By A SHOOT Staff Report

An effervescent flight of fancy finished first in SHOOT’s quarterly Visual Effects/Animation Chart as CG hot air balloons representing Perrier bubbles race their way to the top of the mineral water bottle. Each balloon has a character all its own, with passengers who are from assorted walks of life and for that matter, species (as reflected in riders such as a lion, marmoset and parrots).

The tandem of Fleur & Manu from Paris production house Les Télécréateurs directed this visual effects-heavy Perrier commercial, titled “Hot Air Balloon,” for Ogilvy Paris, with VFX from MPC, primarily its newly opened Paris studio.

Franck Lambertz, VFX supervisor and creative director of MPC Paris, led the team, relating, “The spot is a riot of color, with multiple locations and many minute details in every shot. Working with Fleur & Manu, who are adept at creating the ultimate fantasy world, led us to slightly unconventional techniques.  I even found myself in a helicopter filming with a 360-degree camera to create the back plates. The work was led from MPC Paris, with support from the 3D team in London, prep work from Bangalore, and stills photography from MPC Mexico—a truly global effort.”

The commercial opens with CG hot air balloons bursting through the water, against the stunning backdrop of South America’s Iguazu Falls. The assorted balloons—carrying a mix of occupants, from cheerleaders to hippies to zoo animals—soar skyward, exploding in colors and sounds, accompanied by a music track driven by Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King (Peer Gynt).” Some balloons are so close together that the passengers are partying with one another in the wild blue yonder.

In all, MPC contributed 42 VFX shots to the spot. Lambertz said, “The idea of this commercial was very inspiring. We were involved from the beginning when Fleur & Manu came to us with their creative vision and it was a very interesting collaboration to decide what could be done in camera.”

The process of figuring out what made sense to do in camera and what to try to attain otherwise was, noted Lambertz, “a very ambitious balance. If you rely too much on the postproduction process, you can lose quickly the freshness and craziness [we wanted for the feel of this spot].”

Cinematic inspiration
3D supervisor Fabian Frank of MPC London added that notable movies such as The Great Race provided a measure of creative inspiration. “We instantly fell in love with the treatment and these scripts. The directors described such an amazing world that these balloons live in. It has a very unique style to it.”

Part of that style, continued Frank, came from MPC working very closely with the directors to create “these very cool different kind of character balloons. We had looked at lots of references on the Internet to see how they move, how they behave, how the cloth behaves.”

The opening scene was based on stills of a natural well in Yucatan, Mexico, with CG and animated DMPs bringing the sequence to life. The balloon bursting through the water was one of the most challenging shots for the team to create, requiring a team of Houdini liquid specialists.

The main shoot took place in Argentina, with actors and extras suspended close to the ground in their baskets. This natural lighting gave the perfect reference to the VFX team for integrating the protagonists with CG elements and shot/DMP backgrounds.

3D artisan Frank led the team to create 50 variations of CG hot air balloons, and to re-build the baskets in 3D. Each balloon has its own unique brand of eccentricity, with the occupants using tricks to speed their balloons along. To help with the individuality, Frank’s contingent used a range of cloth simulations, making some of the balloons shinier, thicker or adding a deeper sheen than others.

The majestic lion and his marmoset and parrot pals were shot in-camera at an Argentina zoo, with multiple takes required to get the correct action. Colorist Matthieu Toullet worked on the vibrant grade, using eye-popping colors to create the bright and warm look. He said, “We sought to produce a striking colored film, while being careful not to tilt towards an artificial look. I really enjoyed being able to play with the variety and richness in the color scheme. We applied some creamy tonality on the highlights to find a nice depth in the film.”

3D supervisor Frank observed, “In terms of the visual effects, the main challenges were probably the variety of different effects we had to develop—from fluids to cloth, fire to clouds, 3D people. It’s all in there.”

Directors Fleur & Manu said they were honored to become part of Perrier’s advertising lineage, noting that the company is one of the most iconic French brands and has over the years produced films directed by such luminaries as Jean-Paul Goude and Ridley Scott.

The Ogilvy Paris team included creative director Paul Kreitmann, creatives Clara Noguier and Olivier Le Loustec, and producers Laure Bayle and Aurelie Appert.

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