Anthony Farquhar-Smith creates marvellous moments of tasty goodness for snacking powerhouse, Hershey’s, by adding his magic ingredient - stop motion animation. Working with Not To Scale New York and Dentsu Creative, Anthony continues the legacy of the much-loved household brand with a new animated series of films for the Hershey’s chocolate bars, Cookies ‘n’ Creme and Milk Chocolate with Almonds. Shooting in New York, Anthony worked with an outstanding international team, with a DOP from London, and animators from Milan, Los Angeles, Portland and New York.
“Watching Anthony and his team at Not To Scale keep five animation stages humming over three weeks was magical. The love of the craft powered this crew of specialized stop-motion animation misfits. Even among such storied talent, ego never reared its ugly head. It felt less like work and more like a tight-knit community of makers and tinkerers at play.” - Mark Wetzel, Creative Director at Dentsu.
These initial set of films rest on the concept of the perfect match: there is an explosion of tasty delight when the cookie meets the creme. To bring these scripts to life and enrich them with his own creative flair, Anthony brings careful nuances to each film: for example, the youthful energy of the Cookies ‘n’ Creme bar contrasts to the wry directness of Milk Chocolate with Almonds.
“We collaborate with the agency a lot - they bring the scripts and our goal is to add that extra bit of "flavour". My intention was to make them as Stop-Motion-esque as possible.” - Anthony Farquhar-Smith
"To achieve the exploding Hersheys bar," Anthony says, "over a dozen pieces of broken chocolate had to be individually rigged so they could fly through the air. Each explosion took over a day to shoot. The Cookies ’n’ Creme wave took several days of research and development. Our animator Chuck Duke used a Bain Marie and other kitchen equipment to melt and form the clay into the perfect wave shapes. His set looked more like a kitchen than an animation unit!"
Of course, to appeal to a hungry audience, it was just as crucial for Anthony to honour the rich aesthetic of food photography in each film. Without making them anthropomorphic, the tactility and authenticity of stop motion allows for the dynamic and realistic movement of the chocolate from one scene to the next. Anthony meticulously stylised each frame; the attention to detail is what makes the chocolate look so delicious and inviting. When the texture of the almond catches the light or the seamless flow of the Cookies n Creme wave from one frame to the next, the magic of these films is encapsulated by the careful craft of stop motion animation.
