The answer can sometimes be found by going back in time to one's roots. And this Liberty Group Limited spot, titled "The Answer," for Johannesburg agency FoxP2 does just that in a visual tour de force that winds its way back through the decades.
Visual effects studio Digital Domain teamed with director Adrian De Sa Garces of Velocity Films in Johannesburg and Cape Town on this reverse time-lapse piece which takes viewers from one of the most economically successful square miles in all of South Africa–the glittering jewel of commerce known as Sandton City–to show its creation as it sprung from the vision of Liberty investors in 1973. It's a remarkable evolution and transformation as we see from whence this development came and find that it was indeed built from the ground up.
The :60 is completely computer generated except for the live-action shot of the founders and their classic car at the very end of the spot. Director De Sa Garces and the Digital Domain ensemble, led by visual effects supervisor James Atkinson, set out to re-create the city blocks. As the original buildings were designed and built in a period pre-dating computer-assisted design (CAD), there were no CAD models, few blueprints, and in the ever-changing area, even Google Street View was out of date and didn't show the most current skyline.
Proving resourceful
So the Digital Domain had to be resourceful and fill in the considerable gaps to take viewers through a reasonably accurate trip through time. Digital Domain artisans took to the streets and skies of Johannesburg, surveying the five city blocks of Sandton City with photogrammetry and creating a 3D reconstructed model. From that data they were able to create CG buildings that they could then deconstruct–including dimensions, textures, workers, tools, props, piles of lumber, scaffolding and bricks, customized to each building.
Because the lighting and skies had to be continuously moving, the Digital Domain ensemble created time lapse clouds, realistic sunrises and weather changes, animating them along with the buildings. To create these effects, the team built a virtual sky and atmosphere in Terragen, an environmental simulation tool. This was augmented with time-lapse photography shot from atop the main office tower.
One of the most striking visuals in the piece is a time-lapse tree. To create that Digital Domain used SpeedTree, software that provides tools for procedurally growing trees.
The piece is a detailed, intricate story of how this patch of real estate grew from an unremarkable suburb of Johannesburg into one of the richest city blocks in all of South Africa.
Britt Nolan Named CCO For McCann Worldgroup, North America
Britt Nolan has been hired as chief creative officer at McCann Worldgroup, North America. He will report to Javier Campopiano, global chief creative officer of McCann Worldgroup and McCann.
Nolan will work directly with the network’s creative leadership in the U.S. and Canada to lead the development of ideas that solve clients’ business challenges, guided by the creativity of the network’s founding philosophy of “Truth Well Told.” Key to this effort will be fostering collaboration across capabilities and agencies, leveraging the network’s talent and expertise in strategy, design, commerce, branding and production to bring its best-in-class offerings to bear for each client.
“Britt is without a doubt a leader and a point of reference for excellence in our industry,” said Campopiano. “He has led some of North America’s very best work in recent years with incredible range--creating eye-catching, smart, authentic, and funny ways of connecting brands with people. He has a rare track record of success across both creative and business, with a unique understanding of how they power each other. And most importantly, we share a common belief that brand-building is right now more important than it ever was, and the only way to do it is through radical creativity based on human truths. He embodies the very essence of our Truth Well Told philosophy.”
Most recently president and chief creative officer of Leo Burnett Chicago, Nolan comes to McCann Worldgroup with a track record of creative achievement and business impact, both for his clients and the agencies at which he’s worked. Over the years, his work has won Grand Prix or Best in Show at every major international award show, including over 50 Cannes Lions, as well as recognition... Read More