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A few months a ago, one of our clients, Leo Burnett, asked us if we were up for a challenge. Without hearing what the challenge was, we said yes.

Here's the deal:

Leo Burnett produced a spot for a P&G (Procter and Gamble) product called Ariel Excel Liquitabs. After the spot was completely finished, P&G wanted to to use this Ariel TV spot for another product called Ace Pods (Tide). They had two options, re-shoot/re-edit the entire spot with the new product or 'fix it in post'. They decided to have us replace the product in every scene where the Ariel product was present.

The only element we were given was a QuickTime file of the original finished spot and a sample of the actual product for reference. Instead of explaining all of the technical detail, here's a video that shows the before, after and the process in between. The music and sound design for this piece was custom made in our new audio suite by Gabe Doiron.

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Agency: Leo Burnett
Agency Producer: Ariadne Guzman
2D Tracking & Composting: Edgar Febus -rukus
3D Modeling & Texturing: George Norman Lippert
Music for this demo piece: Gabe Doiron

From time to time we make films for the sake of making films. It’s a great way to try new techniques, showcase our services and collaborate with other creative studios.  An Oslo based director, Blake Schaefering, contacted us to see if we would be interested in producing a short film featuring a high-fashion dress worn by Norwegian runway model, Yvonne Eriksen. We accepted the project without hesitation and scheduled a date for the director and model to fly to St. Louis for the production. We teamed up with Tangent Mind for two days of shooting on a rooftop in the Central West End. The conditions were not ideal, in fact it was pouring down rain most of the time.  Nevertheless, we captured beautiful footage.  Working with the director in Norway, while completing the post-production in St. Louis, was a flawless process.  Here is what we did with it:

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Dress by L&J Sörlandet.

Music produced by Animal Empty.

Director: Blake Schaefering
Executive Producer: Michael Hurst - rukus
Director of Photography: Jon Michael Ryan - Tangent Mind
Assistant DP: Jacob Berkowitz - Tangent Mind
Hair Stylist: Drew Schaefering - L'Oreal Professional
Lead Editor: Edgar Febus - rukus
Editor: Nick Stroot - rukus
Color Grading: Edgar Febus - rukus
Audio Engineer: Alec Frisch - Animal Empty

We've just completed construction of our audio suite to better suit our clients' needs.
New in-house services include audio mixing and sweetening, sound design,
custom music and radio commercials. We can record VO talent live in our studio or
connect with any studio across the world. This new audio suite is equipped with Pro Tools 10.

We're sure you will love what you hear.

Photos by John Fedele Photography

Administrative Assistant (Full-Time)

rukus is young, fast-paced and growing. As one of St. Louis’ premiere resources for motion content, we’re constantly busy with new projects. We love what we do and we’re looking for someone who shares our passion. In order to work with us, you must be professional, organized and outgoing.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements

1. Bachelor’s degree from a four year university.

2. Ability to work well either alone or as part of a team.

3. Knowledge of the basic principles and practices of office organization.

4. Knowledge of Microsoft Office and telephone protocol. Duties require professional verbal and written communication skills.

5. Not required, but a definite plus is a candidate with previous experience in the industry and a knowledge of QuickBooks.

Compensation:

Commensurate with experience; includes health benefits.

Applicant Instructions:

Qualified applicants please email your cover letter and resume to jobs@rukuspost.com.

Recently, we were approached to create a 3D animation piece that would open Boston

Scientific's 2012 Awards Ceremony. The purpose was to immediately capture the

attention of every engineer in the audience, create excitement for future innovations,

and celebrate great achievements.

*This is a demo piece cut from the original version

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Agency: ProWolfe
Doug Wolfe - President
Jo Kincaid-Director - Client Service

Editorial: rukus
Edgar Febus- Director/Editor

Post-Production/VFX: rukus, Render Room
Michael Hurst - Executive Producer (rukus)
Joe Guerra - Producer  (Hired Gun)
Susan McMichael - Copywriter  (Hired Gun)
Edgar Febus - 2D Lead Artist - Motion Graphics (rukus)
Nick Stroot - Post Production Assist (rukus)
Frankie Rosa - 3D Lead Animator & VFX Supervisor (Render Room)
Yarim Machado - Modeling and Texturing (Render Room)
Kianna Figueroa - VFX Producer (Render Room)

Audio/Sound Design
Brent Johnson - Audio Engineer/Sound Design (Coolfire Media)
Edgar Febus - Sound Design (rukus)

Photography
Tom Newcomb - Director of Photography (Black Truck Pictures)

We got a good laugh out of this and hope you do too!

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Below is an appropriate video for Halloween.  Happy Scaring!

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Correct Craft, Inc., manufacturer of Nautique wakeboard and ski boats (www.nautique.com), looked to rukus to create motion graphics and author their 2013 Product Line DVD, made up of 18 videos.  The multiple motion menus were created using a combination of Photoshop, After Effects, and Encore.  Upon completion, the master DVD was mass produced and sent out to thousands of current and potential Nautique owners.

"Working with rukus on our annual product line DVD for the past two years has been a very positive experience.  Before we started working with these guys, the quality of our yearly DVD didn't match up to the quality of our products.  For this year's DVD, we really didn't give them much direction; they just created a few options based on our initial conversation and we went from there.  Rukus met me on my budget and deadline, but exceeded my expectations."

 -Brian Sullivan, Director of Marketing

Here are screen shots of some of the menus.

WARNING: There will be adult language in this post. A lot. Sorry!

We came across this article and thought that is was worth sharing with our production peers.

Every August, thousands of music fans from across the country descend on St Louis for the LouFest Music Festival.  The all-ages event features national and local bands on 3 stages, great food, cool retail, and a greening effort that includes recycling, composting, free valet bike parking, and a refillable water station.

Here are a couple of TV spots rukus created with Rodgers Townsend for LouFest.

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If you see a RCN (Internet, Phone & Cable Provider) spot in New York,
Chicago, Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley, Boston or Washington DC, chances
are that Stealth Creative and rukus were behind the making of it.
For the second year in a row, Stealth Creative hired rukus for the
production and post-production of the following five spots.

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We recently completed the 2012 Campaign video for United Way of Greater St. Louis.  rukus collaborated with United Way in the pre-production, production, and post-production.  View the video below.

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Credits:

Mark Wickersham – Director (United Way)

Michael Hurst – Executive Producer (rukus)

Tom Newcomb – Director of Photography (Black Truck Pictures)

Edgar Febus – Editor, B-Roll Camera (rukus)

Nick Stroot – Post-Production Assistant, B-Roll Camera (rukus)

Elli Gentile – Production Assistant (rukus)

Mike Radentz – Sound Design (Antidote)

When Rodgers Townsend approached us to post-produce the 2012 LouFest lineup
video we were happy to accept. The video was fun to work on and we are excited to
continue spreading the word about Loufest.

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http://www.loufest.com/

At Plush for the LouFest Lineup Release Party 2012

In photo: Nick Stroot, Tom Pernikoff, Rick Pernikoff, Michael Hurst, Edgar Febus, Elli Gentile, Dan Germain

April 15-19, 2012, rukus will be attending the NAB Show in Las Vegas. From content creation to delivery, the NAB will showcase the latest advancements in the audio and video industry. rukus’s team is looking forward to seeing the next-generation technologies and seeking creative inspiration to help our clients bring their ideas to life.  

Imagineer Systems, the leading software developer for roto, planar tracking, compositing, and removal utility, will be one of many booths we will be visiting. Since 2010, Imagineer Systems has used the work of rukus’s senior editor Edgar Febus in their NAB Showcase Reel. In 2009 Febus created a video for HLK (formerly Hughes), that Imagineer Systems uses as a tutorial for their software MOCHA. More of rukus’s work is featured on Imagineer Systems vimeo channel.  

We could not be more excited to see the newest tools and techniques that will be featured at the 2012 NAB show. Follow us on Twitter for updates from the show! @rukuspost

In 2011, rukus had the opportunity to work on several award-winning projects with
Red Letter Communications, located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. They were awarded with
Best In Show, Gold, Silver and Bronze awards at the Tri-State AMP ADDY Awards Show
for several pieces that rukus post-produced. We would like to congratulate Red Letter
Communications and thank them for including us in these great projects!

Gold ADDY® Award and Best of Show, Interactive – STIHL BR 200 Web Commercial
by Red Letter for STIHL, Inc.

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Gold ADDY® Award – Southeast Cancer Center Launch by Red Letter for
SoutheastHEALTH
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Silver ADDY® Award – Southeast Cancer Center “Voices” Campaign by Red Letter for
SoutheastHEALTH
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Bronze ADDY® Award – SoutheastHEALTH “Every Employee” by Red Letter for
SoutheastHEALTH

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Our first year submitting work to the ADDY Awards proved to be successful. We were awarded one Gold ADDY and three Silver ADDYS, which led to a fun and memorable night. Thank you to everyone who made these works possible.

ELEMENTS OF ADVERTISING
Special Effects, Video or Film
Award: Gold ADDY Award
Title: TAM Awards Opening Video

ADVERTISING INDUSTRY SELF-PROMOTION
Self-Promotion, Direct
Award: Silver ADDY Award
Title: TAM Awards Opening Video

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Credits:
Susan Guerra (Hired Gun), Copywriter
Edgar Febus (rukus), Creative Director
Joe Guerra (Hired Gun), Co-Director
Edgar Febus (rukus), Co-Director
Michael Hurst (rukus), Executive Producer
Preston Guerra (independent), Director of Photography

Tim Gebauer, Sound Design
rukus, Production Company
rukus, post-production company
Nick Stroot , Editor/Motion Graphics
Edgar Febus, Editor/Motion Graphics

ADVERTISING INDUSTRY SELF-PROMOTION
Self-Promotion, Broadcast
Award: Silver ADDY Award
Title: rukus demo reel

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Credits:
Edgar Febus, Editor/ Motion Graphics
Nick Stroot, Editor

ELEMENTS OF ADVERTISING
Cinematography
Award: Silver ADDY Award
Title: United Way 'Helping People' 2011

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Credits:
Mark Wickersham (United Way), Copywriter
Mark Wickersham (United Way), Director/Creative Director
Edgar Febus (rukus), Videographer/Technical Director
Nick Stroot, Videographer/Technical Director
Michael Hurst (rukus), Executive Producer
Tom Newcomb (Black Truck Pictures), Director of Photography
Edgar Febus (rukus), Editor/Motion Graphics
Mike Radentz (Antidote), Sound Design
rukus, Production Company
rukus, Post-production Company

rukus opened up shop on August 15^th, 2010.  Exactly one year later, we hired our first full-time employee. Five months later, we moved into our current space to better accommodate our clients’ needs. When we signed the lease back in October of 2011, the space was bare with only two offices and a conference room. After months of planning with architects and contractors, we were ready to start building.

The major construction consisted of building two editing suites and a VTR room. We also updated the kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Painting, buying new furniture and decorating came last. January 18, 2012 we were happy to announce that we were completely moved in.

Our new office is located at 317 N. Eleventh Street, Suite 302, St. Louis, MO 63101 in the Louderman Building. Rooster Café is on the first floor.