The last production of the season for the Metro is "Twentieth Century".
The action takes place in 1933 on the iconic train that ran between Chicago and New York.
It was a chance to revisit that era's travel posters and reference a style we love.
Mar, 2010
A classic play with strong, dramatic imagery, thankfully re-named from its two previous versions.
The brief was for something to suggest the isolation of the location, the terror of the murders, and the sense
of helplessness as the victims are picked off, one by one.
The approval process went much more smoothly with this production.
Feb, 2010
An ensemble piece, "Opening Night" is a play-within-a-play wherein things go hilariously wrong.
Our illustration, unfortunately, was one of the things that went wrong, apparently.
This is one of our favourite pieces we have done for the Metro so far.
For those in charge, however, it wasn't "right" and was rejected, as was our replacement, text-based piece,
which was a further disappointment.
Dec, 2009
Hoping to post some of our "playback" work from the past couple of years.
Playback is anything that displays on a computer (or other) screen in a film.
Sometimes it is still images, sometimes short animation, sometimes it is the focus of the scene.
Here's a simple one from "The Stranger" that shot in July.
It is a "screensaver" that looped in the background inside an FBI office.
Here's what was on another screen in the office.
In a short animation the "Remote Station" window at the bottom right popped up, made "disconnecting"
motions, and then retreated off-screen. An agent notices this and understands that his computer has been hacked.
We built it from the ground up, starting with the desktop, the icons, the functionality of the operating system (if needed)
and the windows and their contents. The colouring and look of the contents were discussed with the director, who in this case
wanted a "serious, business-like" look, as befits and FBI agent's workstation. The "old school" look to the "Remote Station"
window suggests that the hacker has got past all the user-friendly parts of the operating system and is deep inside.
Nov, 2009
The plot in "Strictly Murder" revolves around a central character with a mysterious past.
Strangers show up confronting him of past misdeeds and even trying to kill him.
With not much imagery to go on, we chose the shadowy protagonist, and the pastoral setting, for the focal point.
There is little, if any, blood spilled in the story, but big red splats work well with black and white.
Sep, 2009
"Theft" is a British comedy about two couples who return from celebrating an anniversary.
They find the house has been burgled and a man claiming to be a policeman appears from a closet, already on the case.
He's the thief, of course, but the story unfolds with twists and surprises as no-one is what they appear.
This illustration called for simple graphics, bright colours, and a comedic twist.
The thief turns the tables on the two couples, so we have the cartoon thief "stealing" them in his bag.
They are meant to look a little like silverware/ornaments/stealable items.
We are dealing with spacing issues at the bottom as we include a new sponsor's logo.
Aug, 2009
"Arsenic And Old Lace" is a very well-known story, although the movie and play differ significantly.
This one is a bit of a departure for us in that we used only found objects and photography.
At Vancouver's biggest model train shop, Central Hobbies, we found the perfect tiny "business man" figures.
We put them into an old medicine bottle and back-lit it with a diffuse white light to get the silhouette effect.
The hard part was shaking the bottle so the figures would settle into just the right pose.
Colour correction and background added in Photoshop.
Aug, 2009
We are very pleased to have the contract to do posters for the Metro Theatre's 2009/2010 season.
"Up And Coming" is a classic British sex farce with a politician frantically trying to regain control
of both his public and private lives when it is discovered that showgirls are hiding in his hotel room.
Set in the late 60s, we tried to evoke the feeling of mad-cap movie posters of that era.
Apr, 2009
The final production of the season is "Enchanted April". Set in the 1920s, it is about two British women
who find all sorts of good things during a stay in Tuscany.
The director was not happy with our initial concepts and we are not satisfied with the compromise.
A dry, chalky look and sun-drenched colours to evoke the Tuscan landscape.
Mar, 2009
Postcards for the current and next productions at the Metro Theatre.
Aya and Keith worked closely on the illustration for "The Crazy Time".
The textures were all created with ink on paper and then digitally altered.
"Father's Day" is about a divorced man whose son, Goth daughter-in-law,
and ex-wife all show up at his house to share their thoughts.
Straightforward vector graphics with a bit of texturing in Photoshop.
Jan, 2009
Postcard for "Dial M For Murder" at the Metro Theatre.
Aya got out her tools and built all the props from scratch, excluding the carpet.
Here's a shot of some of the work in progress (click to enlarge):
We ordered a tiny telephone from a doll-house supplies website,
but the scale was off by too much for it to be of use. Instead, Keith carved a telephone
from a block of plasticine. We had lots of fun with the lighting and the digital manipulation.
Dec, 2008
Postcard for "The Affections of May" by Norm Foster at the Metro Theatre.
May, 2007
Thirty Days November 2008 has just finished.
There was a great collection of participants from Canada and around the world, lots of first timers and lots of familiar names.
Strangely, for the first time, Tim, Aya and Keith were all traveling during the last week of November and couldn't complete all Thirty Days.
Postcard for "The Memory of Water" by Shelagh Stephenson at the Metro Theatre.
Three sisters meet up for their mother's funeral and find that their memories have created very different truths about their childhood.
The mother appears to each of them, introducing her point of view and requiring everyone to re-think what they have believed.
Don't know how it manages to be a comedy, but that's what it says.
Sep, 2008
Postcard for "A Murder Is Announced" by Agatha Christie at the Metro Theatre.
This one was a lot of fun to make. The key image in the plot is when the front door of a house opens to reveal a figure silhouetted against the setting sun. This person is shot dead, setting the rest of the play in motion.
Aya cut the figure, the floor, the posts and details from a single piece of paper. The dot of paper inside the shadow was added later, as was the beam of light.
We have to adapt each Metro postcard to their program cover as well. This has its own set of demands since it is done with off-set printing and is run with only the blacks plus one colour.
This involves a real re-think of the graphic, not least because the dimensions are so different, and usually we're less than thrilled with the results.
This time, however, we love the film noir/German expressionist feel.
We are aware that the "pool of blood" thing has been done before, but black, white and red always work together.
July, 2008
The 2008-09 season at the Metro Theatre is under way. We are very happy to have the contract for their poster design again this year.
First up is the 2004 update of Neil Simon's classic "The Odd Couple", now called "Oscar and Felix".
May, 2008
Keith's alternate version of the Metro poster for "Plaza Suite", with simplified colours and a bit of added texture.
May, 2008
Thirty Days 2008 has just finished. Participants from across Canada and all over the world with music, sculpture, photography, poetry, cartoons, drawings, paintings and mixed media.
It was a great turn-out this year with a really good feeling from the participants.
Congratulations to everyone who made the time for work.
The last play of the season at the Metro.
Based on the cover of the New Yorker, of course. Maybe someday we'll really get one of our illustrations on the cover.
Or inside. Or in a magazine that sits near the New Yorker on the shelf...
Mar, 2008
Poster for "The Melville Boys" at the Metro.
Fun with the textures in Photoshop.
Here are two rejected designs that we wanted to finish anyway.
Neither are really appropriate for the Metro's audience, but when an idea comes you just gotta go with it.
Wrasslin' Bugs!
Big stressed text!
Feb, 2008
Poster for "Anything Goes" at the Metro. Aiming for a cross between pin-up girl and travel poster.
Objects created in vector graphics app, then imported to Photoshop.
Used some good new brushes and spent a lot of time getting the textures just right.
Feb, 2008
Aya created the wedding dress from paper doilies and made the tiara from beads and wire.
The veil is one of those plastic net bags that garlic comes in. Supermarket chic.
Final model stands approximately 10" (25cm) high.
Photographed in our studio and processed in Photoshop.
Jan, 2008
Aya's beautiful brushwork is the backbone of this month's Metro poster. All colouring was done digitally.
And we've added a map to the back of the postcard this month.
Sep, 2007
We had a lot of fun developing new techniques for the textures and experimenting more with brushes in PS. Aya really got into the details while drawing the buildings.
Aug, 2007
The new season at the Metro Theatre has started. We are happy to be doing their illustrations again.
July, 2007
Thirty Days has just finished. Participants from across Canada and all over the world with music, video, photography, poetry, prose, drawings, paintings and mixed media.
Aya's blog Keith's blog
June, 2007
We just finished the website for the beautiful new Soma restaurant.
Thanks to Tim Gerwing for the programming.
April, 2007
Lots of posters recently. Here is one for Tim Gerwing's upcoming concert.
April, 2007
A great contract since we got back is the one to do the promotional material for the Metro Theatre here in Vancouver.
This was a different concept for Noises Off that we wanted to complete for our own experience.
This was our pitch piece to get the contract.
March, 2007
Doing interesting motion graphics for some movies shooting in and around town. Lots of radar imagery and computer interface graphics.
Jan, 2007
Back from travels in the Balkans, Italy and Tunisia. Some photos can be seen at our travel blog.
We just finished the website for Soma Coffee House.
Thanks to Tim Gerwing for the final programming and to Joe, the super-fine manager of Soma,
for the opportunity to create the web presence of our favourite café.
We have spent many happy hours there, sipping excellent coffee and drawing our fellow locals.
The latest round of the Thirty Days project is under way and being generously hosted by Tim Gerwing.
The response has been great and there are participants from the U.K., Japan and Australia as well as across North America. We have set up blogs to host our images: Aya's blog Keith's blog
June, 2006
A poster for Outlet, a live glitch-hop concert at Little Mountain that was broadcast on a tiny FM footprint with the audience listening on little radio headphones.
We have a show of photos up at Soma, a busy café gallery on Main Street. The theme was "The Neighbourhood" and we each have eight pieces hanging. If you can't get to Soma you can see them via the links below.
Keith posted a looping animation here. It is based on a scene from Akira Kurowawa's "Hidden Fortress" and features Japanese warrior monks who, I am told, were very bad.
We also joined the on-line community at ZeD, a multimedia community created by the good people at the CBC.
We added some animations in the Flash category which you can find by searching for "kib". View them and vote, why not?
We have been working with Char Hoyt, adding new animation based on her drawings to the front page of her Assballs website.
Keith just posted a creepy little animation he did this weekend called Birdbot. It came from something in his sketchbook and got its start thanks to too much coffee.
It may be heavy to run so right click and select a lower quality if it's too slow. The default is medium.
February 24, 2004
A site we completed for Red Star Inline Hockey League is now up and running. We also designed a poster for the league which is here.
Again, thanks to Tim Gerwing for stepping in to do the main programming.
February 19, 2004
The Gold Star Productions site is up. Be sure to check out the video clips at the top, the QT downloads in their What We Have Done section and the animated trailer for The Yearning that we produced for Gold Star last year.
Tim Gerwing has provided us with an excerpt from one of his brilliant compositions for the intro theme.
February 14, 2004
Finishing up a major branding/website effort for Gold Star Productions as they move into their new building and head into big-time movie production. Congratulations, Gold Star! We look forward to the premiere of the new brand identity, building and website later this month.
We were able to concentrate on the look and interactivity of the project thanks to Tim Gerwing who took on the trickier bits of new programming and really came through for us. He will also be doing the music for the Gold Star intro.
Take a look at the new website of William Maher, our animation mentor. The man is extremely talented.
We now move on to a re-design of the website for the Kay Meeks Centre for the Performing Arts, a beautiful new facility being built in West Vancouver. We're lucky enough to be working on that under the art direction of local design master Kent Maclagan.
We also have some illustration projects in the works and are trying (really!) to get a re-vamp of this site soon.
February, 2004
I wanted to try some under-water lighting effects and came up with this little submarine animation. Naturally, it got longer and more complex as I tackled different effects shots (lighting, explosion and bubbles) but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.
Still needs some sound.
January, 2004
We have been contracted to animate the comic strips of local artist Char Hoyt. This came about through the lucky coincidence of being fans of her strip and her spotting us wearing a T-shirt with her characters on it.
We pitched her the idea of animating her characters and made up a short demo to convince her, with Tim Gerwing contributing some perfect music.
She didn't need much convincing, as it turns out, and once we'd experimented with some stylistic approaches to find one that best captures her strip's painterly characteristics, we got started on the first episode.
The episodes will be posted soon on the Assballs website. Check out Char's work in the gallery sections.
December, 2004
I really wanted to get that Flash animator position at Atomic Cartoons but I never heard back from them. Was my test animation that bad?
August 17, 2003
Solved that problem with some Java help from a good friend and excellent programmer, Tim Gerwing. Flash showcase now functioning the way it should.
August 16, 12:30am, 2003
Success! Managed to figure out the problem and get the Flash showcase loading. Haven't cracked getting it to load into a separate window, or why the new window is bigger than the one called in the code, but that's next.
August 15, 2003
Discovered that we've been updating an older index page that had no link to the Flash showcase! I've been working like crazy to re-establish links but the Flash showcase link remains elusive. I'll get it done in the next day or two as soon as I can get in touch with one of my HTML gurus. I hate to think that the last two jobs we've applied for didn't contact us because of broken links...
Joined the "Animator's Web Ring" to find out more about the community of animators on-line. See the link at the bottom of the page and visit some of the other galleries in the ring.
August 10, 2003
Gold Star Productions has hired us to redo their logo and website. There is a lot of video and other content to work into it, so the site is going to be complicated. They liked one of the logos we presented so we have that settled at least. We're happy with the one they chose. Kind of has a 'hero' feel to it. We look forward to linking to that from here once both sites are finished.
August 8, 2003
The new site, all done in Flash, is well under way. The complexity of including three different portfolios in one site with clear categories and simple navigation certainly presented some design challenges. We won't be adding new content to the current site from this time. Instead, we're concentrating on getting the new site ready for upload and that will include all the recent projects. In the meantime, here are some links to animations that, until now, you haven't been able to link to from the site.
forestwalk The Jellotor Project desert moon (landscape inspired by G.Herriman) wings robot parade
July 2003
We were hired by a local music producer, Mark Nazemi, to create a CD cover for his latest project, a new-Goth band called Perfect Cell. Mark and the band liked what we did and contracted us to develop the artwork further and produce the band's website. You can find the finished site, with sound effects and song samples, at www.solidbass.com/perfectcell.
May 2003
We had four animated sequence broadcast coast-to-coast on CBC television in April. They were opening credits for three of four episodes of "Under The Cover", a four-part comedy-drama produced by our friends at Gold Star Productions here in Vancouver. The fourth was a cut-away scene within one of the episodes. All were created in Flash and all will be included in the new site when that is ready.
We completed a Flash animation intro to a website for Johnny Bagpipes, a Canadian stand-up comic who combines the best of big-hair metal with bagpipe music. No, really! He's pretty good! Our animation of his rock 'n' roll fantasy can be found here: www.johnnybagpipes.com
We are completely redesigning the site in Flash (finally!) and will have more of our Flash animation at the forefront, as well as updated artwork and drawings, our interactive portfolio and a more comprehensive links page.
For those of you new to our site, please keep in mind that, with projects being completed regularly, it can never be truly up to date. We intend to show here some of our individual work, as well as work done as a team, to demonstrate the skills that each of us bring to Ikeda-Barry Creative.
In order to ease downloads, we have adapted short sequences of animation to play as GIFs. In the process of lightening the file size, some of the timing may have changed.
Please feel free to reach us with questions or comments via the Contact page. References and their contact information may also be found there.
