers, car fans and the local community. Director, Jim Le Fevre and Nexus Productions were commissioned to create a film for the park that would show the variety of experiences available. The film will welcome visitors on a 16 foot screen at the park.

Director Jim Le Fevre added, “The challenge in creating the Autostadt 10th Anniversary film lay in many levels, first and foremost was trying to figure out precisely what the film was meant to do as it fell out of the remit of a traditional ‘advert’. After many trips to the park we realised that it had to be seen through the eyes of a family that perfectly represented a range of differing attitudes and expectations but were all united in discovering it for the first time.There are so many aspects to the park which, through the development of the script we narrowed down to eight core situations/areas which visitors could experience although there were many we couldn’t show due to the limitations of length of the film. Plotting the family’s ‘day’ allowed us to structure these eight scenes and the trick was then to tell a story through each of them but with an over-arching narrative that showed each family member’s journey.”