Sure Stash 45 starts out all fancy and high class, with the big budgets and glossy black and white treatments, but – as always – it quickly descends into a morass of crazed, unpredictable fun and brilliant weirdness.

Also included this issue: the newest Stash BONUS DISK packing in-depth selections of work from Bent Image Lab, Frame and Deva Studios.

We open the main program on the precise and metaphorical new Audi R6 launch spot from the Mill then slip peacefully into Logan’s elegant fluid work for Kohler Karbon before Psyop and MassMarket gracefully shatter any illusions we had about Absolut vodka.

Then, just as we were feeling our fourth and fifth chakras coming into alignment, the Mill busts out the fast break with slammin’ Mistubishi robots and then (without stopping to catch their breath) they destroy a truckload of Sony HD products by throwing them off a mountain. Psyop LA contributes to the buzz with their stylin’ new Häagen-Dazs spot while Farfar and Hobby Film convince 1,034 stop-motion people to follow them around Lisbon for six days for Nokia.

The momentum builds as we break into the broadcast design section with James Price and Transistor getting all medieval on BBC4 through Strange Beast, Helios Design Labs getting extra loose and lo-fi for MTV Canada and Trollbäck bringing some high-tech class to the sports world via ESPN. This is also where we find three newcomers to keep your eyes on: Parisian studio View with their electric new Virgin 17 spot, Thank You from Copenhagen with their manically labor-intensive new MTV Denmark work, and the team of Tenge Films and mashcomix from Tokyo with the completely chaotic new open for the Japanese MSN Video Awards (on the cover).

Music-driven projects on Stash 45 include the doggedly ragged new R.E.M. “Hollow Man” video from Crush, the pointillist prowess of London’s Trunk for Hot Chip’s “One Pure Thought”, and the wholesome flesh-gobbling puppet zombie epic “Piece of Me, Piece of You” from Three Legged Legs for Zune.

Other names of note to watch out for: Brand New School for Cellular South; Lobo for Vigorsol; XYZ and Charlex for Dodge; Superfad for Sprint; Warsaw’s Platige Image for Kujawski; Beijing’s Motion Logix for Li-Ning; NBC Magic Room for “American Gladiators”; Paris-based Wizz for Seat; Molho from Sao Paulo for Maxhaus; Manchester-based The Neighbourhood for themselves; and London’s one and only Wyld Stallyons bringing John Burgerman’s doodles to life for idN.

After all that it’s time to wind down a bit, and so Stash 45 closes on a beautifully rendered but very serious note with Shilo’s spectacular new “Burma Viral” PSA courtesy of MTV Networks.

All 11 of the BONUS FILMS on 45 were recognized as miniature motion gems in the Adobe Photoshop “See What’s Possible” Challenge which dangled $20,000 in front of the world’s graphic designers, web pros, photographers, animators, and motion graphics designers and asked them to “Compose an engaging animation or motion graphic video incorporating the Photoshop brand logo that illustrates the theme of ‘See What’s Possible’.”

The BONUS MUSIC on Stash 45 is happy little avalanche of indie rock started by the not-so-innocent people at Flameshovel Records. Grab seven cool MP3 tracks from Maritime, Chin Up Chin Up, Bound Stems, Narrator and Russian Circles.

AUDI “RS6 GYMNASTS”
TVC, cinema :60

Agency: BARTLE BOGLE HEGARTY
Director: PAUL HUNTER
Production: PRETTY BIRD
VFX: THE MILL
www.the-mill.com

KOHLER “KARBON”
Corporate video

Agency: META DESIGN
Director: LOGAN
Design/VFX: LOGAN
www.hellologan.com

ABSOLUT “DISSECTION”
TVC :45

Agency: TBWA/CHIAT/DAY
Directors: MARCO SPIER, CHRIS STAVES, MATE STEINFORTH
Production: PSYOP
VFX: MASSMARKET
www.massmarket.tv

MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE “ROBOT FACTORY”
TVC :30

Agency: BBDO TORONTO
Director: ARON HJARTARSON
Production: THE MILL NY
Animation: THE MILL NY
www.the-mill.com

SONY “TUMBLE”
TVC

Agency: 180LA
Director: ANDREW DOUGLAS
Production: ANONYMOUS CONTENT
VFX: THE MILL
www.the-mill.com

HÄAGEN-DAZS “OPERA”
Viral

Agency: GOODBY, SILVERSTEIN & PARTNERS
Directors: CEDRIC NICOLAS-TROYAN, LAURENT LEDRU
Production: PSYOP
Animation: PSYOP
www.psyop.tv

NOKIA “GET OUT AND PLAY”
Viral

Agency: FARFAR
Director: OSKAR BåRD
Production: HOBBY FILM
Animation/VFX: HOBBY FILM
www.hobbyfilm.com

VIRGIN 17
Broadcast design

Commissioning company: LARGARDERE INTERACTIVE
Director: SEBASTIEN CANNONE
Animation/VFX: VIEW
www.view.fr

NIKE/MTV “PLUSIRUN”
Branded film

Agency: W+K NY, MTV
Director: ALEX WITTHOLZ
Production: HELIOS DESIGN LABS
Animation: HELIOS DESIGN LABS
www.heliozilla.com

BBC4 “MEDIEVAL MIND TRIP”
TVC :40

Client: BBC NETWORKS
Directors: JAMES PRICE
Production: TRANSISTOR STUDIOS, STRANGE BEAST
www.transistorstudios.com
www.strangebeast.tv

MSN “MSNVA”
Viral

Agency: ORB-IT
Directors: TANGE FILMS, MASHCOMIX
Animation: TANGE FILMS, MASHCOMIX
www.tangefilms.jp
www.mashcomix.com

MTV “TRANSISTOR”
Broadcast design

Client: MTV DENMARK
Director: TODD ANGELO
Production: THANK YOU
Animation: THANK YOU
www.thankyou.dk

AMERICAN GLADIATORS “GIANTS”
TVC :30

Agency: THE NBC AGENCY
Director: KENDALL BOWLIN
Production: MOVING PARTS
Post/VFX: NBC MAGIC ROOM

ESPNEWS HD
Broadcast design

Client: ESPN
Director: TROLLBäCK + COMPANY
Design/animation: TROLLBäCK + COMPANY
www.trollback.com

R.E.M. “HOLLOW MAN”
Music video

Record label: WARNER BROS.
Directors: GARY THOMAS, STEFAN WORONKO
Production: CRUSH INC.
Animation: CRUSH INC.
www.crushinc.com

HOT CHIP “ONE PURE THOUGHT”
Music video

Record label: EMI
Directors: BEVIS MARTIN, CHARLIE YOULE
Animation: TRUNK ANIMATION
www.trunk.me.uk

“MAXHAUS”
Cinema, TVC

Client: MAXHAUS
Agency: W/BRASIL
Director: MARCELO GARCIA
Animation: MOLHO
www.molho.tv

“STORIES FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD”
Self-promotion

Director: JON HUMPHREYS
Production: THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
Animation: THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
www.the-neighbourhood.com

KUJAWSKI
TVC :45

Client: ZT KRUSZWICA S.A.
Agency: PZL
Director: IWO ZANIEWSKI
Production: PRO PRODUCTION
VFX: PLATIGE IMAGE
www.platige.com

MICROSOFT ZUNE “PIECE OF ME, PIECE OF YOU”
Viral

Agency: 72ANDSUNNY
Director: THREE LEGGED LEGS
Production: GREEN DOT FILMS
Animation: THREE LEGGED LEGS
www.threeleggedlegs.com

SPRINT (NEXTEL) “IREDELL”, “KATRINA”
Virals :90 x 2

Agency: GOODBY, SILVERSTEIN & PARTNERS
Director: SUPERFAD
Animation: SUPERFAD
www.superfad.com

CELLULAR SOUTH “TAYLORS WORLD”
TVC :30

Agency: MARTIN WILLIAMS
Directors: ROB FENG, LUDOVIC SCHORNO
Animation: BRAND NEW SCHOOL
www.brandnewschool.com

SEAT “DIESEL MOLECULES”
TVC :30

Agency: ATLETICO INTERNATIONAL, BARCELONA
Director: CHRIS DELAPORTE
Production: MARKENFILMS, WIZZDESIGN
Animation: WIZZ
www.wizz.fr

DODGE “ROAD TRIP”
TVC :30

Agency: BBDO, NEW YORK
Director: XYZ STUDIOS
Production: THE EBELING GROUP
Animation: XYZ STUDIOS, CHARLEX
www.xyzstudios.com
www.charlex.com

LI-NING “NO EXCUSE SHAQ”, “NO EXCUSE HAYES”, “DETERMINATION POWER”
TVCs x 3

Agency: LEO BURNETT BJ
Director: MOTION LOGIX
Animation/VFX: MOTION LOGIX
www.motionlogix.com

VIGORSOL “GLOBAL FREEZING”
TVC :40

Agency: BBH LONDON
Director: MATEUS DE PAULA SANTOS
Production: THE EBELING GROUP
Animation: LOBO
www.lobo.cx

“MAGIC INK”
Short film

Client: JOHN BURGERMAN/IDN
Director: WYLD STALLYONS
Animation: WYLD STALLYONS
www.wyldstallyons.com

MTV “BURMA VIRAL”
TVC/viral

Clients: THE BURMA ARTS BOARD, MTV NETWORKS
Agency: OGILVY & MATHER
Director: ANDRE STRINGER
Animation: SHILO
www.shilo.tv

ADOBE / CUT & PASTE “SEE WHAT’S POSSIBLE” CHALLENGE

WINNER
“EXPLORE”
Director: 3 WAGONS DEEP
www.3wagonsdeep.com

Finalist
“SEE WHAT’S POSSIBLE” by Hello Lava
www.hellolava.be

Finalist
“THINKING MAGICAL” by Animatório/Vinicius Costa
www.animatorio.com.br

Finalist
“THE AMAZING FACTORY” by Wondermint
www.wondermint.tv

Finalist
“HAPPY PLACE” by Network Osaka
www.networkosaka.com

Honorable Mention
“THE EXPERIMENT” by The Action Cats

Honorable Mention
“SWP_NOWHERE” by nowhere-lab.net
http://nowhere-lab.net

Honorable Mention
“PHOTOSHOP NINJA” by Farah Sattar

Honorable Mention
“BEING CREATOR” by dubu5
www.dubu5.com

Honorable Mention
“WITHIN WHAT’S POSSIBLE” by Associates of Bejec
www.jeremycox.com

Honorable Mention
“INFINITE” by Anthemic
www.anthemicdesign.com