Five Questions with… Eileen Doherty and Brad Tucker

Executive producer Eileen Doherty and design director Brad Tucker of Stardust Studios step up to answer Five Questions.

1. What are you working on today?
Brad: Big project for Macy’s out of JWT
Chicago…going to Buenos Aires in a few weeks for the
shoot…partay.

Eileen: Working on getting in more projects so Brad
won’t be bored when he gets back from Buenos Aires.

2. What have you found is the best tool or innovation that has come out in the last year?
Brad: The hair plug-in for Cinema 4D.

Eileen: The hair plug-in for Cinema 4D because it made Brad so happy.

3. The project (film, television, commercial or music video)
that most impressed you in the last year? Why?
Brad: Blood of Abraham…Calling All Citizens. The video is entertaining.
The purposefully heinous compositing is so bad it’s rad.

Eileen: Lost. I have fallen prey to another JJ Abrams show that has no
ending in sight and yet I watch faithfully every week. Damn you JJ!

4. The best or favorite project that you worked on in the past
year? And why?
Brad: Microsoft Windows XP Secret ID. We brought back techniques like cell
animation and make the comic book aspect of the spot really come alive.
The client was willing to take it to the next level which really pushed
us and ended up making a killer spot.

Eileen: Nokia L’Amour Collection out of Bates Asia. I loved the all night
conference calls with Paris and Singapore…but honestly I think it was
such an amazing mix of design and animation and art. I think it is one
of the most visually arresting pieces I’ve seen in a long time and I
was really happy to be apart of it.

5. Name the top 4 artists on your iPod?
Brad:
Hulk Hogan and the Bootstrap Wrestling Band

The Monster Ballad Compilation album
Michael Jackson

Mr. T “Treat Your Mother Right”
(please email me if you don’t have these and I will gladly share with you…they are all magical)

Eileen:
Anything WuTang
Ravel
Styxx
G.G. Allin

____________________________

Bicoastal creative production company Stardust Studios recently
collaborated with MAC Cosmetics to create an artistic in-store video.
Stardust's LA design director Brad Tucker and executive producer Eileen
Doherty teamed-up to co-direct the 4:20 showpiece, which was used in
conjunction with other promotional elements in pre-release events
across the U.S. on Feb. 14. The presentation will also be featured in
international M•A•C stores through June, and is part of a Culture Bloom
CD-ROM release being distributed to event attendees.

“Culture Bloom is a very colorful new collection, and M•A•C is
extremely proactive when it comes to empowering their distributors and
those who use their products,” explained Doherty. “We began working
with the company in December to handle all aspects of creating this
video. Each individual featured in the video inspired the look and
movement of the finished piece. One of our main challenges was keeping
the design and animation fresh and imaginative from beginning to end.”

Tucker and Doherty filmed their subjects in New York at Shadow Studios,
with Barry Norwood serving as the director of photography. Edited by
Stardust’s Tony Hall, the finished project prominently features elegant
animation created by artists Sandy Chang, Magnus Hierta, and Sam
Sparks, which accentuates the subjects’ faces and flows from one person
to the next.

With Final Cut Pro used for the edit, the artists’ toolset also
included Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects, plus Cinema 4D
and Maya.

The project was developed under the guidance of M•A•C Cosmetics’ Senior
Vice President/Creative Director James Gager, Vice President Design
Toni Lakis, Executive Director Matthew Parr and Producer Cindy
Carrandi.

Stardust’s team also included live-action producer Joel Todaro,
producers Kathy Cogar and Christie Price, and assistant editor Michael
Merkwan. R!OT in Santa Monica handled telecine and visual effects.
Music was composed by Venice-based Mophonics, and final audio was mixed
by Robert Feist at Ravenswork, also in Venice.