Right now we are working on a Pontiac commercial in which we are doing some action packed stunt driving with our proprietary SWAY Driving Simulator. I will be performing a J-turn with the Pontiac Solstice. It’s something that I’ve been working on since I got my driver’s license at 16. Its tough work, but someone’s go to do it. And, it’s a little safer doing it at my desk than out on the streets.
(For an explanation of a “J-turn,”
2. What have you found is the best tool or innovation that has come out in the last year?
I’m really excited about a tool called Fume FX which does photo-real smoke and fire effects in the computer. We used it for a Budweiser spot that has a good chance of airing during the Oscars. This is good for the environment. With this technology, think about how much pollution and greenhouse gasses we can prevent from being released into the atmosphere while making bad Hollywood movies.
3. The project (film, television, commercial or music video) that most impressed you in the last year? Why?
I remember being out on a movie date watching the recent Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I was actually a little bored with it and not really paying too much attention, but then it dawned on me that the Davy Jones character could only be CG. I hadn’t heard anything about it prior, but my expertise told me that CG was the only possible way to achieve what I was looking at on the screen. It was exciting because usually you can spot CG due to flaws, but this time it was only because there was no other explanation. When it struck me I was just thinking, “Wow! That’s some damn impressive CG work.” I read about it afterwards and confirmed that it was indeed done in CG.
4. The best or favorite project that you worked on in the past year? And why?
I would have to say the U2/Green Day music video “The Saints Are Coming,” (
5. Name the top 4 artists on your iPod.
For me it’s more about individual songs but these are a few of the artists from my most played list:
Buena Vista Social Club
Nelly Furtado
311
Christina Milian
60-Second Spot Features Antics of Highly Realistic CG Animated Robot
The commercial follows a small robot that accidentally drops a bolt while working on the GM vehicle assembly line. The line shuts down and the little robot is banished from the company premises. Sad and out of sorts, the robot tries to carry on with life.
To accurately create motion not easily achieved by the real-life robot used during the filming process, SWAY shot basic photography of the robot in various positions creating a model reference to aid in the 3D replication. High Dynamic Range Imagery (HDRI) was also recorded from multiple angles to generate a simulated render of what the CG robot would have looked like had it been filmed in real-life.
“SWAY strives to bring ideas, especially those that would be impractical to attempt in a live environment, and transform them into real-life with photorealistic 3D,” said Mark Glaser, owner and creative director of SWAY Studio. “The work we did to create a perfect CG replication of a real robot, as well as the precise illusion of a water-filled LA River, validates SWAY’s photorealistic expertise and ability to carry that over into High Definition (HD) content.”
Phil Joanou was particularly impressed with SWAY's matching of their CG robot to the robot puppet filmed on set. “The real challenge was to seamlessly integrate the CG robot into footage of the actual robot we filmed on set,” he said. “I thought SWAY did a fantastic job of creating a CG robot that was completely believable. The animation, textures and lighting were a perfect match to what we had done in camera.”
To add the effects of moving water into the usually vacant Los Angeles River, SWAY perfected the look by studying the nuances of the real thing and applied those observations to the CG water surface as multiple layers of procedural texture. Demonstrating their work as a powerful 2D resource, SWAY additionally provided HD Flame compositing for scene clean-up, CG integration and extensive beauty work on multiple cars.
“I was very pleased with the way SWAY created the water elements for the LA River (which was empty),” Joanou continued. “They not only made it look real, but they also added a tremendous amount of mood and texture to these shots, which really made a difference. In the end, the spot could never have been fully realized without the terrific work SWAY created for us on this project.”
SWAY utilized a variety of off-the-shelf software to complete the spot. The most prominently used tools were LightWave and 3ds Max for animation and 3D work, modo for modeling and NUKE for compositing. SWAY also used a brand new Linux based Flame system from Autodesk.
CREDITS
Visual Effects:SWAY Studio
Creative Director – Mark Glaser
Executive Producer- Shira Boardman
Producer – Cassandra Khavari
Coordinator – Daughn Ward
Coordinator- Christine Felman
VFX Supervisor – Richard Wardlow
Flame – Ben Looram
Flame – Rob Trent
Compositor – Maciek Sokalski
Compositor – Chris Bankoff
3D Artist – Rob Glazer
3D Artist – Rob Meyers
3D Artist – Daniel Buck
3D Artist – Graham Fyffe
Rotoscoping – Meg Morris
Creative: Deutsch LA
Chief Creative Officer- Eric Hirshberg
Group Creative Director/Art Director – Mike Bryce
Senior Art Director – Bernie O’Dowd
SVP, Director of Broadcast Production – Randy Morton
SVP, Executive Producer – Steffi Binder
Senior Producer – Tricia Hoover
Production Company – MJZ
Director – Phil Joanou
Sections: Creativity
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