Esurance races on to the TV
"Real Speed Race" is the newest Esurance commercial to hit the tube. It’s an infusion of Penelope Pitstop GT and Death Race 2000. For this spot, Ghostbot was given the task of designing "Racing" Erin.
We also did the animation of the spot (which we’ll be posting on our site soon). We had a great time animating cars (...and monster trucks!). It’s very technical work, but very satisfying when it works well.
More Esurance to come, so stay tuned!
posted by Alan at 9:55 PM 
23 Comments:
VERY cool! I've been enjoying the last esurance commercial for the past several weeks, so I'm excited to hear that there will be a new one hitting the airwaves soon. Do you mind if I ask the process of these commercials? Do you have several in different stages of production at all times? Or to take one from start to completion and then move on to the next? THREE CHEERS FOR ALAN, ROGUE, AND BRAD!
You guys continue to make car insurance commercials much more interesting than any 3D animated gecko can, whatever his accent.
-Tim
It would be really cool if you guys put together a tutorial or behind the scenes pictorial of how you create these commercials. I am alway interested in the processes involved in making flash movies. I'm sure I had a million questions regarding importing files, optimization (does it even matter when you export to a movie format?)how audio is handled...the list could go on. I'd love a glimpse into your process because it obviously works very well.
Erin's car reminded me of the new Ford Shelby GR-1 prototype, looks cool!
Thanks for all the blogtastic support!
Jared...As with all things in commercial animation, it has to do with the schedule. Ideally we’d love it if we had time to start and finish one spot at a time... but sometimes we have to overlap duties to get the job done. Esurance comes in seasonally for us...like Ash Wednesday or Flag day.
Animike...Our way of doing flash animation is part voodoo magic and part Chinese water torture. We rely a lot on the storyboarding and traditional drawings to get the spot to a really tight state before going digital. Then we have a vectorizing process where we use flash as a clean-up tool and break up the art into something that can be manipulated in flash easily. Then we rely on our traditional animation aesthetics and timing to power through the rest. We key frame as much as possible to get the best animation we can (we rarely use the inbetween function in flash).
Regarding file optimization, we don’t really worry about that since the final output goes on to TV… however, if we do stuff for video games or the web, we can be super sticklers for optimization.
i was wondering who was doing those sweet commercials. and now i know good work i love the style.
Hey 'BOTS, Do you think it's wrong to have a crush on a cartoon girl? I have a... a... a FRIEND who wants to know....
Glad to find the studio that puts these babies out. I've always looked forward to seeing the new Esurance commercials.
Let it be known that I personally do not have a crush on Erin, as I am still going out with She-Ra: Princess of Power.
Great to hear from all the Erin/Esurance fans that are slowly finding us! For all you guys with crushes, we're starting a support group soon...
spacesick - She-Ra! Nice. But what's up with naming her horse "Swift Wind"?
Rick-
Erin's car was definitely inspired by the Ford Shelby GR-1 prototype. Sharp eyes! That car is hot! I definitely need me one of those...
Gunslinger Erin (upcoming) absolutely rocks! Smexy, indeed! It's also good to see Flash in general taking off like it is. Any other lines of work for Erin in the future?
Erin is hot guys, love the character. I just have some simple requests - can you
1) make more, and bigger original art of Erin, say wallpaper size?
2) Have good quality commercials to download?
3), I've seen Erin in a San Francisco Giants version of the baseball commercial - is it possible you can get a hold of that specific ad and post it here in the blog? If not, how about an original artwork of her as SF Giants fan?
Keep up the good work fellas
I just saw this new spot today. all i can say is AMAZING!!! you guys do things in flash that just doesn't seem possible! keep up the awesome work!
p.s. like Nick, i wouldn't mind some higher res versions of the commercials. I too use flash and have been studying these spots frame by frame so some higher res ones would help.
What a treat. Welcome everyone and thanks for the compliments!
Nahum… Erin is a smoking gun in Quick Draw. I posted a new blog entry above with the details to this latest spot. Regarding Erin’s line of work who knows? I think if this sci-fi western one is a hit, I’ll bet she’ll be doing even more off the wall stuff!
Nick…. We have downloads of the latest commercials on our site. HERE is the link to the latest spots.
Chia…. We’re glad you like the spots. We strive to push Flash into new directions. A lot of that comes from really studying traditional animation and not relying completely on the program to do all the work. It’s harder that way, but the results are always worth it.
Erin's commercials are all on Esurance's Web site. http://www.esurance.com/home/tv.asp
I LOVE these commercials! Beautifully directed and animated.
She makes me wish I was a cartoon. I hope they signed you guys up for a long term contract. Great job!
lmao stop lying. You just blog. You don't create any of these things. Not to say that this technical masterwork would be awful to produce. Please stop lying
Unfortunately, I can't say I like Esurance adverts one bit. I find them too "cute" for anyone to take them seriously and have them consider actually buying insurance from them. In the "surfer" ad that's been airing for some time now, I don't get why buddy's back/neck/head are a flat straight line as he's facing right to look at her. I find it distracting. In the basketball ad I'm not sure what that's supposed to be. It seems like a random mix of 70's style with a sports theme, and a cheesey scene of her doing a tight shorted butt strut back onto the court. Then there's the environmentalist ad. "Quick! Get in the hybrid!" Lame lame lame
the Esurence girl is so hot you have to make a commercial with her wearing no cloths lol
These commercials remind me of the Samurai Jack cartoons by Genndy Tartakovsky. Is he the artist?
you are all fcking idiots. these commercials make me want to slit my wrists with a butterknife.
this sh*t belongs on the disney channel with all the other annoying poorly written shows.
Hi I liked your blog. I have been looking for a company which would specialize in servicing and sales of a diverse line of auto insurance products for quite a long time. I browsed the net for some useful info. And decided to go to Esurance. However, before going there I should have checked it out on this great site www.pissedconsumer.com to avoid possible misunderstandings. There people share their bitter experience with different companies.
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