Working alongside adam&eveDDB and Academy Films, The Mill helped to bring this festive spot to life for Waitrose, entitled ‘Snowed In’.
The ad opens with a couple and their neighbour walking to the pub for a pre-lunch drink. Its snowing outside so they really relish getting in to the warm and inviting pub filled with familiar faces and a roaring fire. The snow storm picks up and our characters soon realise that they have been snowed in. Things go from bad to worse as the lights goes out. The mood changes as everyone realises that they are stuck and are going to miss their Christmas lunch.
The landlady takes charge and through her generosity of spirit we see the whole community pull together to create a wonderfully eclectic feast made up of the landlady's Cristmas food and her store cupboard staples. Just as they are about to tuck in to their delicious meal, the door bursts open. They have been dug-out! The characters look at the door and then at the amazing food in front of them and then back to the door.
The Mil’s VFX team were tasked with turning the Yorkshire Dales in August into a wintery landscape in the middle of a snowstorm.
Mill Shoot Supervisor Pete Rypstra explains ‘We accompanied the team at adam&eveDDB and Academy Films on the shoot in the Yorkshire Dales. The ad was shot using a mixture of fake snow (for the close-up shots) which we later combined with a layer of CG snow in the wider scenes. In turn, this completely transformed the summery landscape into a winter wonderland.'
In addition Mill 3D Lead Artist David Hempstead explains, 'It was great to work with Martin and the teams at Academy and adam&eveDDB.
An interesting aspect to this commercial was shooting it black and white, meaning that some traditional 'on set' techniques such as tracking marker placement and green screen could not be used. We all teamed together to creatively overcome these challenges, resulting in an iconic final look.'