PES creates “Paper,” a stop-motion masterpiece for Honda

The latest commercial work directed by stop-motion master PES recently went online, and it’s an instant classic. 

Shot entirely in-camera, all the elements in “Paper” were hand-made by PES and a small army of illustrators and animators.

That’s not to say computers didn’t provide a helping hand. As PES says in the making of video below, “We devised it in CGI, but the intention was to rip it out of that world and do it practically.”

Behind the Scenes

Leaving room for the animators to bring themselves to the project was important:

“The name of the game is really preparation. So much of engineering every sequence in this film was just trying to figure out how we can pull it off, how it would look, good how it wouldn’t fail.

But you leave some spontaneity so that the animators feel like, you know, each take is a unique performance.” — PES

A story in sound

Factory UK deserves a special shout out for their virtuosic sound design. They meticulously recreated the history of Honda through carefully crafted audio, building a soundtrack that’s a pleasure to listen to on its own.

Credits

Advertising Agency: RPA
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Baratelli
Executive Creative Director: Jason Sperling
Creative Director/Art Director: Ken Pappanduros
Creative Director/Copywriter: Chuck Blackstone
Senior Copywriter: Chris Bradford
Art Director: Laura Crigler
Copywriter: Josh Hepburn
Chief Production Officer: Gary Paticoff
Executive Producer: Isadora Chesler
Producer: Matt Magsaysay

Production Company: RESET
Managing Director: Dave Morrison
Executive Producers: Jen Beitler & Jeff McDougall
Head of Production: Amanda Clune
Producer: Stan Sawicki
Director of Photography: Eric Adkins
Production Designer: John Joyce
Motion Control Operator: Mark Eifert
Motion Control Asst: Calvin Frederick
Animation Supervisor: Eileen Kohlhepp
Animators: Amy Adamy, Sihanouk Mariona, David Braun, Julian Petschek, Javan Ivey, Jen Prokopowicz, Brandon Lake, Ranko Tadic & Quique Rivera
Illustrators: Jerrod McIlvain, Nicole Cardiff, Vincent Lucido, Arwen King, Meghan Boehman, Monica Magana, Kei Chong, Trevor Brown & Alex Theodoropulos
Set Dresser/Painter: Veronica Hwang
Illustration Coordinator: Evan Koehne
Art Department: Nate Theis, Ellen Ridgeway, Melissa Quezada
Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors, Santa Monica
Editor: Stewart Reeves

VFX & Finishing: A52
Executive Producer: Patrick Nugent
VFX Supervisor and Lead Flame: Andy Raphael Barrios
Producer: Lusia Boryczko
Colorist: Tommy Hooper
Online Editor: Dan Ellis

Sound Design: Factory UK
Sound Designer: Phil Bolland
Head of Production: Lou Allen

Mix: Lime Studios
Re-Recording Mixer: Dave Wagg
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan