FableVision Clients

Project: Clifford the Big Red Dog Website

Challenge:
With the launch of Clifford The Big Red Dog as an animated PBS series, Scholastic Entertainment's online producing duo Gail Berrigan and Susan Donaldson were charged with creating two websites for this cross-media venture - one for PBS, and the other for Scholastic. The mission was to create two sites that were friendly, fun and easy to use for a very young audience, in essence, crafting a child's "first website."

FableVision's team included Peter Reynolds and David Samuelson, as well as the design and programming genius of John Lechner, Dave Tilton and Shivika Asthana. Kudos to Eric Kraft for his producing magic on the PBS site! Check out scholastic.com/clifford and pbs.org/clifford for the results!

Project: Tunes and Spoons

Challenge/Solution:
WGBH Interactive asked FableVision to create an interactive science game for the PBS ZOOM website, based on one of the activities from the TV program. The result was Tunes and Spoons, and interactive glass xylophone, where users can add or subtract water from virtual glasses and play different musical notes as a result. With design by Peter Reynolds and programming by John Lechner, this downloadable game was thoroughly based in science, using actual recordings of water-filled glasses to simulate the real thing.

An added feature of the activity is a recording feature, which allows the users to record and play back a song on the glass xylophone that THEY created on screen. Click here to visit the Tunes and Spoons webpage!

Challenge/Solution:
The FableVision team designed an engaging interactive activity for the PBS Arthur website, where users play a song from the Arthur and Friends magical boombox and move puzzle pieces to form a completed animation before the music ends.

Browsing FableVision's creative development hothouse was WGBH Interactive, including Multimedia Producer Deb Stone, Designer Kate Pullano and Senior Technologist Peter Pinch. After spending several months training live aardvarks to dance to live music, the FableVision team, led by Executive Producer of Interactive Media Karen Bresnahan, Creative Director Peter Reynolds and Art Director/Programmer John Lechner, crafted the interactive boombox -- yet another experience rooted in FableVision's playful learning expertise. Be sure to "tune in" at pbskids.org/arthur!

When our neighbors across the street at Big Blue Dot (one of the country's leaders in branding and strategic design for children's media) wandered over to collaborate on a new broadcast identity package for PBS Kids!, we rolled out the red . . . err . . . blue carpet.

Creative Director Scott Nash, and producing duo Annette Rivlin & Alisa Shapiro tapped the FableVision team to craft 72 interstitials which playfully combine live-action PBS stars (Mister Rogers, Kratz Creatures, Barney, etc.) and brightly colored animated backgrounds. The spots complement the traditional PBS analog broadcast programming network, but will heavily populate PBS's new digital television channel PBS Kids! which will launch around-the-clock children's programming this Fall. Other Big Blue Dot designers Mike Faxon and Tim Nyhoff worked alongside FableVision's Peter Reynolds, Project Manager Sheelah Ward, Animation Director Gary Goldberger and Senior Animator John Lechner.

Inspired editorial support was provided by FableVision's sister company Cosmic Blender, a high-end production & post facility, where the new Quantel Editbox was used to post in a completely uncompressed digital nonlinear environment. And last, but not least, audio magician Jay Rose added his acoustic touch for final mixes.