Digital Domain created an oppressive computer generated (CG) world to showcase Toyota’s new GT86 in a new U.K. spot titled “The Real Deal” from Stink director Adam Berg and Saatchi & Saatchi London. Berg, working with Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative team, tapped Digital Domain to tell a story that mimics the car’s key value–breaking out of a monotonous synthetic existence with the power, control and excitement of real life. Expertly wielding Digital Domain’s deep digital production toolset, Berg worked with artists to create everything from digital characters to a stunning full virtual world.
The spot promotes the new Toyota GT86, a sports car that puts control in the hands of the driver rather than computerized systems. Led by VFX supervisor Vernon Wilbert, Digital Domain supervised the shoot and helped realize the vision of the Saatchi creative team and director Berg. The ambitious project was completed by a team of 18 artists in eight weeks thanks to the efficiencies afforded by Digital Domain’s production-proven processes for building digital characters, cars and environments.
Wilbert said, “Because Digital Domain has such deep resources, we were able to handle everything required for this complex spot — from previs to virtual production, live-action integration, 2D and 3D animation and tracking, photo-real hair and cloth, and more — without any dedicated R&D. We were able to repurpose about 95% of the assets for this spot from our libraries, which really helped in terms of cost savings and efficiency. We leveraged the digital human pipeline that has been developed at DD over projects like Benjamin Button, TRON: Legacy and virtual Tupac; we were truly standing on the shoulders of giants.”
The Real Deal” is Berg’s second collaboration with Digital Domain and Wilbert. They teamed up in 2011 for the “Dust to Dust” commercial for the Gears of War video game franchise. Wilbert said, “Adam knows exactly how to leverage digital production and all that it offers. He spent hours on our virtual stage framing up shots within the digital sets.”
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
โWe found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,โ said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. โWe are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.โ
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. โMy dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,โ she said. โI love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.โ
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More