The 2011 MINI Countryman, MINI’s first four-door and optional four-wheel drive vehicle, is introduced in high style and multiple times in this spot directed by Brian Beletic of Smuggler, with visual effects from SWAY Studio, for agency BSUR Amsterdam.
“Flow” opens with a quartet of stylish urbanites cruising in a red Countryman through Milan. Each obstacle and turn they encounter magically spawns a new Countryman, which splits from the pack until the entire city abounds with its red clones racing in an orchestrated adventure. The ensuing wave of Countryman vehicles traverses the countryside and coastline. The action culminates on a ferry at Lake Como where each vehicle, one by one, soars to the finish, seamlessly converging into the single MINI Countryman from which the spot began.
According to SWAY, all but 3 of the 317 vehicles seen in the spot are CG. SWAY utilized CAD data supplied by MINI along with reference photos to match the hero vehicle from the live-action shoot, surface for surface, detail for detail. For animation of all the driving sequences, SWAY employed its proprietary Drive-a-Tron(TM) software.
Crucial to director Beletic’s creative concept, the premise of SWAY’s job entailed fitting as many vehicles in the frame as possible, while exercising creative restraint to maintain a level of realism in terms of physics. The inherent challenge, from a VFX standpoint, was to make each unique vehicle look and feel realistic, particularly with the continuity of the vehicles separating and converging.
“The vehicles had to appear to be converging at will and not just crashing into each other. When you have 80 cars in a scene, it is about careful choreography, almost a dance between each of the cars. It was a tough balancing act, but we pulled it off,” said SWAY VFX supervisor Aaron Powell.
SWAY’s animation pipeline employed a range of other software: AutoDesk 3ds Max; V-Ray for rendering; Nuke and Flame for compositing; PTGui for HDRI reflection and lighting; and a variety of packages for tracking including SWAY’s proprietary tracking software, Nuke, and PFTrack.
According to Powell, Drive-a-Tron(TM) was by far the most important tool in SWAY’s pipeline:
“We wouldn’t have achieved the motion realism of all the bounces, slides and skids without it — much less in a production timeline typical of most commercial work. If there is any project we’ve done in last two years that really showcases the capabilities of Drive-a-Tron(TM), it’s this project.”
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More