It’s amazing the things kids can do today–at least in commercials.
After completing extensive research and consulting with experts online using high-speed Verizon FiOS Quantum Internet, an ambitious boy is able to build a fully functioning Iron Man suit all on his own for the school science fair. He wins the top prize, of course, because paper mache volcanoes and electricity-generating potatoes just can’t compete with a suit of armor that gives a kid superhuman strength and the ability to fly.
That’s the entertaining scenario played out in the :60 “Science Project.” Created by McCann New York and directed by Jim Jenkins of bicoastal/international O Positive, with visual effects produced by Vancouver’s The Embassy, the spot came out of Verizon’s partnership with Marvel on the upcoming Iron Man 3.
“We’re always exploring partnership opportunities for our clients, and way back at the beginning when there was a possibility to partner with Marvel on the next round of Iron Man, it occurred to us that the man himself–Tony Stark–is not superhuman. He’s empowered by the suit he has built, by technology to become superhuman. And one of the things we like to talk about with Verizon FiOS Quantum is how empowered you feel by the technological advantages if offers. So there was a parallel there, and that was the strategic underpinning of the partnership,” explained McCann co-chief creative officer Sean Bryan.
After signing a deal with Marvel, McCann got to work formulating a commercial tie-in that would break a few weeks before the movie’s May release. “We wanted to empower a hero with FiOS Quantum Internet and allow them to accomplish the extraordinary in the same way the Iron Man suit allows Tony Stark to accompany the extraordinary,” Bryan said. Out of that thinking came “Science Project,” which was conceptualized by McCann creative director/copywriter Jesse Potack and creative director/art director Benjamin Vendramin.
There was a lot riding on the spot given that it had to satisfy not only the client and the agency but also Marvel, and McCann put its faith in Jenkins to direct. McCann was confident that he could handle not only the tricky high-tech parts of the production but also get great performances out of the mini Iron Man played by Jaeden Lieberher as well as the other actors, according to Bryan, who remarked, “He’s the best at all of it.”
Jenkins was unavailable to discuss the project at press time.
Marvel asked The Embassy, which has done visual effects sequences for all three of the Iron Man movies, to work with Jenkins and McCann on the spot.
“It was a tight deadline, but we’re used to that because we work on a lot of commercials as well,” noted The Embassy VFX supervisor Stephen Pepper.
Three days were allotted for the shoot, and The Embassy VFX supervisor/producer Winston Helgason was on location, where he did everything from shoot an HDR to ensuring the cameras were lined up properly so that the plates could be matched up in post.
Science fair While the at-home portion of the spot was shot in a house in Glen Head, New York, out on Long Island, the science fair was created in a school auditorium in Queens. Helgason was impressed with the amount of detail that production designer Jason Edmonds put into the science fair.
“The art direction that they did was insane. Every single exhibit was done, and you could walk up and read all about them,” Helgason shared. “It was like some kid had spent two weeks on each one of the projects.”
Once the science fair was shot, the auditorium was cleared, and additional elements that would later be used by the visual effects artisans were captured. For example, heavy weights were dropped onto a replica of the auditorium’s floor to show the damage done when the pint-sized Iron Man makes his grand–albeit slightly destructive–entrance.
After the shoot had wrapped, editor Jason MacDonald of NO6’s New York office immediately spent a few days cutting “Science Project.”
“We had to lock picture, and everyone had to hold hands and agree pretty early on so we could have all this stuff done to the spot,” Bryan said.
An approved edit in hand, The Embassy then had nine days to work its magic, performing tasks ranging from rescaling the various components of the Iron Man suit to give it more of a childlike appearance to adding digital elements like 2D simulations for additional dust and debris when required.
“We pretty much use off-the-shelf software, but we have a pipeline guy here who writes a lot of code for us. So there are aspects of our pipeline that are modified, but we basically use Nuke for compositing, Houdini for dynamics, and we use Softimage and render everything in Arnold,” Pepper said.
Charlex, New York, handled the postproduction and graphics, while Los Angeles-based Cantina Creative did the HUD graphics.
Marvel is, not surprisingly, particular about how its iconic comic book/feature film characters–even little boy versions–appear onscreen. There’s understandably great attention to detail when it comes to the look and feel of their super hero protagonists.
“The VFX supervisor on Iron Man 3, the main guy who does all the shots, would go over the commercial shots and make sure they were up to Marvel snuff,” Helgason said.
