Toronto-based design and animation company Ghostmilk Studios provided the stop-motion animation used to bring a cereal father and son to life in "Snowman," a new spot for Kellogg's Canada by way of agency Leo Burnett. Bob Fortier of Axyz directed the holiday spot, which opens on a winter scene designed out of construction paper on a wooden school desk. A stick figure father and son, made from actual Rice Krispies and Frootloops cereal pieces, are brought to life and together share a seasonal moment building a snowman. Once the snowman is built, the son is saddened by the lack of decorations. Thanks to some self-sacrifice on dad's part, the snowman ends up with Kellogg's cereal facial features and buttons, much to the young boy's delight. Tabletop stop-motion shot on 3s was used to give a deliberately jumpy and "childlike" feel to the animated cereal (despite its being meticulously moved each frame by tweezers). The project was shot with a Canon digital SLR over blue screen and each high-res digital frame was captured straight into the computer via remote capture software. Frame Thief was used for a video assist, and Sean Wainsteim of Ghostmilk created rough comps for sizing and timing in Adobe After Effects and Photoshop. The final elements were composited at Axyz on the Inferno by Dave Giles. Executive producer for Axyz was Susie Rucska. Credits for Leo Burnett, Toronto include art director George Longley and producer Amanda Traub. Music was composed and recorded at Tattoo studios in Toronto.
