Mill ECD/VFX Supervisor Angus Kneale attended the shoot in L.A., where much attention was spent working out the transitions and correct framing between genres. To help achieve those objectives, Kneale says, the team kept the camera moving throughout the spot so transitions were fluid and the energy remained high for both the ambitious camera work and interconnected narratives.
Wellsman points to VFX highlights such as the dramatic transition with the cowboy in the shoot-'em-up plunging through a glass window and landing in another genre. To achieve a seamless transition, Wellsman says, he combined many takes of the cowboy smashing through glass. He also added reflections, flares, muzzle flashes and dust to make the sequence as dramatic as possible.
In another standout VFX scene led by 2D Artist Iwan Zwarts, matte painting was used for ominous mountainous terrain in which a werewolf flees a Van Helsing-styled monster-hunting mob. The lycanthrope lands himself, quite literally, in a spaceship as 'Entertainment' transitions to sci-fi. Multiple plates were filmed eliminating the need for CG extensions as that genre's heroine is pursued by robot-villains in a tunnel. Wellsman notes that only after a lot of experimentation did the team arrive at the clean look characterizing the sci-fi scene-exemplified, for instance, by detail such as white lights emanating from black panels. And as the spot's action culminates from sci-fi to thriller, explosion shots filmed in multiple locations including docks and water tanks were combined and then compressed as the heroes plunge into the water. The result, more epic action overlaps in 2 seconds vs. being drawn out in a more typical 5.
'Entertainment' depicts the captivating possibilities of AT&T and BlackBerry teaming up to evolve the smart phone.
Agency: BBDO
Executive Producer: Grant Gill, EVP/ECD: Greg Hahn, ECD/AD: Ralph Watson, Art Director: Molly Adler, Copy Writer: Mike Sweeney
Production Company: Gorgeous
Director: Peter Thwaites
Producer: Anna Hashmi
Director of Photography: Joost van Gelder
Editing Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Kirk Baxtor
VFX & Design: The Mill
VFX Producer: Boo Wong, Bethan Thomas
Shoot Supervisor: Angus Kneale
Creative Director: Angus Kneale
2D Lead Artist: Gavin Wellsman
3D Lead Artist: Rob Petrie
2D Artists: Cole Schreiber, Iwan Zwarts
3D Artists: James Williams, Naotaka Minami,Wyatt Savarese, Piotr Glabinski, Boris Ustaev
Assist: Jade Kim, Randall Krueger, Brendan Oneil
Matte Painting: Can Y. Sanalan