With offices in Oslo, Stockholm and Warsaw (and relationships with Hocus Pocus and Short Cuts in Copenhagen), The Chimney Pot is a dominant player in short- and long-form post in the region. Founded in 1996, the company has grown to employ more than 60 people in its three offices. Compositing, CGI, 3D animation and design, grading, editing, color correction and heavier, inferno*-driven jobs are staples of The Chimney Pot's workflow, and pioneering usage of 360° 3D photorealistic effects such as the "Frozen Moment" effect have solidified The Pot's place as a top international house, particularly in regards to music videos. The companies are working with Pettersson Akerlund directors Johan Renck and Jonas Akerlund on high-profile videos for international pop stars such as Madonna and The Cardigans, as well as high-art clips for Baxter, Maxwell and former Soundgarden rocker Chris Cornell. Spots for Coca-Cola, Nike and Telia are also finished via The Chimney Pot.

A Stockholm-based competitor to The Chimney Pot is MeKaNiKeN. With two sound studios (with Pro Tools), online and offline edit facilities, compositing platforms and a recently launched 3D animation department, MeKaNiKeN works on a spread of spots and music videos for top local directors. Again, Pettersson Akerlund projects fuel the Discreet fire*; Jonas Akerlund has recently finished videos for Macy Gray, U2 and Everlast with MeKaNiKeN (not to mention earlier clips for Metallica, The Prodigy, Jamiroquai and Moby). The like-named Swedish production company Mekano Film & Television has also recently finished spots with MeKaNiKeN; Jesper

Ericstam posted a Mazda spot here while director Urban Ström finished a video for Meja, and director Ragnar Jansson completed an

Emilia video in the facility. Wilhelm Brandelius, manager of MeKaNiKeN says that of the typical Scandinavian ad budget, roughly US$100,000, or about 15 percent is generally spent on post.

"Since the fee is fixed, if a director is sitting in on post-production, he is there to make it look perfect for his show reel. That's why what comes out of here from smaller budgets looks quite good -- you have to be creative and use your budget well," says Brandelius. Peter Törnestam, a MeKaNiKeN artist juggles editing and visual effects. Törnestam has worked extensively with Jonas Akerlund, most recently on a pair of U2 videos, "Walk On" and "Beautiful Day," but also on commercials and almost four years' worth of music videos. As such, Törnestam and Akerlund have a fluid working relationship.

"We usually have some planning before, that is, talk about what to think on before he shoots. Sometimes he asks for advice on how to do certain things, what to think about and what would be easiest for me," says Törnestam. "When he is in a hurry shooting and planning the video or working late at night, there is plenty of, 'Peter will fix that in post so just keep on.É' That's when I say 'Oh no.'"

Webfiles

The Chimney Pot> www.chimney.se

MeKaNiKeN> www.mekaniken.se

Mekano Film> www.mekanofilm.se