February 1, 2005

HORNET CREATES 'STRANGE LOVE' OPEN

NEW YORK, NY - Hornet (www.hornetinc.com) director Aaron Stewart designed and animated the colorful open for VH1's "Strange Love," a reality show that follows Public Enemy's Flava Flav and actress Brigitte Nielson. The two personalities connected to form an unlikely couple during their time on the reality show, "Surreal Life 3."

"Strange Love" opens with quirky animated versions of Brigitte and Flava Flav dining in Milan, then jet setting to New York. The couple take a cruise through the city in a convertible, ride on a bicycle built for two, and cross the Brooklyn Bridge. The spot ends with a few slaps and a sealed kiss.

"The most challenging part was animating a six-foot, two-inch European woman with a five-foot, six-inch hip-hop artist - without having him look like her son - and having them traveling, romancing, hitting, drinking and smoking, all in one short spot," says Stewart.

The open was created using a combination of Macromedia Flash and Adobe After Effects. Shannon Horan was the producer and Phil Delbourgo was the creative director for VH1. Hana Shimizu served as producer at Hornet.