This is a montage of recent visual effects work. Our clients include the TV shows Rescue Me, Damages, The Unusuals, The American Experience and The Detonators. We also worked on feature films, commercials, music videos, and documentaries. The music we used for the reel is "Wolf Like Me" by TV On The Radio.
This is a montage of our Motion Graphics and Animation work. We've designed graphics packages for shows like The Detonators and Arctic Roughnecks. We have created commercials for Verizon and the LA Zoo. We also made many corporate videos for clients such as Conde Nast and Guess. The song used for the reel is "Lollipop" as made famous by Lil Wayne.
This is a montage of Titles work we've done. It includes credits for feature films such as City of Your Final Destination and Peter & Vandy. We've also done Titles for shorts, documentaries and production companies. The music we used is "Some Sing" by Bassnectar.
The Molecule has worked on several independent features with casts including Jennifer Connelly, Richard Roundtree, Robert Forster, Laura Linney, Anthony Hopkins, Joaquin Phoenix, and Kris Kristofferson.
Microcosm is an animated short created by Molecule VFX artist Chad Sikora, which takes its audience on a colorful jaunt through the all-encompassing, all-consuming food chain. The piece's concentric posturing aims to aid its viewers in looking deeply inward and outward of themselves to recognize universal similarities. Microcosm is a collection of handpainted elements composed and animated digitally.
What would Timbaland be without a Verizon commercial featuring a sweet 3D phone animation we created in Maya, and composited screen animation made with After Effects? He'd probably still be a genius, but we made sure he looked cool.
The L.A. Zoo had reindeer! For this animated promotion, we showed the California lifestyle of the North Pole's most beloved animal. We designed all the artwork in Illustrator and animated it in After Effects.
No dogs were hurt in the making of this animation for Animal Planet. We designed all the artwork in Illustrator and animated it in After Effects. We are not responsible for canine alcoholism.
The concept for this PSA is barking mad. This ultra hipster mutt from the lower east side would make his owner a millionaire if he could actually talk without us adding the 3D mouth made in Maya.
The Reel Moments series has debuted the directorial careers of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Kirsten Dunst, Kate Hudson, and more. Glamour Magazine wanted to bring the logo to life so we painted a treadmill green and styled their special projects manager to look like the woman in the logo. Add some 3D and a little rotoscoping and this is what you get!
This groovy motion graphics montage doesn't make much sense to the casual observer, but it does to Glamour magazine's sales team. This is an example of our corporate work designed and animated in After Effects.
Powder magazine holds an award show every year and like all award shows they have big screens with cool stuff playing on them. We added motion graphics to existing footage for the awards categories and created presentation boards for the nominees. This video is a montage of some of the best sequences.
Faith can be confusing but commitment is not. This spot was written, directed, and produced on super 16mm by The Molecule. There are even a few quick visual effects shots in there, but hopefully, if we did our job, no one will find them. Director: Luis de Leon Writer: Luis de Leon Editorial: The Molecule Animation: The Molecule
This video is not a commercial and it contains no information. It's an in-store display piece designed and animated in After Effects simply to get your attention.
Established in 1991 and produced by IFP, the Gotham Awards celebrate the independent voices behind and in front of the camera in the year's best films. The Gothams salute the innovative films and filmmakers whose passion and vision make their way onto the screen year after year. The Molecule created the animations used both live at the event and on the cable broadcast.
Bon Appetit was redesigned not long ago. Here is the magazine's 2008 press roundup, created in After Effects, which features the new updated look.
Our friends at Domino Magazine made Advertising Age's Hotlist for the second year in a row and wanted to let all of their clients know about it. With 3 lines of copy and the jazz classic tune by Cole Porter we went to work on one of our favorite email blast Flash pieces.
This is a montage of recent work we've done for the FX show Rescue Me. For the last five seasons of this FDNY drama we helped plan sequences in pre-production, supervise the shoots and execute the VFX in post. The song we used "C'mon C'mon" by The Von Bondies is also in the show's title sequence. To find out more visit our blog
This sequence has been regarded as one of the most exciting action sequences in the Rescue Me Series. Denis Leary is not actually 35 stories over 3rd Avenue, but merely 15 feet above a blue screen. A spherical matte painting is used to create the surrounding buildings and their reflections. It is constructed from still photos taken on a rooftop in midtown Manhattan.
In this thrilling sequence, Tommy saves a woman from an exploding car but not from a shower of glass shards. Lucky for them we blew out the glass wall later in post.
The opening action scene of episode 1 in the fourth season of Rescue Me kicks off with a killer techno crane shot, 3D debris, and a healthy dose of composited fire. The floor is actually tilting however the actors are sliding toward a foam green mat rather than a fiery abyss of burning cats.
Since they couldn't find a building that was engulfed with flames on the day of the shoot, we helped out by adding fire to the floors of the Williamsburg Finger Building
To help spice up the real fireworks in this scene, we added a bunch of our own. With the combination of real and digital bursts, this scene really sparkles.
Tommy makes a shocking discovery regarding Jimmy's whereabouts on 9/11. We helped locate him by compositing him into real news footage from the actual day.
A steam pipe busts underneath a city street in this episode. The steam you see shooting up into the sky is the handy work of our compositing team, as well as the manhole covers that fall from the sky. Oh, we also added the water and steam through the windshield which they filmed on blue screen.
In this episode, our team created suitcase bomb blasts and topped them off with falling nuclear snow. We also did extensive 2D and 3D matte paintings to expand the scope of the destruction.
The final episode of season 3 closed with the cast remembering their lost brothers in front of a 9/11 memorial next to ground zero. The actual memorial was unavailable so we created our own memorial in 3D.
This is a montage of VFX work we've done for the FX show Damages. This taught legal drama has very specific plot details that were not always easily achieved during production. We helped achieve or revise these details in post. The song we used "When I'm Through With You" by The V.L.A. is also in the show's title sequence. To find out more visit our blog
We put the fire in bonfire for this ominous scene. There was only a light and a smoke machine on location. We added the fire and the lake to fit the script.
Nothing like a little touch screen GPS image to give a Noir scene a little more modern day feel. We changed the coordinates punched into the GPS screen.
In this shot we put a wound on William Hurt's forehead after he takes a shot to the noggin.
This tombstone did not originally say David Connor. It would have been awkward if she was talking to the wrong grave.
It wouldn't make much sense for Darrell Hammond to be reading a blank piece of paper so we added the coordinates.
The fine team here at The Molecule handled this call-girl website before breakfast. We redesigned the site in post to make sure all the images were copyright legal.
The name on the manila envelope originally said Ellen Parsons. We strategically changed it to Katie Connor.
Damages asked us to remove the wine bottle from one of the shots in this scene for continuity reasons. We were happy to raise a glass to Glenn Close.
This is a montage of VFX clips from the ABC police drama The Unusuals. There were key locations in the show that were built on a stage with green screens. We composited in the outside world to make these sets look like real locations. The song we used "Cobrastlye" by Teddy Bears was also in the one of the show's action sequences. To find out more visit our blog
In this scene we added the scenery outside the window of the restaurant. The diner was shot with a green screen outside the glass and we put in the street footage.
The diner was shot with a green screen outside the glass and we put in the street footage. The scuffle posed a challenging rotoscope job, but we pulled it off with an expert eye for detail.
In this scene there was a green screen outside the window of the apartment. We took a picture from our office window in midtown Manhattan and placed it back there.
This Chinese restaurant was a set with a green screen in the window. We put in the street footage outside. We also added the screen to Amber Tamblyn's Sidekick.
We pulled a crafty maneuver here as we composited the outside street footage behind sheer curtains in the Chinese restaurant.
This scene had lots of heads floating in front of a green screen. We dropped in the street footage outside the windows and doors.
This apartment location is actually a set with green screen windows and the street outside is a composite.
Harold Perrineau's apartment location is a set with green screen windows and the street outside is a composite. We also added the perpetrator closing the curtains.
Harold Perrineau's apartment location is a set with green screen windows and the street outside is a composite.
Omar Razaghi has won a grant to write a biography of Latin American writer Jules Gund. Omar must get through to Gund's brother (Anthony Hopkins), widow (Laura Linney), and younger mistress (Charlotte Gainsbourg) so he can get authorization to write the biography. Editor John Allen had several shots that needed manipulation to help tell the story including a crowded opera house in the closing scene of the film.
Here we helped fill the opera house with people. After shooting multiple shots of audience members filling different sections of the theater we put them all together to create a full house.
We provided Anthony Hopkins with the projection he talks about in this scene by composting old black and white footage onto the projector screen.
The Detonators takes you inside the explosive-packed world of professional demolition engineers as they use all their skills to fire off the perfect blast. Our job was to re-create the buildings and simulate their demolition in Maya as well as create a stylized feel to the simulations rather than a photo real one. All the color, vignetting, 2D overlays and image focus happens in After Effects. To find out more visit our blog
To help explain the ins and outs of demolition, we created 3D animations in Maya. Then we composited them and put some overlays on in After Effects.
From the award-winning PBS series American Experience comes We Shall Remain, a provocative film project that establishes Native history as an essential part of American history. The Molecule added The Mayflower to the horizon, removed present man-made structures, and multiplied a crowd of 15 actors on a beach to over 100. To find out more visit our blog
The land across the water looks uninhabited. If it wasn't for us it wouldn't have been. We removed the houses and buildings from along the shoreline.
To make this beach come to life with people, they shot reenactors in separate clusters of activity. We then placed all the clusters around the beach in one flurry of activity. For more detail visit our blog.
We added the mysterious ship off on the horizon.
In this scene a shooting star that we created blazes across the night sky.
In Tecumseh's last battle, the musket didn't fire properly, so we added the blast.
There was only one very small group of reenactors marching down the hillside. We multiplied them to create this procession along the Trail of Tears.
This documentary was created by Middle March Films for American Experience and PBS. The New York downtown shot was composited with elements gathered from stills from locations such as New England and Amsterdam to help make the scene historically accurate. Reenactors were filmed against a green screen, then positioned in 3D space with CG buildings. The song used is "The Molecule" by Damien Omenicci
The coastline in this shot was originally a vast forest on rolling hills. We replaced it with an fledgling version of Manhattan.
The actor playing Hamilton had a bit too much gray hair in this scene. We helped add some ginger.
The funeral procession was shot by filming a small group of reenactors marching in front of a green screen. We rearranged them into different clusters and marched them again...and again to get enough pieces to make a crowd.
The New York downtown shot was composited with elements gathered from locations such as New England and Amsterdam to make the scene look historically accurate. Reenactors were filmed against a green screen studio set, then positioned in 3D space with CG buildings. The principle plate photography was shot on a moving crane in Alexandria, VA.
Reenactors were filmed against a green screen, then added to populate this shot of a back street.
Here we have a few extra shots of the compositing we did for Hamilton.
The Missing Person Private detective John Rosow is hired to tail a man on a train from Chicago to Los Angeles. Rosow gradually uncovers the man's identity as a missing person; one of the thousands presumed dead after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
Royal Kill by Babar Ahmed is an indie action movie starring Pat Morita and Eric Roberts. This is a montage of VFX shots we provided for the film. The song used is "Not Falling" by Mudvayne.
Were the World Mine by Tom Gustafson is an indie musical about a boy who makes a love potion to make his school mates fall madly in love him. This is a montage of VFX shots we provided for the film. The song used is "Hard Road" by The Shore.
Disappearances Montage. Based on the award-winning novel by Howard Frank Mosher. Legendary actor/songwriter Kris Kristofferson stars.
Old school meets new in this updated pop culture western directed by James M. Hausler. This montage highlights the effects created by The Molecule while at the same time tells you absolutely nothing about the film.
This is a compilation of our promotional work. Our promos include History Channel's Gangland and Modern Marvels, and Discovery's The Detonators and Arctic Roughnecks. We also created our own pitch piece based on the comic "Razor", who is a character in "The Crow" series. The song we used is "High Noon" by DJ Shadow.
The History Channel's "Gangland" series is about violent gangs. This promotional spot is composed from still photos. The tattoo transitions were created using footage we shot of India ink soaking into paper. Director: Chris Bagnall Photography: Chris LaVasseur Motion Graphics: The Molecule. To find out more visit our blog
This promotional reel for Modern Marvels on the History Channel was created in After Effects. We created the evolution the light-bulb. Director: Chris Bagnall Motion Graphics: The Molecule
The History Channel is making the transition to High Definition. The titles, graphical elements and HD online for this sizzle reel were created at the Molecule. Editorial: JP Balas Editorial Online: The Molecule Motion Graphics: The Molecule
Batman has inspired many. Here he inspired us to create a graphics of his spotlight call for this promotion of Batman Unmasked.
This pitch piece is based on the comic "Razor", who is a character in "The Crow" series. Directed, produced, supervised, shot, edited, and composited by The Molecule, this piece showcases our wide range of talent and potential.
Along with doing the animation for The Detonators, we did the title graphics for this promotion of the explosive series.
This snowy title graphic was created by our team in after effects. Doesn't it make you want to put a coat on?
This promo for Kuwaiti television station Al Watan was shot using a radio controlled helicamera. It required stabilization, tracking, color correction, sky replacement, and 3D animation.
This promo for Kuwaiti television station Al Watan was shot using a radio controlled helicamera. It required stabilization, tracking, color correction, sky replacement, and 3D animation. Director: Zeyad Alhusaini VFX: The Molecule Sound Design: DuArt
Bush piloting in the Congo, a country crippled by 30 years of war and famine, may be one of the worlds most hazardous professions. We created motion graphics to highlight the specific pitfalls and dangers unique to each landing site in the show. The song used in the reel is "Parallel Universe" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
This series gave us a chance to show off some of our map work and other motion graphic abilities.
City Of Your Final Destination is the latest film directed by James Ivory. Typography by Kelly Parr. The film's strong cast includes: Laura Linney, Alexandra Maria Lara, and Anthony Hopkins.
Directed by Jay DiPietro. With Jason Ritter, Jess Weixler, and Jesse L. Martin.
A short film directed by John David Allen, produced Laura Hebberton, starring Madeleine Potter and Bill Camp about love, trust, and dead animals. Typography by Kelly Parr.
A short film directed by John David Allen, produced Laura Hebberton, starring Madeleine Potter and Bill Camp about love, trust, and dead animals.
Paper Street Films is an independent, New York City-based film production and finance company specializing in fictional feature and documentary films.
Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the pre-eminent writers of twentieth-century African-American literature. We brought this hand-made sketch of her to life for the opening titles of her PBS documentary.