Audi
The Drones
'The Drones' are no match for Audi in this exhilarating spot from Venables Bell & Partners. Inspired by classic horror film The Birds, director Dante Ariola of MJZ worked with the agency and The Mill to bring a treacherous swarm of CG drones to life.
Director:
Dante Ariola
Production Company:
MJZ
Agency:
Venables Bell & Partners
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Set in the not-so-distant future, the spot follows an intimidating swarm of drones as they attempt to prey on defenseless humans. To maximize the menacing effect, CG artists at The Mill referenced drone functionality down to the nuts and bolts and, inspired by background research, ended up with multiple unique models. They varied in size and shape, some with eight arms and others with six.
3D lead artist Simon Brown recalls, "We choreographed a total of 34 shots of drones without a single actual drone being shot. We created a full previsualization of the spot early on, consulting with the agency creatives and Dante Ariola, our director. This was a great help as we had two weeks to deliver all the shots - one of our biggest challenges!"
Despite the time crunch, Brown and the rest of The Mill team were able to complete the job smoothly. "Dante had a clear vision, and the creative was really great. I was also quite excited to be on a shoot with director of photography Matthew Libatique (Black Swan, Iron Man 2)!"
CreditsCredits
Agency
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Founder, Chairman: Paul Venables
Executive Creative Director: Will McGinness
Creative Directors: Tyler Hampton, Lee Einhorn
Art Directors: Byron Del Rosario, Greg Wyatt
Copywriter: Bryan Karr
Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Executive Producer: Mandi Holdorf
Producer: Hannah Murray
Account Director: Justin Pitcher
Account Managers: Natalie Montero, Oliver Glenn
Production
Production Company: MJZ
Record Company: Lime
Director: Dante Ariola
Executive Producer: Scott Howard
Producer: Natalie Hill
Production Supervisor: Susan Levin
Production Coordinator: Katie Taylor
President: David Zander
EDITORIAL
Editing Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Adam Pertofsky
Executive Producer: Angela Dorian
Producer: Shada Shariatzadeh
VFX & Design
VFX & Design: The Mill
Executive Producer: Enca Kaul
VFX Producer: Chris Harlowe
Shoot Supervisor: Gareth Parr
Creative Director: John Leonti
2D Lead Artist: Gareth Parr
3D Lead Artist: Simon Brown
2D Artists: Narbeh Mardirossian, Rob Winfield, Scott Wilson,Jale Parsons, Chris Payne, Andy Dill, Steve Cokonis, Tim Bird
3D Artists: Matthew Longwell, Carl Harders, Kenzie Chen, Kelvin Liang, Blake Guest, Blake Sullivan, Krystal Sae Eua, Steven Olson, Bridget Warrington, Cory Cosper, Martin Rivera, Katie Yancey, Chris Goodrich, Bora Jurisic, Mike Di Nocco, Franklin Londin, Justin Murphy, Richard Fallat
Art Department: Brett Lopinsky, Jeff Langlois, Kelsey Napier, Laurence Konishi
Concept Artist: Marc Gabbana
Production Coordinator: Karina Ford