Nice Shoes

Nice Shoes, Shortlisted in Cannes, Celebrates a Bronze Lion Win - 06.30.2010

Nice Shoes and McGarryBowen: Three Years of Collaboration for Chase - 06.21.2010

Nice Shoes Hires Bowman To Run Design Division - 06.14.2010

Nice Shoes Redefines Red Workflow - 06.01.2010

Nice Shoes Handles Post For Myren's Latest Doc - 05.25.2010

Nice Shoes Delivers Promise In United Nations PSA - 06.07.2010

Nice Shoes Contributes To Unique Polar Bear Club Video - 05.19.2010

Profit-Sharing Model Perfect Fit For Nice Shoes On Hot Indie Films - 05.03.2010

Nice Shoes Spins Out Post For Another Indie Movie - 05.01.2010

Nice Shoes Again Collaborates With Offspring On Ford Campaign - 05.06.2010

Arias with a Twist: The Docufantasy Debuts At Tribeca Film Festival - 04.16.2010

Nice Shoes Expands VFX Team - 03.22.2010

Nice Shoes Makes A Splash With Stella For Mother - 02.23.2010

Arias with a Twist: The Docufantasy to Premiere in Berlin - 02.16.2010

Nice Shoes Hires Travis Taylor To Oversee Sales & Marketing - 02.03.2010

Revamped Nice Shoes Rolls Out Another TD Ameritrade Campaign - 01.19.2010

Nice Shoes Adds Division By Joining Forces With Freestyle Collective - 12.04.2009

Nice Shoes Brings Creative Vision and High-End VFX to the NHL - 11.01.2009

Nice Shoes Color Grades MTV VMAs Promo Starring Britney Spears & Russell Brand - 09.10.2009

Nice Shoes Color Grades and Titles Garbage Dreams - 08.12.2009

GEs Real-People - 08.06.2009

BlackBerry Loves U2 - 07.22.2009

Nice Shoes Colorist Lez Rudge Makes An Imprint On New Spot Promoting Mandela Day - 07.07.2009

Nice Shoes Names Mike Donovan Managing Director - 07.01.2009

Nice Shoes Goes Risqué For Calvin Klein Jeans - 06.23.2009

Aron Baxter Returns To Nice Shoes As New Creative Director - 06.09.2009

Nice Shoes Sponsors Dusty Festival - 05.09.2009

Nice Shoes Makes A Nice Move - 04.16.2009

First Boards Awards Hosted By Nice Shoes - 04.02.2009

"BlackBerry Bullet" Punctures Apple - 03.12.2009

Nice Shoes New York Makes $3 Million Investment in FilmLight Color Grading Systems - 03.05.2009

Colorist Ron Sudul - The Top Five Questions I Get as a Colorist for Nice Shoes - 02.26.2009

Nice Shoes Colorist Lenny Mastrandrea Participates In Mayors Office Panel - 02.02.2009

Nice Shoes Steals The Show With Electrifying VFX For Chase - 01.15.2009

Posted: 05.19.2010 17:12

When New York-based director Thomas Colella set out to create a unique look for the latest Polar Bear Club video, Living Saints, he sought out Nice Shoes to take part in the unique collaborative effort between 12 post houses/artists. An ace team led by CD Aron Baxter and including Andrew Granelli, Bryan Rosenblum and Ron Sudul handled a chunk of the video’s VFX, as well as all of the color grading. Living Saints is a rollicking VFX showcase set against Polar Bear Club’s addictive indie-rock jam; an awesome montage of styles and genres ranging from animation to pop art to minimalism. As Colella alternates between portrait-style camera shots of a single band member and shots of the full ensemble wailing on stage, an endless parade of VFX flies past onscreen: the singer receives a blood-gushing punch to the face and instantly heals; he jumps in a rocket ship and flies off into a cartoon galaxy; miniature people walk alongside the bodies of giants; one person morphs into another; and all manner of explosions and flames occasionally gushes from the screen. Nice Shoes handled some of the trickier VFX, including the Baxter-led sequence in which the lead singer morphs into a string of other people. The crew also molded many of the transition points when one post house’s work leaves off and another begins, including a smooth but complex sequence handled by Granelli in which a flock of animated birds is suddenly folded into a piece of paper in an abrupt shift back to the live-action realm. Sudul color graded the entire video. The project is generating considerable buzz, including a recent front-page feature on Stash. “This was a bonkers project,” noted Baxter. “Tom didn't sleep for a while there, but because of the creativity and crazy ideas we were happy to reach that same state for a brief time. We definitely had fun with this.” The 11 animation/VFX/post talents working alongside Nice Shoes were Smoke & Mirrors, Superfad, Comen VFX, Artjail, Hopr, Super! Alright!, Brand Name, Cause & Effect, John Earle, Simon Ampel and Sophia Peer.