*Okay, I know this isn't technically a week anymore.
As is now a yearly tradition, my buddy John Sumner and I got to make more animated crowd prompts for use on the Baltimore Orioles' JumboTron!
Every year, we want to add something new to the fan experience at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It's an incredible feeling to see the animations with 40,000 other people in the stadium, catch a glimpse of the home run animation on TV, or to hear the sound effects from the construction worker prompt (and the fans' reaction following it) while listening to games on the radio.
As a fan myself, it's a big thrill. And as a director, it's always a fun challenge to communicate an idea in less than ten seconds to an audience who may need a moment to realize there's something happening on the scoreboard, all within a crazy double-widescreen aspect ratio that makes for some creative compositions.
The "Jaws" music is something they use as an intimidation tactic against the visiting team at Oriole Park whenever the O's seem poised to attack. This is the one 2015 animation that was a specific request from Orioles Productions.
For the "Strikeout!" animation, we wanted to try our most ambitious animation this year, comprised of several different shots and featuring the Oriole Bird pitching, which is a little more action than this puppet had previously attempted. Somewhere along the way, we decided that all Orioles players would be plastic cake-toppers and all visiting players and umpires would be cardboard cutouts.
For the "Charge!" animation, I wanted to do one spot that'd have slightly different endings to surprise fans who'd thought they'd seen the spot before. So, we have three different endings. Cake toppers, rubber ducks, and the return of the crabs:
Previous Orioles animation here: 2010, 2013, 2014.
All spots conceived by myself and John Sumner, except where noted.
Directed, shot, and animated by me.
Art direction and fabrication by John Sumner.
These were a blast to create and we can't wait to add more to The Bird's adventures!
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