Michael Gramlow, Co-founder and Creative Director at Lollipop
- Art Director and Creative Director roles at places like Henderson Bas and Organic in the past
- Co founded Lollipop with a bunch of ex-agency type people
ABOUT LOLLIPOP
- Lollipop is a production company that specializes in video, audio, CG and design.
- Their company has evolved drastically in the last couple of years to have more interative work
- Unlike 'Integrated' Agencies (Taxi, BBO etc) and Interactive Pure Play studios (Critical Mass, Organic etc) a production company only works with agencies, not the clients. They have a rep that pairs them up with agencies that have work that will fit with what the production company does well. They then pitch their ideas for execution and the agency either chooses them or another company.
- Because of the variety of different kinds of work they do, they utilize a lot of freelance talent.
LOLLIPOP WORK
- This was their first project with no real budget for Lollipop, so they invested their own money into the success of their project so they would have a project to showcase for their new company.
- The clients coffee packaging looks like a bundle of drugs so they really wanted to play that up, so they created an Flash based interactive "pick your own adventure" type video based website for them.
- The challenge for this project was to create a seamless visual experience, which is difficult with cutframes in Flash, because the frame will always cut quickly to the next video with a black screen. They conquered this by lighting the set with flickering lights to disguise this feature.
- The next challenge was to figure out how to load all the videos without making the user sit and wait for loading screens, so they would load videos in sequence behind other videos based on the users options to choose which video to pick next, to avoid having to load all 75 megs of video right off the bat.
- Another challenge for them was hiring professional actors, and the cost associated with that. So they hired non-professional actors and used lighting to hide their faces.
- Overall the site was a success and even won a couple of awards.
- For this project the agency wanted to feature 4 different real businesses, and show in video how they use Sprint technology to run their business.
- They rented a slow-mo camera to create a very dramatic video experience.
- This all led into a "Customizable" solution for your and your business after filling out a form of qualities about your company.
- This project was a huge success in the U.S.
- They utilized Google maps as the background for each card so you can type in your location and the card customizes to you
- The challenge for this project was not only the massive download size but the fact that they were at the mercy of how Google works, so they had to create an interface to navigate around that looks and feels like Google
SAPPORO
- Used a lot of CG, video and real time video to create this imaginary world
- Used the parallax effect to emphasize the 3D effect
- Couldn't be a Flash video because it's too large to load
- They created a seamless site that is always moving, the challenge was to create seamless loops while scrolling
ADVICE FROM MICHAEL
- You have to pound the pavement and bug people to get the jobs you want
- You really have to make an effort to get in and see somebody because they are so busy, even if you think you are bugging them, do it until they tell you to stop
- People are really good about giving you feedback about your portfolio.
- Story boards are very important.
- Sit and think things out with paper and pen before going to the computer.
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