press release
VH1 'Rock Honors'
Eyeball and Expansion Team Rock Out for VH1
A Return to Fundamentals for Music Network's 'Honors' Series
NEW YORK - Continuing their successful rapport with the VH1 music network, boutique production house Eyeball and music company Expansion Team recently created the show package for this summer's 'VH1 Rock Honors,' a tribute extravaganza featuring some of the best acts in rock history.
Inspired by the culture and imagery of classic rock and classic movies such as Ralph Bakshi's 'Wizards' and 'Lord Of The Rings,' this most recent work for VH1 pays homage to the visual pedigree of classic rock just as the show itself honors those who created the music. Having worked with VH1 before, EyeballNYC was well prepared to give the station that's known for providing compelling perspective on music history exactly what it needed.
"I established a method during the first Hip Hop Honors job of showing them a ton of reference up front," said Julian Bevan, associate creative director at Eyeball. "It's a good way to get everyone on the same page about the attitude and feeling that the design concept has to encompass."
For Rock Honors, that attitude comes through as tough and devoted, just like the hoards of vigilant fans of classic rock music. In the show's opening, music fanatics wearing T-shirts identifying their band's allegiance form armies that descend on a beacon that signals a call to action - a call to celebrate the music that fans remember and revere.
At the onset of the project, all the information needed to complete the job wasn't available, but the work needed to begin, so Eyeball worked around the obstacle using the malleability of computer animation. "VH1 wasn't getting confirmation on the specific acts performing until quite late in the production schedule, but the show open and many of the show package graphics had to have each band represented with as many customized elements as possible," Bevan said. "Since we had to start production, we went with a CG solution that allowed us to tailor the package with the names of the performing bands toward the end of the project."
The results avoid the feeling of caricature often associated with computer-generated people, mixing a forceful narrative and a staid importance that classic bands such as Def Leppard, Judas Priest and Kiss deserve.
"We did a lot of experimenting with lighting and texturing to get away from a typical toon-shaded look and get something more grimy and appropriate for the motley crew of rock fans in our piece," said Bevan. "There was no irony in arena rock in 1978. Judas Priest was not kidding with all the fog and motorcycles. They were dead serious."
Of course, creating a show package for a music tribute requires a convincing sound design, and Expansion Team, which also provided the cuts for the show packages of VH1's Hip Hop Honors in 2005 and 2004, was again up to the task.
Creating a driving sound that is heavy with guitar, John Kastner put a band together that really, well, rocked. "John's spent his life perfecting heavy rock grooves, so this came naturally to him," said Alex Moulton, creative director at Expansion Team. "We needed music that paid homage to the honorees, which were largely 70s & 80s hard rock bands. After settling on the groove, VH1 just kept asking us to turn it up to 11."
The final product pays reverence to the invigorating rhythms of the genre, while relating the subject of show to a wider audience through deft digital treatments of modern animation styles.
