Mad Scientists of Stop-Motion

The name says it all – Bent Image Lab, a place where nothing is inflexible or rigid, where creatives can bend the rules and completely wrap themselves around a project.
What’s their Gig?
Artists, directors and producers
alike work together to find alternative ways of doing things, to work
outside the ordinary to complete a job. The principals at this
Portland, OR studio- Ray Di Carlo, executive producer; Chel White,
director and David Daniels, director-encourage and empower "Team Bent"
to experiment with tools and technology. The company’s credo? "Never
twice the same solution."
"We coined the term‘Team Bent’ as a way of telling our clients that
when they come to Bent, they get more than one director’s vision;
there’s this really strong support team behind them," explains White.
"The reason the word‘lab’ is in our name is because we love the idea of
us being a creative laboratory. It’s a place where things are invented
and discoveries are made."
Daniels agrees, "We don’t rule anything out. We mix and match
techniques to our advantage. Often in ways people wouldn’t have even
thought of doing."
While Bent has completed a range of projects from TV spots to music
videos to animated and film shorts, it has excelled in stop-motion.
Projects include spots for OfficeMax, Reese’s, TLC and Kellogg’s.
The Cool Factor
Technique, testing, experimenting and discovery- it’s all a part of
what makes Bent Image Lab tick. For recording artist and former
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s music video "Harrowdown Hill," for
example, Bent developed its own, original technique called
"Smallgantics." It’s a type of visual effect that creates what White
refers to as "fake miniatures." Ultimately, it adjusts the depth of
field to trick the eye into thinking the image is an intricately
detailed miniature set when, in fact, it’s actually real.
"You know, even internally, some people say‘if we did it this way, it
would be easier,’" adds Di Carlo. "But then it won’t be what it could
be. If you want to do something that no one’s done before, that’s
really worth doing, you’re going to have to take a chance. You might
fail, but if you don’t try it you’re never going to do it. It’s never
going to be amazing. And we’re here to do something amazing."
The Geek Factor
It’s the equivalent of kids running rampant in a toy store- Team Bent
says it has pretty much every tool that’s out there to be had, and they
experiment with all of it. "There’s very little we don’t use," says Di
Carlo. As for specifics, there’s Apple Final Cut Pro HD, Avid
Adrenaline, Adobe After Effects, Apple Shake, Autodesk Maya and a
variety of stop-motion tools.
Since the company’s been in business since 2002, its success is
evident. Di Carlo puts it aptly: "I can’t imagine being any more
successful at what we tried to do than we have been."
What They Do
Hybrid animation, stop-motion/live-action production studio
Who They Are
Ray Di Carlo, Executive Producer/Partner
David Daniels, Director/Partner
Chel White, Director/Partner
Technology
Apple Final Cut Pro HD
Avid Adrenaline
Adobe After Effects
Apple Shake
Autodesk Maya
NewTek Lightwave
Autodesk 3ds max
Bent Image Lab
www.bentimagelab.com
2729 SE Division Street
Portland, OR 97202
ph. 503.228.6206
info@bentimagelab.com