For the season 2 trailer promoting FXX’s DAVE, visual effects studio MPC reteamed with the FX Networks creative team. Directed and shot by Paul Tolton via FX Networks, the trailer features rapper and comedian DAVE Burd and his adorable anteater as they try to cross a heavily trafficked avenue. They get hit by a truck, setting in motion a bizarre chain of events. We get to see dozens of cars creating a spectacular pileup, culminating in a huge explosion launching DAVE, the anteater (and fruit from an upturned fruit truck) high into the sky above L.A. From the chaos comes a slow-motion ballet of DAVE and anteater gracefully re-uniting mid-air until they fall, unharmed, onto the awning of a taco truck–on the other side of the street–only to have an onlooker inform them that a better taco joint is across the street.
MPC creative director Rob Hodgson noted, “We worked in close collaboration with the production team to design a rig for the talent to hold as we filmed, ensuring that the motion was constrained to the physical size of our 3D character. It also allowed us to position the anteater’s nose to properly sell the joke.”
MPC’s CG supervisor Corinne DeOrsay, added, “For the flying shots, DAVE was filmed on various rigs against bluescreen, and after edit-lock we moved into post-visualization in 3D with a proxy environment of downtown L.A. It was important that we had proper visual landmarks over the sequence to connect the different shots. We animated the cameras to sell the story of our dancing pair moving up and then back down in the sky while spinning together. We used a combination of drone footage, DMP and CG to make our final background images.”
MPC’s animation lead Seong Joon Lee discussed bringing the anteater to life: “We tried to incorporate a human acting element into the anteater that expresses its unique natural features. The key was to determine the appropriate level of expression needed for each shot. In addition, we used dynamic simulation techniques to capture more accurate physical movements generated by DAVE’s actions, especially in cross-street shots.”
DAVE is co-created by DAVE Burd and Jeff Schaffer, and executive produced by the pair along with Saladin K. Patterson, Ben Sinclair, Luvh Rakhe, Kevin Hart and Hartbeat Productions, Scooter Braun, Greg Mottola, Marty Bowen, Mike Hertz and SB Projects’ James Shin and Scott Manson. The series is produced by FX Productions. Season two of DAVE airs Wednesdays at 10pm on FXX, streaming the next day on FX on Hulu. Season 1 is now available on FX on Hulu.
