Brazilian live-action TV spots set the creative pace for Latin American advertising; São Paulo companies like B.A.T. Produções and Trattoria di Frame ensure the country's animated commercials maintain the standard.

B.A.T. Produções was founded in 1995 by former MTV Brasil creatives Marcos "Quinho" Guimaraes and Eduardo "Dudo" Toledo. The company produces animated work for TV and the Web and has produced spots for agencies including Grey, Talent, Publicis, Leo Burnett, Age, Almap/BBDO and Y&R. Beyond commercials, B.A.T. is exploring long-format TV programming as well as Internet content such as games and virals. One Web project in particular is www.sexyanimation.com.br. The stated purpose of the site is to bring together B.A.T.'s love of animation with the proven cash flow online sex generates.

"After researching different techniques and art directions to find the perfect archive size that would play on even a low-bandwidth connection, we packaged and branded the project," says Paula de Melo Saraiva of B.A.T. Each week, a new "sexy" movie (i.e., straightforward Flash erotica, complete with stewardesses and pared-down plotlines) is posted on the site. For the most part, the company creates animation ranging from puppetry to CG in their Mac-heavy studio. B.A.T.'s trademark is a cut-and-paste style, with photos, graphics and other still imagery blended and animated together to create a retro yet modern visual style.

On the flip side is Trattoria, a company integrating animation and live-action production. In a TAM commercial for DM9DDB, director Guilherme Ramalho directed two airborne commuters, one Brazilian, the other Argentine competing for leg room. In a spot for FSP Classificados, he orchestrated a puppet ensemble cast consisting of a crippled rat and a singing chorus.

Similarly, Guto Carvalho directed a VW campaign for Almap/BBDO that plays on car commercial clichés, but he also worked on an Embratel campaign that illustrates dodgy cable access via an animated conduit shoddily spliced together and scored by a frequently interrupted song.

"In most traditional processes [e.g., a spot for yogurt or sweets, with live footage and animation inserted], the animation director is hired by the production house doing the shoot," explains exec producer Eitan Rosenthal. "We only produce complete spots, thinking it over as a whole, complete creation."

Along with Ramalho and Carvalho, Fabio Mendonça rounds out the Trattoria lineup of directors.

Webfiles>

B.A.T.> www.batpro.net

Sexy Animation> www.sexyanimation.com.br

Trattoria di Frame> www.trattoria.com