Method artists create a VFX-laden spot/trailer to promote Howard’s Project Imagin8ion
Visual effects company Method Studios recently completed work on a :30 commercial entitled "Parade" for Canon via agency Grey NY. The :60 version is set to air early June. This visual effects-heavy spot, directed by Dante Ariola for MJZ, stars director Ron Howard and features a fantastical city landscape filled with astronauts, floating firefighters and a diamond-skinned dog to name a few unusual sights. The spot serves as a trailer to promote Howard’s "Project Imagin8ion," which is the first user-generated contest in history to inspire a Hollywood short film. Eight imaginative photos will be selected to set the stage for his next production.
The Method team was tasked with bringing the contest itself to life, which was no small feat. "Dante has a big imagination himself," commented Method CG Supervisor Jason Schugardt. "The spot is about Ron’s imagination, so we researched movies from his past for inspiration and we really went for it."
Inevitably, the sheer number of resulting CG elements posed challenges to the team. "There are so many whimsical creatures and objects, some reflective, like the 70-carat diamond dog," said Schugardt. "Fitting all of them in was definitely challenging."
Method’s Alex Cannon worked with Production Designer Christopher Glass and Ariola to storyboard the spot in Pre-viz, which helped them to block the myriad characters out as well as help shape the tone of the spot.
The plates (all shot on Canon equipment) were shot on a particularly overcast day, which led to flat lighting, prompting the Method team to make lighting enhancements throughout the spot. "We did sky replacements and separated facets of building, adding light in places to tell the story of where the light was," offered Schugardt. "Once we did that, the spot really popped."
Animation for the spot was created in Maya, effects were created in Houdini and fire was done in Fume FX (a plugin for Autodesk’s 3ds Max). The spot was rendered in V-Ray.
Says Schugardt, "It was great working on such a VFX-heavy project and especially cool bringing Ron’s imagination to life. We’re all really pleased with how it came out and I can’t wait to see the short film."
CREDITS
Title: Parade
Client: Canon
Director: Dante Ariola
Agency: Grey NY
Producer: Lauren Tuttman
Creatives:
Ari Halper – SVP Creative Director
Steve Krauss – SVP Creative Director
Stu Mair – Associate Creative Director
Eric King – Associate Creative Director
Elinor Buchler – Art Director
Kent Koren -Copywriter
DOP – Christopher Soos
Prod Co: MJZ
Producer: Natalie Hill
Editing co: Peepshow Editorial
Editor: Andrea MacArthur
Post Production: Method Studios
Sr. Creative Director – Dan Glass
Sr. Executive Producer – Gabby Gourier
Visual FX Supervisor – Phil Brennan
CG Supervisor – Jason Schugardt
Producer – Darcie Muangman
Coordinator – Anastasia Von Rahl
Lead Compositor – Tim Davies
Compositors:
Jonathan Lagache
Jeff Allen
Caitlin Content
CG
Modelers:
Masa Narita
Lim Bunupuradah
Alex Whang
Toshihiro Sakamaki
Texture Artists:
Brian Ripley
Josh Frontino
Ryan Reeb
Riggers:
Rick Grandy
George Saavedra
Trackers:
Fabio Zapata
Lauren Van Houten
Tom Stanton
Animators:
Steward Burris
Alex Cannon
Les Major
Jonah Austin
Lighters:
David Lo
Alex Lee
Kris Cabrera
David Chan
David Godwin
FX:
Brett Angelillis
Hiro Okubo
About Method Studios
Based in Los Angeles, with locations in New York, Vancouver and London, Method Studios is a leading post production facility providing a full range of visual effects services including conceptual design, look development, 3D animation/CGI, matte painting, compositing and finishing. Method Studios also provides an array of services to stereoscopic film productions, including the creation of stereo 3D content. Method’s sister company, Company 3, maintains a full stereoscopic color-grading suite in the same building as Method’s Los Angeles facility, most recently used for Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. www.methodstudios.com
# # #
Media Contact:
Jeremy Monsayac
jeremy.monsayac@bydeluxe.com
818.260.6267
Post a Comment