SpecialGuest was born of the same minds that created 1st Ave Machine, a
NYC-based VFX/animation studio that creates high-end 3D design. Director Aaron
Duffy heads up the new venture, which launched with the introduction of its own
short by the same name.
In the two-minute SpecialGuest animated short, a dark room with a flickering light brings viewers' attention
to a man's suit, sitting in an arm chair. The suit begins to grow a body made
from yarn. Feet pop out of pant legs and hands grow out of the sleeves. A red,
worm-like piece of yarn crawls over the body and into its knit head, from which
colored yarn later sprouts. The yarn body then takes off his suit and enters into
his briefcase world where he finds love with another colorful yarn creature.
Duffy created the short and Fabio Fonda provided sound design. The piece
represents the first of many quirky pieces that will come from the studio in
the future.
"We wanted to create a platform that would allow for a lot of exploration and
experimentation on techniques," says Duffy, who enjoys using different materials
in his work. "Using interesting materials is great because you can really push
the sense of texture. We're excited to play around with different media to push
the boundaries of traditional animation to enhance the storytelling of a spot.
We really want to surprise people."