Directed by Moving Picture Company’s (MPC) Michael Gregory, this spot features a host of photoreal cat cowboys and cowgirls congregating in a desert saloon. Conceived by creatives at The VIA Agency, “Once Upon A Time” allowed Arm & Hammer to showcase its AbsorbX kitty litter made from desert dry minerals in a fun and memorable way–while highlighting the product’s desert origin.
In the saloon some part cat/part humans are confronted by a stranger telling them their town smells “fantastic”; must be the kitty litter.
Gregory commented, “Doing everything remotely was a whole new experience for me as a director. From casting and wardrobe to SFX, tech scouts and callbacks on Zoom–it all took a little getting used to at first, but we quickly adapted and made it work.”
The shoot took place in an existing two-story saloon bar in Bulgaria with a limited crew and Gregory directing remotely. “We were able to work with a scan of the location prior to the shoot, which enabled us to do an extremely accurate pre-vis, and we had the ARRI camera and Cooke lenses on the location scout which was a huge help in blocking out the action and working out the framing prior to the shoot.”
In addition to the production, MPC remotely handled the animation and VFX, spearheaded by animation lead David Bryan, 2D lead Vanessa Duquesnay and CG lead Kiril Mirkov. MPC’s Ricky Gausis graded the campaign, enhancing the western feel to the footage and the set.
The animation team seamlessly blended CG cat heads with human bodies. All of the cats in the spot were based on real cats, which were used as references on set for lighting and modeling. These references were then handed to the animation team to build out the characters. “I was really keen to cast a believable authentic mid-19th Century saloon bar scene. The actors were cast to match their cat characters, and this approach really helped the animation because we leaned on actor’s performance throughout,” commented Gregory.
Mirkov commented, “Michael was open to our creative input during the look development phase, which made the process a lot more enjoyable and collaborative. However, our main priority was of course to stay as close as possible to his initial vision.” He added, “At MPC, we’ve worked on quite a few furry animals over the years, including small and big cats. Vanessa was a great addition to the team, having worked previously on The Lion King at MPC Film. That made it very special.”
Bryan commented on the challenges faced when animating animals that need to look realistic, but that also have human qualities. “To keep the lip sync feeling animalistic, we sacrificed some of the ‘ooo’ and ‘w’ mouth shapes that start to make the face look too human and instead we focused on a solid sync for the jaw movement, exaggerating the closed mouth shapes and using the head to gesture the more animated phrases. This technique enabled us to make a talking cat feel convincing, while preserving the cat-like features and expressions.”
This latest campaign is an example of what can be achieved even when teams are working remotely across the globe. Gregory commented, “Even in the most challenging of situations, the team at MPC and The VIA Agency came together to create a campaign that is unforgettable and demonstrates true craftsmanship.”
Client Arm & Hammer AbsorbX kitty litter Agency The VIA Agency Ian Dunn, creative lead; Will Garcia, Renata Chimenti, creatives; Barry Wolford, producer; Leslie Henderson, Hannah LaSala, client strategists. Production Company MPC Michael Gregory, director. Production Services Company B2Y Krum Rodriguez, DP. VFX MPC David Bryan, animation lead; Vanessa Duquesnay, 2D lead; Kiril Mirkov, CG lead; Chris Welsby, James Bown, Clementine Supiot, Shiny Rajan, animation team; Matias Heker, Prashanth Paramasivam, Silvia Bartoli, Tiago Dias, Maximilian Mallmann, Radu Ciubotariu, Jemmy Molero, Kartik Gupta, CG team; Marjolein Verheij, Pratyush Paruchuri, Emma Tyler, 2D team; Charles Downman, Radhakrishnan R, DMP team; Lance Pereira, editor; Maurits Valk, storyboard artist; Michele Tolo, Stephen Molyneaux, concepts; Claus Hansen, creative (concepts); Benji Davidson, Flame, finishing; Ricky Gausis, colorist; Nate Seymour, color assist; Karen Anderson, exec producer; Johnny Blick, sr. producer; Nicole Saccardi, Solomon Tiigah, VFX producers; Ciaran Birks, finishing producer; Chanakya Chander, Anna Kravtsov, line producers; Sririthika, Iyer, production coordinator; Diane Valera, Sasha Pace, color producers. Sound Echolab Gavin Little, sound designer.
Director Gia Coppola Teams With Mejuri For “A New York Minute”; 1st Episode Takes Us To The Grocery Store
Mejuri, known for turning fine jewelry into an everyday luxury, has partnered with director Gia Coppola (The Last Show Girl, Palo Alto) and The Directors Bureau in Los Angeles, for the first time reimagining the brand’s story as episodic content. In a series of microfilms, co-created by Coppola and premiering following New York Fashion Week, Mejuri eschewed a typical celebrity campaign and cast us as voyeurs to a group of aspiring young women--real people, not actors--at the crossroads of their adult lives against the backdrop of New York City.
Titled “A New York Minute,” the series features five real-life friends, who include one perfectly imperfect heroine named Emma. The women celebrate ordinary moments and interactions which reveal, sometimes retrospectively, the extraordinary within the mundane. Adjacent to the brand’s own community, the 30-something year old cast includes Laura Love (Emma), Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane. Mejuri’s jewelry makes an appearance as the best supporting actor.
“When I met with Gia and The Directors Bureau team, there was instant creative and personal chemistry and a natural alignment on the desire to push and blur the lines between marketing, storytelling, and the construct of what a ‘campaign’ could be,” said Jacob Jordan, chief brand officer, Mejuri. “Gia was able to push that idea into something that truly feels new and artful, with a realism and relatability that almost feels jarring. Gia was such a perfect collaborator and partner, someone I had complete trust in to be a catalyst for Mejuri’s values of celebrating women as their truest selves. I can’t wait for us to continue to tell the next chapters of this story.”
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