Capturing LeBron James crying on the court is no small feat but as Intel’s ‘Baby Face’ shows, viewers can now see every teardrop from every perspective. The Mill teamed up with mcgarrybowen and Caviar’s Neal Brennan to showcase this game-changing technology.
The Mill’s VFX artists tackled the complexities of this spot by creating a digital blueprint for the shoot to figure out the technical planning and comedic timing before stepping on set. The Mill’s 3D Lead Artist Dan Warom says, “In order to recreate and showcase Intel’s 360 degree camera, we created an entirely new pipeline to accommodate the 360 degree technology.” The Mill’s artists replicated an NBA stadium entirely in CG, utilizing Massive to transform the original 200 stand-ins to a roaring crowd of thousands.
The intricacies of ‘Baby Face’ involved filming a baby in the same place as LeBron’s head with a motion control rig to match LeBron’s movement. Artists modeled the baby’s head in 3D and used it to transition from LeBron to baby and back again to show off the 360 degree technology in the final spot. The team made sure that the child’s eyeline matched LeBron’s, a crucial component to the success of the animation. The VFX team shot several plates and talent photogrammetry to fill in the background, prohibiting the 360° orbit to reveal itself.
Shoot Supervisor Matt Neapolitan led the previsualization, a process that guaranteed that the motion control 360 ran smoothly. Matt comments, “This is where Neal and Ken [Seng, Director of Photography] brought incredible insight to the spot. We worked with Neal to find the best possible creative in terms of comedic timing and humour while Ken’s technological savvy and experience in motion control helped us get the in camera content we needed to ensure a smooth shoot and post schedule.”