Filmworkers produced positively explosive results in its latest effort for the Illinois Lottery. The post house provided visual effects, computer and motion graphics, color correction and final post services for a new ad out of Energy BBDO promoting the Lottery’s two multi-state, mega-jackpot games, Mega Millions and Powerball.
The spot, “Discovery,” shows a group of scientists conducting an experiment in a super high tech, secret research facility. Sparks fly in a sealed chamber as a pair of robotic arms attempts to create an energetic reaction between levitating lotto balls representing the two games. A tremendous explosion ensues resulting in a jet stream of currency that shoots up through the roof of the facility and cascades onto the surrounding countryside. The tagline reads, “Life changing jackpots. Four days a week.”
The commercial was produced through a combination of live action, visual effects and computer animation. The experimental chamber with the robotic arms was built as a miniature, with the hovering lotto balls, pyrotechnics and clouds of dollar bills added in post production by the visual effects team from Filmworkers under the direction of visual effects supervisor Rob Churchill.
For the initial explosion, the artists approached their task as if it were based on real-world physics. “We tried to justify everything,” Churchill says. “We thought of the tiny energy particles as generating dollar bills and they provided the impulse for the aura of energy that arcs between the two lotto balls.” Following closely a scripted physics roadmap, Churchill and the facility’s VFX artists created pyrotechnics, energy and lighting effects and the millions of CGI dollar bills generated by the experiment’s intense “cash explosion”. To add even more realism, all of those beautifully created effects are mirrored in the goggles worn by the scientists as they stare in gleeful amazement through a window at their handiwork.
The spot is replete with subtle touches that add to the fun, including translucent heads-up display terminals (created by Filmworkers c.g. artists) used by the team of scientists.
The final shot, showing the exterior of the lab with currency festooning from the roof, is fully a matte painting, animated by numerous visual effects elements, including just for fun, a flock of CGI Canada geese glimpsed near the horizon. “We’ve developed a great rapport with the team from Energy BBDO,” observes Churchill. “They really let us explore and riff off their ideas. We had a great team working on this spot; it was a lot of fun.”
Filmworkers is located at 232 E. Ohio St. Penthouse, Chicago, IL 60611. For more information, call (312) 664-9333 or visit www.filmworkers.com.
CREDITS
Client: Illinois Lottery
AGENCY: Energy BBDO, Chicago. Grant Tennison, VP/Creative Director; Greg Auers, VP/Creative Director; John Pratt, Senior Producer.
PRODUCTION: 59 Films, Chicago.
Bueno Films, Los Angeles.
Albert Kodagolian, Director; Chris Crawford, Executive Producer.
EDITORIAL: Whitehouse, Chicago. Adam Marshall, Editor; Kristin Branstetter, Producer.
POST: Filmworkers, Chicago. Tyler Roth, Colorist; Rob Churchill, VFX Supervisor/Lead Compositor; Rick Thompson, Inferno Artist/Motion Graphics Designer; Justin Winkler, Flame Artist/Smoke Editor; Charlie Peterson, CGI Artist; Linas Jodwalis, CGI Artist/Compositor; Mary O’Gara, Executive Producer.
MUSIC: Spank Music, Chicago.
AUDIO: CRC, Chicago. Michael Mason, Audio Engineer.
