Cumbust-Gum
Combust-gum was a stop-motion project where I created a fictional gum brand and its commercial, showcasing its explosive fruit flavors as implied by the name. I took on the role of photographing and animating various fresh fruits, using green and blue screens to capture each one individually in-camera. The footage was then composited in AfterEffects, where I refined the motion and integrated the elements into the final product. I was responsible for all aspects of the project, except for the music. I selected and edited a portion of “Iko Iko” by The Dixie Cups to complement the commercial's lively and fun tone. I collaborated with Jacob Pham, who assisted with animation and compositing, helping bring the entire commercial to life.
Client
DELIVERABLES
Stop-Motion Animation Visual Design Video Editing Compositing
Year
2020
Role
Co Director, Animator, Packaging Designer, Compositor
For this project, I took inspiration from my Movie Theme Object Study, where I initially envisioned a secret agent gadget disguised as gum. However, I decided to shift the concept to create a more publicly consumed gum, with an explosive theme. I designed the packaging to match the playful yet dangerous nature of the concept, emphasizing its bold, fruit-forward flavors and "explosive" qualities. The gum package itself became a key visual element in the project, blending the fun of everyday gum with the exaggerated, larger-than-life vibe of a spy gadget. This shift in concept allowed me to play with a mix of commercial appeal and the excitement of an action-packed theme, bringing the gum’s fictional explosive qualities to life in a fun, accessible way.
The Gum
For this project, I took inspiration from my Movie Theme Object Study, where I initially envisioned a secret agent gadget disguised as gum. However, I decided to shift the concept to create a more publicly consumed gum, with an explosive theme. I designed the packaging to match the playful yet dangerous nature of the concept, emphasizing its bold, fruit-forward flavors and "explosive" qualities. The gum package itself became a key visual element in the project, blending the fun of everyday gum with the exaggerated, larger-than-life vibe of a spy gadget. This shift in concept allowed me to play with a mix of commercial appeal and the excitement of an action-packed theme, bringing the gum’s fictional explosive qualities to life in a fun, accessible way.
Animated Assets
The process of creating Combust-gum involved a mix of hands-on fabrication and technical precision. We started by visiting the store to select fresh fruit that would represent the “explosive” flavors of the gum. Once we had our fruit, we set up a shooting rig using a table with a glass pane positioned above it. We used colored paper (green, red, or blue) beneath the glass, which we could later key out in post-production. To ensure proper keying, we lit the fruit from the sides and above, creating an even light distribution that made it easier to isolate the fruit from the background. We then sliced, rotated, and animated the fruit on the glass pane, capturing short sequences for each piece. Each shot was carefully composed, with attention to how the fruit would move and interact with the frame. After capturing all the footage, we imported the physical elements into AfterEffects, where we composited the individual shots over one another, adjusting timing and motion to fit the final sequence. This combination of in-camera work and post-production compositing allowed us to seamlessly integrate the fruit animations with the rest of the project, bringing the commercial to life with a mix of playful dynamism and explosive visual effects.
Cumbust-Gum
Combust-gum was a stop-motion project where I created a fictional gum brand and its commercial, showcasing its explosive fruit flavors as implied by the name. I took on the role of photographing and animating various fresh fruits, using green and blue screens to capture each one individually in-camera. The footage was then composited in AfterEffects, where I refined the motion and integrated the elements into the final product. I was responsible for all aspects of the project, except for the music. I selected and edited a portion of “Iko Iko” by The Dixie Cups to complement the commercial's lively and fun tone. I collaborated with Jacob Pham, who assisted with animation and compositing, helping bring the entire commercial to life.
Client
DELIVERABLES
Stop-Motion Animation Visual Design Video Editing Compositing
Year
2020
Role
Co Director, Animator, Packaging Designer, Compositor
For this project, I took inspiration from my Movie Theme Object Study, where I initially envisioned a secret agent gadget disguised as gum. However, I decided to shift the concept to create a more publicly consumed gum, with an explosive theme. I designed the packaging to match the playful yet dangerous nature of the concept, emphasizing its bold, fruit-forward flavors and "explosive" qualities. The gum package itself became a key visual element in the project, blending the fun of everyday gum with the exaggerated, larger-than-life vibe of a spy gadget. This shift in concept allowed me to play with a mix of commercial appeal and the excitement of an action-packed theme, bringing the gum’s fictional explosive qualities to life in a fun, accessible way.
The Gum
For this project, I took inspiration from my Movie Theme Object Study, where I initially envisioned a secret agent gadget disguised as gum. However, I decided to shift the concept to create a more publicly consumed gum, with an explosive theme. I designed the packaging to match the playful yet dangerous nature of the concept, emphasizing its bold, fruit-forward flavors and "explosive" qualities. The gum package itself became a key visual element in the project, blending the fun of everyday gum with the exaggerated, larger-than-life vibe of a spy gadget. This shift in concept allowed me to play with a mix of commercial appeal and the excitement of an action-packed theme, bringing the gum’s fictional explosive qualities to life in a fun, accessible way.
Animated Assets
The process of creating Combust-gum involved a mix of hands-on fabrication and technical precision. We started by visiting the store to select fresh fruit that would represent the “explosive” flavors of the gum. Once we had our fruit, we set up a shooting rig using a table with a glass pane positioned above it. We used colored paper (green, red, or blue) beneath the glass, which we could later key out in post-production. To ensure proper keying, we lit the fruit from the sides and above, creating an even light distribution that made it easier to isolate the fruit from the background. We then sliced, rotated, and animated the fruit on the glass pane, capturing short sequences for each piece. Each shot was carefully composed, with attention to how the fruit would move and interact with the frame. After capturing all the footage, we imported the physical elements into AfterEffects, where we composited the individual shots over one another, adjusting timing and motion to fit the final sequence. This combination of in-camera work and post-production compositing allowed us to seamlessly integrate the fruit animations with the rest of the project, bringing the commercial to life with a mix of playful dynamism and explosive visual effects.