Betsy & Jerry – Little Fluffy Clouds
On the Production

Little Fluffy Clouds joins indie pop band, The Extravagants, on another jam session for their latest catchy song - You Got it Figured Out.

How much do we love working with Laura Milligan and Mike King on their music videos! The lyrics are so unusual, open to a lot of interpretation, but always intelligent with many literary and cultural allusions. Like us they’re always looking to explore new and interesting ways to infuse their art with originality.

The brief from the Milli-Kings contained one request – let’s use 2D graphics for this video. That started us looking at the work of Saul Bass and similar film titles from that era inspired by his work. As we were playing with design elements, storyboarding and listening to the song a distinct character emerged and from that a unique story line.

It became obvious that we were moving more and more into creating a short film as opposed to just a music video. Though the style remained 2D, it became far more cinematic in scope, morphing into a film noir look and feel. Generally we opt to keep our animations open for interpretation but this song begged a storyline and moved us into the opposite direction and that’s because, You Got it Figured Out, is a love story with complications.

Essentially the story is about a man who would do anything to save his relationship, except change his ways. He's a man who can’t unshackle himself from a life he knows will be his downfall. In this film his story is told from her perspective. Looking at his life, spiraling out of control, she finally comes to the sad realization that she must withdraw her helping hand or be pulled down with him. So yes, at the end they both figured it out - that which was impossible to change.

Most of the story happens in shadows accentuated by pools of light. The character darts through the maze of the city, ducking and diving, hiding and seeking. We used a color palette more often seen in Graphic Novels - cool blues, warm oranges, purples and greens and lots and lots of black.

A moment of hope surfaces in the middle of the story when we find ourselves inside a church illuminated by beautiful, bright stained glass windows filtering in colored light but soon that scintilla of hope is shattered by a temptation he can’t resist. He truly is a fallen angel.

Towards the end we briefly land in her world - a far more genteel palette of lavenders and soft pastels – but we only get access to her world momentarily before being exiled to the harsh, cold reality of his life.

Working with The Extravagants is a delight. We get to explore new styles and try all sorts of techniques to tell stories in unexpected ways. You Got it Figured Out, is an anthem for choices good or bad.

Laura Milligan – The Extravagants
On Working with Little Fluffy Clouds

When Mike and I wrote, You Got It Figured Out, we already knew we wanted to work with LFC again on the video! Our first collaboration with them got us over 200K views on YouTube because of the stunning animation. The artistry of it blew our minds. And it was fun!

When Mike wrote the music for YGIFO, I was excited that it was in the same sort of “Spy Rock” genre as Zero Into Nine . The lyrics to this one were written during the U.S. Post-Election Madness and I was astounded by the arrogance and lack of humility being revealed in The Collective…

Once we recorded the song, we talked to Jerry and Betsy and all we knew was that we wanted the song to have the feel of a sort of modern take on Saul Bass… And, OF COURSE what LFC delivered was that and SO MUCH MORE. The song is now a short film with a unique look and a story that I didn’t even realize was there! The look, to me, feels familiar without being derivative of anything I have ever seen. It is a new, modern retro look and tells a story of inner demons and of making the worst possible choices. It’s just amazing! We were ecstatic to see the end result and now, just like with Zero Into Nine, I can’t picture the song without this animation.

Credits Animation

• Production, Design, Animation:
• Little Fluffy Clouds
• Director, Designer, Animator:
• Jerry van de Beek
• Art Counselor, Producer:
• Betsy de Fries

Credits Music

• Song by:
• The Extravagants
• .
• Michael King
• .
• Laura Milligan
• Produced by:
• Fab DuPont
• Mixed by:
• Fab DuPont
• .
• at Flux Studios
• Vocals:
• Laura Milligan
• Guitar:
• Michael King
• Drums:
• Jeff Friedl
• Bass:
• Matt McJunkins
• Keyboards:
• Fab DuPont
• Recorded at:
• Secret Hand Studios LA
• .
• Magnetic Owl Studios CA
• .
• Flux Studios NY

Sources

• Link to The Extravagants website  www.theextravagants.com
• Production of Little Fluffy Clouds LLC - ©2022
• You got it Figured Out Copyright: MilliKing Music - ©2022

Blueprint

In Deer Tribe Medicine and the concept of the Medicine Wheel there are 30 Sacred Laws and one of them is the Zero to Nine Law. Simply stated the belief is that there are only 2 numbers: Zero and One. Surrounding the One are Nine Aspects.

Embarking upon the animation for the song Little Fluffy Clouds chose to encompass and reflect these concepts in a modern day version of a dreamscape. Humanity appears trapped in a helpless nightmare scenario but in reality is simply moving through the Sacred Laws towards its own destiny.

In keeping with the birth and regeneration theme of   Zero into Nine   a darker palette of midnight blues, purples and plums was applied. We enlivened that base with dynamic bursts of light effects and atmosphere to produce scatterings of dust or haze. This freed us up to place the action anywhere from an intimate nightclub stage through a suffocating bedroom, to the tree of life or floating underwater or through the Universe at large.

It's always gratifying to work on a project that doesn't have specific design guidelines. It allows an opportunity to flex both creative and technical muscles and expand the scope of the work beyond the original ask.

Jerry van de Beek – Little Fluffy Clouds
On the Production

“When I first heard the song I liked it right away. I felt it was taking me on an unusual journey but it wasn’t completely clear to me what it was all about - although it did leave me with a strong feeling. I listened to it a couple of more times trying to fully understand it but then it struck me what I liked about it so much.

There was a certain abstraction to it. It’s like any good artwork it doesn’t tell you what to think but instead makes you do the thinking. For me that’s the strength of Zero into Nine. It has the power to make you reflect your own feelings and thoughts and connect those to the song.

Once I understood that, images began to form, so we quickly wrote up visual descriptions for each scene and I dove straight into animation. It took a couple of months to complete the project because there’s a lot to it. We actually threw out a couple of fully rendered scenes in favor of what you see now because we wanted to make the story flow even better and sometimes you have to be your own harshest critic.

Laura and Mike are a great team. They were amazingly easy to work with and super supportive of each scene as we moved through the animation and in taking some major changes in stride along the way. It was one of the smoothest productions we’ve ever worked on.

I don’t think it would help to explain or x-ray each scene. Like the song we gave all the scenes an abstraction in its meaning even though there’s enough connection and rhythm between each scene to create some kind of flow and story line. I think we all connect with the images in our own way. Our goal was to visually provoke thoughts and feelings in the same way the song does. It sure does for me. I’d love to hear your interpretation.”

Laura Milligan – The Extravagants
On penning Zero into Nine

“Mike (King) wrote the music and I loved his unique melody line—the vibe seemed very James Bond but we didn’t want to go too far in that direction lyrically. I wanted to capture how it felt to experience the paradigm shift we collectively felt when Covid hit. For me it was a loss of ground and breath so I wanted to incorporate the radical physics going on at the time. There were crazy dreams and anxiety, yet there was (always is) hope. Trees and Animals helped me find a way back into my body… We are all in this infinite matrix of a beautiful cosmic spirograph of LOVE — but it don’t always feel that way and sometimes we can freak the f*** out.”

On Seeing the Animation

“We really were speechless and gobsmacked when we saw what LFC did with the song. They took a capable rock song and made it into a complete work of art on a WHOLE other dimensional level!!! The choices they made were SO deep, thrilling and intelligent; themes that can be contemplated and read into differently on multiple viewings. To me, the animation is literally breathtaking! There is nothing “obvious” about this piece and it brought out big ideas and themes in time space consciousness that blow me away every time I watch it. Not to mention how technically superb and advanced it is!”

On Working with Little Fluffy Clouds

“Mike and I knew that we wanted this song fully animated and a mutual friend, Bob Specter, suggested Little Fluffy Clouds. We were introduced to their film, Yellowstone 88 – Song of Fire, and we immediately KNEW that we REALLY wanted them for the project! Yellowstone 88 made us emotional in its beauty, depth and unique style of animation. Betsy’s poem is so moving and then the way it is treated is tremendous. There is a oneness between Human and Animal Spirit that Little Fluffy Clouds can really articulate. So we were over the moon that we could make this song come to life with Little Fluffy Clouds.

In our initial consultation with Betsy and Jerry, I think Mike and I felt an instant connection and airwave communication with the collective vision we had for Zero into Nine. After telling them just a little bit about the influences for the content of the song—including my study of Deer Tribe Medicine as well as Physics—Jerry and Betsy had at it and the result was truly beyond our wildest dreams! There was a charmed synchronicity to this whole collaboration that was tacit and divinely inspired, I think. And now, I cannot imagine this song without this work of art animation. In short, we were blown the f*** away!;)

Credits Animation

• Production, Design, Animation:
• Little Fluffy Clouds
• Director, Designer, Animator:
• Jerry van de Beek
• Art Counselor, Producer:
• Betsy de Fries

Credits Music

• Song by:
• The Extravagants
• .
• Michael King
• .
• Laura Milligan
• Produced by:
• Fab DuPont
• Mixed by:
• Fab DuPont
• .
• at Flux Studios
• Vocals:
• Laura Milligan
• Guitar:
• Michael King
• Drums:
• Jeff Friedl
• Bass:
• Matt McJunkins
• Keyboards:
• Fab DuPont
• Recorded at:
• Secret Hand Studios LA
• .
• Magnetic Owl Studios CA
• .
• Flux Studios NY

Sources

• Link to The Extravagants website    www.theextravagants.com
• Production of Little Fluffy Clouds LLC - ©2022
• Zero InTo Nine Copyright: MilliKing Music - ©2022

BLUEPRINT

Evocative, magical, suspended in that mythic world of woodland folklore where animals are predominant and the planet moves to encircle the ecosystem in a constant tranquil accord. Yellowstone 88 - Song of Fire tells the story of the devastating fires that engulfed the park for five months of 1988 until winter snows and rain quelled the inferno and ended the destruction – or did it?

In dual tones of fiery reds, purples, yellows and oranges set against a dark, burning backdrop of damaged, diseased and drought ridden trees, dry lightning sparks a fire that rages like an avenging angel until its crusade is complete.

We see the many animals that live in the park – bear, bison, elk, deer, ground squirrels, fox and coyote. We see trees and scrub and plant life. We see mountains and rivers and valleys. We see dawn and dusk and the dark night skies that reveal the magnificent nebula in the galaxy above.

These sculpted two dimensional animals - part spirit and part real - flee the fire to quickly reach a place of safety, if they can, some go to water, some go underground. Eventually a white winter snow of intense severity covers the scorched earth where now nothing edible can grow and fauna, exhausted from the fire and weakened by hunger, starve to death in search of food.

Bleak and desolate the starry cosmos turns from one season to the next and the next, and the land rests and renews and life begins again like the primordial spring. Flora grows in abundance, nourished by the fallen ashes of destruction, and animals and birds return in strength to once again reclaim their birthright. And so the story is as much about evolution as loss, and the spirit that resides in such an ancient forest

At the time of the fire there were no wolves living in the park but their existence in Yellowstone predates the creation of the park and their presence and soul has always been felt, and so the spirit of the wolf speaks through this poem and guides us through the animation. Once reintroduced into the park their presence altered the shape of the ecosystem and returned it to an original stature.

YELLOWSTONE 88 – Fire Facts

In the summer of 1988 dry lightning sparked a fire in the parched and drought ridden landscape of Yellowstone, igniting a blaze that would scorch over 1,500,000 perimeter acres of the park.

More than 20,000 firefighters and military personnel from around the US descended upon the park to try and make a stand against the inferno.

For five months the fires, some natural and some caused by humans, raged unabated until winter snow and rain finally put an end to the conflagration

Relatively few animals died in the actual fires. Instinctively fauna understand and are able to gauge fire and can usually survive one. Some flee and some go underground, most note the wind and smoke patterns and move away from the fire as quickly and as far as they can. Multiple fires converging pose a greater threat but the real danger to animals and birds comes after a fire when the land is scorched bare and there is no food to be found. The same winter snow that doused the uncontained fires was so severe that animals simply starved or died attempting to find food. It was a bitter loss of great proportion.

Multiple lessons in wild land fire management were learned from those harrowing months - lessons that continue to shape on-going policy, communication and command structures and changes in critical ecological doctrine.

Numbers in Yellowstone

• 9 fires caused by humans
• 42 fires caused by lightning.
• 36% (793,880 acres) of the park was affected.
• Fires, which began outside of the park, burned 63% or approximately 500,000 acres of the total acreage.
• About 300 large mammals perished as a direct result of the fires: 246 elk (of an estimated 40,000–50,000), 9 bison, 4 mule deer, 2 moose.
• $120 million was spent fighting the fires.
• Total of 10,000 people were involved in these efforts

INSPIRATION

The penning of, Song of Fire, the narrative poem that guides the animation of Yellowstone 88, has it’s roots in a TED Talk given some while ago by the writer, journalist and eco-activist, George Monbiot, on the subject of rewilding. Rewilding is a newish word coined for a forward thinking concept, it means the mass restoration of ecosystems. Watching Monbiot happily lay out how the discovery of rewilding changed his life - gave it purpose and meaning – I was inspired by the notion of Trophic Cascade which he explains here:

This is an ecological process, which starts at the top of the food chain and tumbles all the way down to the bottom, and the classic example is what happened at Yellowstone National Park when wolves were reintroduced in 1995.

How Wolves Changed Rivers - George Monbiot

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Yellowstone is the oldest national park in the world. Established by Congress in 1872, the park boundaries cross the state lines of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone existed even before those territories became states. Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for more than 11,000 years.

The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which at 28,000 square miles is the largest remaining, nearly-intact temperate-zone ecosystem on Earth.

Yellowstone Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.

Credits

• Narrated by:
• Peter Coyote
• A Poem by:
• Betsy de Fries
• Production, Design, Animation:
• Little Fluffy Clouds
• Director, Designer, Animator:
• Jerry van de Beek
• Director, Producer:
• Betsy de Fries
• Sound Design:
• Jerry van de Beek
• .
• Mark Murphy
• Music and Sound Mix:
• Secrets & Machines
• Composed by:
• Mark Murphy
• Voice Over Recording:
• Mixstream.org
• Audio Engineer
• Stephen Barncard

Sources

• Ted Talk on Rewilding and Trophic Cascade – George Monbiot    https://bit.ly/3fBbxQZ
• NPS.gov Y-88 Fire facts    https://www.nps.gov
• Production of Little Fluffy Clouds LLC - ©2021

There is no doubt that our world is on the cusp of exciting technological advances in aviation. The once speculative arena of science fiction - personal transportation, flying cars, unmanned aerial vehicles - is underway as the new reality. As the skies get busier systems must be devised to safely accommodate this rise in traffic.

Not so long ago European aviation leaders gathered at a conference hosted by SESAR, the joint undertaking for a Single European Sky ATM Research, to show their support for a digital transformation. Now their task begins to modernize Europe’s aviation infrastructure and air traffic management system (ATM) to enable a more connected aviation and with that seamless travel and safe transportation for all.

Little Fluffy Clouds was chosen to create a film for that conference, Building Blueprints for the Sky, illustrating the predicted rise in air travel and the synchronized innovation that such an evolutionary advance in the future of flight will bring. Working in partnership with, Airbus-SV’s A^3, Altiscope and SESAR, a glimpse of a redefined future is revealed.

The film begins on a slowly turning shot of the blue planet. Blueprint, shows flight traffic patterns from the mid-20th century increasing in scale through present day, culminating in a predictive flow to 2030. A simulated aerial view over Paris spotlights how air traffic patterns might look in 2030 when autonomous aircraft join the skies.

As we move through the film from industrial, agricultural, airport and city scenarios, this carefully planned for future landscape is illustrated in juxtaposing palettes of muted cast and exceptionally vibrant color both with a distinct harmonious patternation that gives the video a pleasing artistic continuity.

Now, as that uptick in traffic enters the airspace, the bar is being raised even higher. Moving forward, world aviation leaders must apply their minds to air traffic safety and risk management. An autonomous management system, overseen by Air Traffic Control, must be put in place. Altiscope’s real time risk service will be a key part of this new system, aggregating and analyzing vast amounts of data, identifying risks and safety trends across the airspace, monitoring capacity and smoothly keeping countless vehicles on approved routes.

To effectively explain Airbus’ commitment to air traffic safety, a new film, Safeguarding Our Future Skies, has been commissioned. Adopting a similar look and feel in style and tempo, Little Fluffy Clouds has created a scenario to explain in graphic motion how this safety culture works and what must be considered to propel the industry forward in a quest to create a safe, connected and evolving airspace for the future.

Both 3-minute animations begin on that similar opening scene of the blue planet slowly turning in space. Safeguarding, detours from flight patterns to show us the processes required for air travel and the countless people involved in keeping our flights safe. Hardworking professionals like mechanics, ground crews, pilots and controllers all working with safety top of mind.

We see weather systems, collision avoidance graphics and predictive autonomous safety nets engaging us in the future of air travel. Both films share the connection of vivid and pacific color palettes, which underscore the drama in any given scene and are exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

Blueprints for the Sky and Safeguarding Our Future Skies, will be shown by Airbus at air traffic management (ATM) conferences throughout 2019.

Airbus is a global leader in aviation and aerospace innovation. A3 is their Silicon Valley outpost. SESAR, is a collaborative project, spearheaded by the EU and tasked with overhauling European airspace and air traffic management (ATM).

Learn more about the mission of Altiscope  http://www.airbus-sv.com  and about Airbus at: http://www.airbus.com

My pig won’t let me watch TV.
It’s totally unfair.
He watches anything he wants
but doesn’t ever share.

I never get to watch cartoons
or anything like that.
He’s busy watching farming shows.
I should have got a cat.

I should have got a goldfish
or a guinea pig or goat.
Instead, I’ve got this pig
who’s always hogging the remote.

Credits

• Production Company
• The Cabinet
• Poem by
• Kenn Nesbitt
• From the book The Armpit of Doom - Copyright © 2012 All Rights Reserved.

Watch with wonder at our very latest project, It’s a Wonderful Loaf, a whimsically designed and animated poem written and narrated by economist and educator, Russ Roberts.

The almost 7-minute animation, created in a painterly style, evokes the watercolor paintings of artists, J.M.W. Turner and John Singer Sargent. The piece is nestled within a colorful, dreamy, richly textured pre-WWII Europe illustrating a host of working men and women – porters, bakers, millers, farmers, dockers, waiters and more - going about their daily life.

This extraordinary poem by EconTalk pod caster, Russ Roberts, is his ode to the hidden harmony that is all around us. The lyrical verse explores the seemingly magical ways that we anticipate the needs of others without anyone actually orchestrating things.

Primarily devised as a teaching tool, the animated video is partnered with a website that encourages economics students and teachers alike to delve deeper into the ideas of Russ Robert’s economic doctrine. Roberts is the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. It's a Wonderful Loaf, is a Hoover Institution, Policy Ed, project.

The original score, penned by the talented duo at pop Tuna, Monica Pasqual and BZ Lewis, fits the animation like a silk glove. The 60-second teaser has it's own variation on the original theme.

Little Fluffy Clouds produced, designed and animated all three versions. LFC is a multi-award winning, full service Bay Area animation production studio headed up by the multi-talented twosome of Jerry van de Beek and Betsy De Fries.

Dive deeper into Russ Roberts’ teaching and philosophy, read the poem with annotations, get connected to more on this subject or play all three versions at: http://www.wonderfulloaf.org

Credits

• Written and Narrated by:
• Russ Roberts
• Executive Producers:
• Chris Dauer
• .
• Shana Farley
• .
• Russ Roberts
• Production, Design, Animation:
• Little Fluffy Clouds
• Director, Designer, Animator:
• Jerry van de Beek
• Director, Designer, Producer:
• Betsy de Fries
• Music and Sound Design:
• pop Tuna
• .
• Monica Pasqual
• .
• BZ Lewis
• Voice Over Recording:
• iCastAudio
• Sound Engineer
• Rich Goyette
• Production of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University
• Copyright © 2017 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University

There are moments in time and place where paths and trails, less trampled by foot, give way to a realm of magic that once seen is never forgot. A watershed where mountains give life to rivers and trees grow sparse among rocks formed by ancient ice flows.

Pure, clear water flows down and down to places where bees buzz lazily in the afternoon sun, dragging their hum from flower to flower. Butterflies sing on a zephyr’s wing. Here light and shade vibrate in tune like the strum of a harp string and the wood is alive to every living thing. With only each other to attend, birds call a cheery tune, and the water flows betwixt and between a crack in the rock, pooling under a wooden bridge.

Only the most observant eye sees in and out of shadows, a darting through a lacework of branches, a scampering along a fallen log, a zip–zap across the stream and then gone, but not really. Shy but playful glossy creature of the meandering river and its brackish inlets, equally happy in water as on land and a skilled hunter in both.

Slender, long serpentine body with a thick tapering tale ending in short, stubby legs. This agile master of games and play is all twisting, turning, swimming and sliding. The happiest instigator of follow-my-leader tag, along riverbanks and through shafts of light, in any wooded glade.

The keeper of a warm and comfy den close to the water. Could be under tree root, rock pile, logs or thickets. Two entrances: one above water, for patrol, the other, under water for coming and going. A culvert, half hidden in the undergrowth performs the task of lookout, concourse and occasional bolt-hole for the enterprising Otter. Food always a closely guarded resource but game is game.

The River Otter lives the good life, a top predator in it’s domain, but that life is always lived in the very real and long shadow of danger -mostly from the ever encroaching development and presence of an even greater predator - mankind.

Life in the Northern California watershed is a shared proposition. The system is complex and easily unbalanced. The return of the charismatic River Otter, ambassador to our watershed, is a beacon of hope to encourage continuing wetland restoration and conservation. Balancing this fragility is the responsibility of us all.

Credits

• Client: River Otter Ecology Project
• Production and Animation: Little Fluffy Clouds
• Narration: Peter Coyote
• Directors: Jerry van de Beek and Betsy de Fries
• Producer: Betsy de Fries
• Creative Director, Animator: Jerry Van de Beek
• Writer: Betsy de Fries
• Music and Effects: Triver Myers Music

Middlesex Hospital’s Cancer Center is truly unique. Commitment to patient wellbeing is paramount. Anyone walking through the door receives the very best in personalized medical care harnessed to the very latest in medical technology.

So, it only follows that this integrated content campaign of broadcast, digital, print and outdoor media, match that aspiration with inspired visuals and dazzling, forward thinking graphics.

This multi-award winning, much lauded campaign, comprises three specific, individual concepts designed to work in concert to illustrate the essence of patient care at Middlesex.

Common Thread. Tradition embraces modern technology and infuses both with humanity. That’s the simple truth of the kick-off spot for Middlesex, a hospital group so confident of their mandate they can step outside the expected, both in services and design.

Hand drawn, tinted illustrations on aged textured paper are the foundation of Medicine. In centuries gone by and still today they are used with great success to explain new and breakthrough technologies in the Medical Sciences. These illustrations evoke a feeling of tradition, one that also speaks to the very best of doctor-patient relationships. And it’s these traditions that are symbolic of the human touch we all crave when being cared for at a time when we feel at our most vulnerable.

In the modern world we also rely on the latest technology, placing our trust in the hands of state of the art equipment and expertly trained physicians, to eradicate illness and to restore us to health. This is the mission of a successful hospital group.

Here Little Fluffy Clouds sought to embody the very idea of tradition and humanity and to weave it into the design. Adding the new to the tried and true and echo the message, creating the dynamic, appealing, all encompassing story of Middlesex Hospital showing how it can be the common thread between you and a healthy long life.

This breakout campaign took the Judges Award, plus three more Gold awards at the 2013 Connecticut Art and won or placed in every award show it was entered.

Here, judge, Jason Carreiro, explains its success and central appeal:

Hospital and healthcare advertising tends to be fairly predictable — smiling patients and doctors in pristine hospital rooms with a reassuring voice-over and a tasteful piano soundtrack. The Middlesex Hospital TV spot surprised me with its bold execution. The beautiful, high-contrast animation and swirling, vibrant colors have an immediate wow-factor that forces the viewer to sit up and take notice. The campaign narrative, The Smarter Choice for Care, speaks to the fact that Middlesex Hospital does things differently — embracing new technologies and ways of thinking about medicine and patient care. The design execution supports that claim perfectly. The spot is a wonderful example of how a creative execution can really make a concept sing.

Missing Person, the second concept of the campaign, is the story of survival against all odds. Every year almost 10 million people die from cancer worldwide. For each of those people there are countless meaningful moments missed.

The talented doctors and leading-edge technology at Middlesex Hospital changed that for three incredible people, Kirk, Christina and Cemmy, whose care combined with their individual tenacious courage, put them back into the life they otherwise could have missed out on.

Composed of just three still images, this spot is a true tour de force of creative thinking coupled with incredibly skillful animation and effects. Creatively we opted for an ultra slow motion, weightless feel, to emphasize the sensitivity surrounding the subject and to capture the triumph of survival. Juxtapose this with fast moving, beautiful and innovative VFX we also illustrate the amazing power of the medical technology used to bring about this result.

Missing Person took top honors at the 2014 Advertising Club of Connecticut. The campaign swept no fewer than 8 gold awards. Later that month the Connecticut Art Directors Club gave it their order of excellence - a nice moment of recognition. Created and animated in Adobe After Effects. VFX extras use Real Viz, Trap Code and Sapphire plug-ins.

Innovation lives at the intersection of talent and technology a concept that is at the heart of this latest campaign, produced and directed by Little Fluffy Clouds, for Primacy and Middlesex Hospital. The idea of innovation is the lingua franca describing the constant push for advancement and excellence in all fields of medicine by the talented and collaborative teams at work in this groundbreaking facility.

LFC directed the beautifully filmed live-action. Once again striking animation and inspired visual effects ingeniously transform the visuals, echoing the advances in medical technology by providing a specific unique graphical link that integrates the live action with animation and special effects.

Here Little Fluffy Clouds’ creative director, Jerry van de Beek, describes the thought process:

Our design challenge was to come up with elegant motion graphics that felt high tech but that were integrated with the live action to such a degree that they supported the action of our talent. An intrusive technical overlay on top of a human in action can easily look scary. We wanted to ensure that the image looked and felt organic and that the motion was driven by the action of the actor.

Innovation was the final part of what became an exceptionally successful campaign of commercials, print, outdoor media and digital content by LFC for this client. Statistically the campaign achieved all of the initial goals and more. Middlesex Hospital is now recognized as fulfilling the campaign tagline: The Smarter Choice for Care, marketplace perceptions were changed and the goal of increased visibility was achieved. The statistics speak for themselves:

• 24% increase in overall web traffic
• 107% increase in visits to the cancer center page
• 38% increase in service line share of visit
• 30% increase in top of mind awareness
• 271% increase in ad recall

The sweet icing on the cake for us is that the Middlesex Hospital campaign was honored by more than a dozen awards collecting recognition by the industry each time it was entered. Among those awards are: Tellys, Pixies, MITX Awards, Connecticut Art Directors Club Awards and Connecticut Advertising Club Awards.

Now those are statistics we can get behind!

A rising moon, a star-lit sky, a gentle ocean of drifting Sampans, brightly colored fish, tumultuous waves, origami paper boats, prancing horses, soaring kites, folding cranes all moving in a carousel and dancing through a landscape peppered with eye catching VFX. Set this to a powerful soundtrack and this exploration is, The Power of Sound.

Using simple animation accompanied by programmed expressions, The Power of Sound, is an interesting take on the character of sound. The animation, running at just over a minute, is a pretty good example of a mostly 2D piece using 3D cameras in 2D space, coupled with occasional CG models to underscore the use of technology in sound applications today

The sampans, water, moon, ocean and background skies are made using only particles and projected lights. These are not models. The "waveform" is also particle based with movement initiated by the soundtrack. VFX, using plug-ins, comprise the transitions. The origami horses, boats, kites and cranes are all 2D, as is the floating text and the "Golden Ratio" shell animations. The larger shell in that scene is it's 3D counterpart.

There are moments in the life of an animation when the subconscious takes over - even in a commercial - and so it was here, where, The Power of Sound, became less about the technology and the message and more of an artistic response.

Bose', The Power of Sound, is a perennial favorite on the animation circuit being featured in no less than six major festivals. The spot also took a Platinum Pixel award at the 2012 Pixies.

Created in Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects. The stunning VFX extras use Real Viz, Trap Code and Sapphire plug-ins.

You know how Toyota owners love their cars? Yes we do! Well Toyota fans everywhere often post to #TrueStory on Twitter to say why. So it seemed only right to give this love a wider audience and make a series of spots to show the world just how dedicated we are!

In, #TrueStory, we took these "tweets of love" and placed them in the center of our vision. Atop of these text thought bubbles sit tiny worlds made up of miniature sets showcasing the essence of this grass roots celebration. Each vignette brings a riot of color and an ingenious mix of tangible materials with just a tad of whimsy on that same reality. Everything is playful, modern and fun. And better still these spots, created in Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects and Illustrator, just about leap off the screen every time they play.

Sometimes an entire campaign of spots is a lovely thing to do. You get to play out a theme in more ways than one. In, Toyota #TrueStory, we got to explore and blur the edges of reality across all these commercials. These tiny worlds, based on Toyota owners' Tweets, make for a lively animated campaign indeed. So, text your love to, Toyota #TrueStory, and Let's Go Places!

Most of us look back at our time in university with true fondness. It’s a time of amazing achievement and pivotal moments when dreams turn from aspirations into reality and every second is shared with friends that we carry with us for the rest of our lives. This is the story of Journey and Built, a companion campaign for the California University of Pennsylvania.

LFC’s, Jerry van de Beek, breathes life into these moving paintings. The effect of the growing color palette, as it washes over the canvas to create vivid moments and fleeting glimpses of the university buildings and the students that make up the life-blood of the campus, is nothing less than stunning.

Effortlessly the camera sweeps us along, sometimes gently back to gradually orbit around the characters and at other times determinedly forward, echoing the storyline. This allows us to fully take in the pastoral scene laid before us and also to see the students going about their day. In both spots a gentle pullout transports us skyward over the rooftops of older and newer buildings, to lay the entire campus before us cradled in the crook of the river bend upon which the university sits.

Executed in an elegant painterly style these pieces are a kaleidoscope of beautiful imagery that recreates the textured and layered look of a traditional watercolor. Created using Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects with hand-drawn images, which are then painted. Composite, color correction and post, was handled in-house. Music - Big Science.

LFC's spots for the California University of Pennsylvania, Journey and Built are two more animation festival favorites. This CALU campaign also garnered Platinum Pixel Awards at the 2012 Pixies.

For this proof of concept project for Google, Little Fluffy Clouds was tasked with imagining a new kind of children’s storybook using forward thinking technology that is both creative and commercially viable. This book would be physical with a hardback cover and pages that turn and be in every way one that could be read in the traditional way.

Our idea was to imagine the experience as a child would, to step inside that world, and change the entire reading experience for children. This would mean not simply to add a small element to the Google Storybook but to add many elements changing the perspective that encompasses their world.

A special moment occurs when a child goes to bed and the light is turned off. The child's entire world changes. Often children are afraid of the dark and nightlights are left on to help them feel safe. How could we make this moment feel magical and not scary? The Google Storybook aims to hand control of this special time to the child and with unique magical properties focus bedtime into a fun and inspiring experience - one that allows dreams to spark little imaginations. Employing the traditional storybook concept we envision a complete immersive experience based on two separate but interconnected worlds - day and night.

This is a traditional storybook with characters and adventures some that can be seen only during the day but more that can be seen only at night. The daytime narrative hints at and gives clues to events with even more special characters and adventures that take place specifically when a child goes to bed.

Embedded within each page will be a layer of Electroluminescence Ink. EL-ink emits light in response to the passage of a low-level current from a regular battery. By sequencing these tiny currents we can illuminate small parts of the image at a certain moment to create an animation. On top of this EL layer is a mask to shape this light in precise forms and on top of that is a semi transparent colored film that holds the illustration. Sensors in the book keeps track of which page is open and if the room is light or dark. Yet even with all this technology, the book still looks and feels like a physical book with a beautiful cover and pages that are a little thicker yet still flexible so although packed with technology the book is indistinguishable from a traditional storybook.

In addition to the book we imagine two more components to complete this experience - a magic lantern and luminescent stickers to be placed on the walls.

At bedtime the child spots the lantern softly glowing like a night light on the bedside table. This lantern will illuminate images from the story and the characters they have previously met in the book via the luminescent stickers placed previously in the room. When the child touches the lantern it glows brighter and each and every page of the book including the cover lights up. This perceptible wink is the invitation for the child to pick up the lantern and explore the room to see the luminescent stickers. When the child opens the book they find the characters there again but now in the nighttime setting and telling a different story, one that is special taking place only when the room is dark. The pages of the Google Storybook have come to life.

Imagine, as part of the storyline, a child is encouraged to step through a particular page of the book and as their fingertips touch the page the footprint or tracks of their favorite character begin to walk them through to where the next event is embedded for them to see. With the magic lantern and the magic book the child controls the night. Bedtime is now something to look forward to and be excited about.

The Mercedes-Benz SLR 300 is a machine like no other - sleek, sensual and legendary - the ultimate in bling. Not just one of the fastest production cars in the whole world - with a top speed of 207 MPH - but a veritable goddess among luxury automobiles. A possession so indulgent it's positively out of this world.

So while the star of the spot is the McLaren SLR 300 undoubtedly the star of Little Fluffy Clouds studio is our creative + animation director, Jerry van de Beek, who modeled the car from available photographs and without the aid of any factory specs or use of a cad cam versions. Working with partner, Betsy de Fries, the two designed and directed the spot together.

Van de Beek animated the entire piece, writing specialized shaders, applying final gathering techniques, rendering complex layers and finally compositing the spot in Adobe After Effects. The stunning VFX extras use Real Viz, Trap Code and Sapphire plug-ins, and were skillfully actualized to create a look as luxurious as the car itself.

Out of This World is an original spot designed, directed and animated by Little Fluffy Clouds.

Mercedes-Benz SLR300, Out of this World, was a star at the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival and was featured in a host of animation festivals worldwide.

In the dimensional space of an organic free-flowing inkblot a narrative is told of a company located in many parts of the world but tightly connected at the core. Using soft, muted tones and playing freely with the movement of patterns, a rush of ink and a sweeping camera, people, ideas, jobs and more are revealed in a global inter-connected dance that speaks of a company fully involved with its greatest asset – it’s people and their ideas.

The IBM Rorschach campaign covers themes essential to a thriving corporation, ranging from internal agility coupled with market-place flexibility, the cat like stealth in knowing when to seize the opportunity and the leveraging of data to be guided wisely to it’s fullest potential.

Illustrated by means of characters, situations, color palettes and movement. Fish swim serenely on a pacific blue field, a Tiger watches from a muted desert-like canvas, and a wise Owl contemplates the world from a richly toned mighty oak. All are worlds in which speed of communication and an overall sense of timing are the essential tools of success. The rich visual and aural coda reveals for us an insight into how IBM approaches the challenge.

Making an interesting, multiple-campaign of ads that are lyrical and a tour de force, is harder to achieve than you might think. There has to be a link that unites them as one - yet each one must be distinct enough to stand out as a sparkling individual in its own right. So each spot is given it’s own visual identity, also reflected in the original score by Trivers-Myers Music.

The brief for this cross media campaign was originally for web banners but the success of the visuals in telling the company’s story led the spots to be used for all devices including web, TV, Cinema and Print. IBM Rorschach was animated using Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, Flash, Autodesk Maya and hand-drawn illustrations.

The IBM campaign, What Makes You Special?, was chosen for the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival.

Often, in this age of celebrity worship, recognition of some of life's true heroes goes unnoticed. This Saul Bass inspired motion graphic short is part of a larger health initiative campaign focusing on some of those great inventors in science and medicine.

Dramatic, vibrant and striking, yet deceptively simple, the piece uses bold graphics emphasized by a vivid color palette and direct messaging to create a good, strong effective piece to succinctly tell the compelling story of surgeon, Frederick Banting and his determination to find a treatment for diabetes.

In 1920, working on a hunch, Banting made one of the greatest discoveries to benefit mankind ever - the correlation between diabetes and insulin.

Banting struggled to get his theory recognized and funded so that he could make, refine and demonstrate it's effectiveness. He refused to take no for an answer lobbying for a laboratory and some simple supplies.

Working day and night with associate, Charles Best and research student, James Collip, he finally persevered in distilling a treatment for a disease that is incurable to this very day. Insulin is still the only treatment for diabetes, making the difference between life and death for millions of people worldwide.

In 1923 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine, sharing his prize winnings with Best. In a great humanitarian gesture, Banting sold the rights for the patent to the University of Toronto for just one dollar, ensuring that insulin could forever more be available to anyone in need.

Showcasing a new menu of salad entrees for McDonald's.

This fun, colorful and hip spot pays homage to hardworking, time crunched women everywhere as they move through their day in the service of others – perhaps reserving just a little time for themselves. As the lady says, “Queen for a Day.” And why not?

Devising a style and look that encompasses the multi ethnic customer base of the famous, Golden Arch, eatery was one of the more fun aspects of this project.

Both client and agency requested a playful take on a busy person’s schedule. We love the cheekiness of the ladies and the mayhem backseat of that “Mad Men” sports roadster.

Queen for a Day is still a perennial favorite and looks as fresh, graphically, as the moment it was created. The cute and sassy spot is enough to kick start anyone’s day! Dressed in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects.

In a continuing foray into live action, Little Fluffy Clouds director Jerry van de Beek, explores with visuals, graphics and music, the dreams and plans of today’s independent investor in, Portraits, two companion pieces for brokerage company, TD Ameritrade.

Conceived as personal moments in busy lives both spots were shot on location, one at work and one upon arriving home. With deft use of slow motion, enhanced with VFX and text graphics, the viewer is drawn into a seminal and private moment. A space where time slows down and the outside world becomes very still - allowing ideas to spin through the mind in free fall motion - giving the modern day, time-crunched person, a breath for inspiration to formulate just the right plan of action.

Both spots, Office and Home, were filmed on the same day in snowy Denver, Colorado using a small but very nimble crew. Footage was then transferred and transported to LFC here in sunny California for editing, post, color grading and VFX using Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects. Once again, Trivers-Myers, composed original music on a theme for both spots. These sponsorship ads air on all PBS stations.

A multi award winning short, commissioned by Sundance Channel for their Billy Collins Action Poet, series.

TODAY describes a spring day so perfect - depicted in the film via dancing butterflies, floating dandelion wishes and capricious reveries all set in a flowery field outside a half-timbered cottage - that its beauty inspires an exuberance that threatens to cross over into violence.

The psychological landscape of TODAY is an otherworldly experience. It’s close to reality, contains iconic motifs and real objects but something takes it to another place. The sky, water and landscape blend together. The sun is too yellow. The earth too scorched, the flowers too bright. Lilies float innocently on a stream, Dandelion wishes float in the air and birds fly by - but there’s a feeling of menace trapped just beneath the surface.

As the piece progresses a darker interior emerges and we’re left wondering if it’s a random moment of madness or just a stray thought because today is just that kind of day.

TODAY, one of Sundance's, Billy Collins Action Poet series, won a slew of awards including an AniComm and a Creativity. The series won the prestigious Cannes Palme D'Or. TODAY was featured at Annecy, the Holland Animation Film Festival (HAFF), Anima Mundi, the Art of Digital Show, SFIAF, SIGGRAPH, KAFI, Coyote, Festival NEMO Arcadia and many others.

The poem is taken from the collection, Nine Horses (2002). Mr. Collins narrates the film which was directed and animated by Little Fluffy Clouds creative team, Jerry van de Beek and Betsy de Fries. The piece uses Adobe Illustrator, AFX and Autodesk Maya along with hand drawn illustrations.

Follow the trials and tribulations of a sensible, straight road as he seeks to reinvent himself for the car he loves. Watch in awe as The Road bears his soul, along with his inner passionate self, to woo the fun loving and flirtatious Lexus - “that can do things other cars only dream about...” Sigh...a romance in automation for the modern era.

This charming work, directed by Jerry van de Beek and Betsy de Fries of Little Fluffy Clouds, was created for the Lexus Car Corporation. Described by the Association Internationale du Film d'Animation (ASIFA) as:

"A lovely animated fable..." ~ Association Internationale du Film d'Animation

The Car and The Road pays homage and takes its inspiration from Chuck Jones' Oscar winning film, The Dot and The Line.

Original composition for the almost 4 minute film was scored by Trivers-Meyers Music, whose arrangement fits hand in glove with the visuals.

The Car and The Road is a colorful and imaginative feast for the eyes and is fun to boot! Animated using Adobe Illustrator, After Effects and Photoshop with Autodesk Maya and hand drawn frames.

The Car and The Road, was honored at the famous avant garde Austrian, Prix Ars Electronica festival. it was awarded a Prix Selection in the "Smart Worlds" category. This little short was seen on all broadcast media – that’s cinema, TV and web.