For taut drama, thrilling adventure, and sheer visual goodness, Hollywood has nothing on Birmingham and Venice. We pulled out all the stops with the Speedshape Digital reel, peppering it with thrilling car chases, high-flying jets, killer stunt driving, sultry women, and smoky burnouts–all painstakingly paired with some of the sharpest, cleanest, and most downright thrilling interactive and CG ever created.

When you’re done with your upcoming seizure, let’s talk.

We’ve delivered a number of successful Mustang projects over the past few years, but our latest effort for Ford has been one of most satisfying. Team Detroit wanted to create two distinct web promos for the revolutionary new engines Ford had created for the new V6 and GT 5.0 Mustang, but they wanted them to be as visually exciting as they were technically interesting.

So working from CAD data, we created a pair of riveting demos to show all the engineering features of the new powertrains, which were then interspersed with CG-driven driving footage, 360-degree burnouts, and traditional film footage. In addition, Team Detroit asked us to help direct the new exterior performance driving scenes and internal engine/oil scenes.

When it comes to engine demos, Speedshape is one serious performance machine.

Do you ever wonder, in the intense heat of the moment, if you could keep it together and make the right choice under pressure? Skinny, Skunk/Stink Digital, and Speedshape did exactly that with every aspect of the Lexus CT200h “Dark Ride” cinematic interactive commercial, and as a result, movie and web audiences are going to be joining actor Norman Reedus for a serious thrill ride.

Speedshape certainly made the right choice in joining forces with the ideal digital partners. It all started with Speedshape London winning the project, and then all of our offices jumped right in and started grinding.

Since there were no Lexus CT200h vehicles available for the shoot, CD Jonas Hallberg of the meteoric agency Skinny NYC asked us to replace the stand-in Toyota Matrix with a digital CT200h. Then, he paired us with director James Brown, Producer Ari McGarry and the rest of the highly-capable Skunk/Stink Digital production team to really make it shine.

Right out of the gate, we knew we had to make custom low light nighttime markers to create better tracking with the beautiful low-light photography by Claudio Miranda. Once captured, we used the 3D model provided by Lexus to seamlessly and transparently build the CT200h over the proxy Matrix. Then, to create the interactive user POV experience, we worked with Skunk/Stink to find the ideal lens and field of view to film the experience to perfection.

The project isn’t over yet, but there’s one thing we already know for sure: working with this crew turned out to be one of the best decisions we’ve ever made, and we can’t wait for you to be the navigator on 05-13-2010.

View the “Dark Ride” trailer in HD on YouTube

The Nissan Juke is making its mark thanks to an extraordinary balance of styling, adaptability, and performance. We used all of those traits as well when Critical Mass called us for our first job together. They wanted us to help out with the programming on the Juke site, and provide all the CG modeling for the Juke vehicle.

Critical Mass had done their homework, so they were ready with background comps for all the sections, and Creative Director Steve Rowcliffe worked with us to design the text, icons, and web functionality.

We set the virtual vehicle into the backgrounds, crafted feature close-ups, provided drive-outs, and finished up by doing all of the flash programming for the entire site. The result was a web site that engaged and informed, and we really enjoyed working with the folks at CM.

All in all, you might say we even achieved a Big Bang.

JWT, Organic and Kimberly Clarke came up with a really smart idea: Instead of avoiding the issue of menstruation, they creating an open, frank discussion about feminine hygiene.

Then, to bring this watershed thinking to life on the web, they made another wise decision: bringing us in. Working closely with the creative team, we completely modeled the product and created high-resolution CG assets of the pads, tampons, and boxes.

We also helped to create compelling 360-degree spins to show off all the new features of the products, and since extreme close-ups were definitely on the menu, we made sure that the texture and detailing were perfect, and that the transition from CG to live action was seamless.

When it came to working to the Kotex project, our production cycles were totally in sync.