A Stop-Motion Story
Client: Omnicom Media Group
Role: Creative Director, 2D/3D Motion Design
Credits:
Creative Director: Ryan DeCarlo
Stop-Motion: David Szmit
Compositor: Ryan DeCarlo
Editor: Christian Conyer
3D / Motion Design: Ryan DeCarlo, David Szmit
Audio: Christian Conyer
Background
Every year, OMG sends a holiday video. Usually that's wallpaper, a logo, some snow, happy holidays. This year the brief had a real question under it: how do you express unity in a global company when everyone is physically apart?
We called it "Come Together." And I wanted the answer in the craft, not just the copy.
Problem
Unity across cultures is the easiest idea in the world to do badly. Flags and stock footage and a swelling track, everyone's seen it, nobody's felt it. The piece had to hold symbols from around the world, lanterns, a menorah, landmarks, and gingerbread, without turning into a checklist. It had to feel warm. And warmth is the one thing you can't render your way into.
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Challenge
The concept needed handmade texture, real objects, real light, the slight imperfection that reads as human. That means stop-motion. The budget said no studio.
And I was proposing to marry stop-motion with 3D animation, two mediums with different physics, different light, different everything. If the seam shows, the whole piece falls apart. The film about coming together couldn't look stitched together.
Spot
Approach
The concept: abstract objects representing cultures and customs around the world, drawn together into a single wreath, peace and shared purpose, built from difference. And the direction call that made it real: the technique would enact the theme. Stop-motion and 3D, two mediums that don't naturally belong together, merging into one piece. The medium was the message.
For the handmade half, motion designer David Szmit shot the stop-motion sequence in his living room. A scrappy setup, work lights, draped fabric, a camera rig next to the couch. And that's exactly what the piece needed: real handcraft, not faked warmth. real handcraft over faked warmth. I directed the visual language across both worlds and composited them myself, making sure the two mediums met seamlessly while the story stayed grounded in warmth and clarity.
Results
It started as an internal holiday message. It went on to win 8 industry awards, Platinums from Viddy, Hermes Creative, and DotComm; Golds from Vega, NYX, AVA Digital, and MarCom; Silver from MUSE.
But the part that holds up: a film about coming together, made by two mediums doing exactly that.