GLOBAL – NEW YORK, MARCH 6, 2012: MiO, the “water enhancer” by Kraft Foods Inc., gives a whole new dimension to beverages. The liquid flavorings can “change” regular water into multiple servings (up to 24 eight-ounce glasses) of customized drinks per MiO bottle.
To highlight the uniqueness of the product, TAXI New York commissioned production outfit Psyop to create a unique 3D commercial, starring a cheetah, rhino, and other animals. Using live-action performances instead of traditional motion capture, Psyop was able to translate more fluid movements into the spot.
“Approaching a full CG spot with a live action mentality led us to an entirely new place,” said Eben Mears, one of Psyop’s creative directors.
Instead of shooting live action video plates on set, Psyop chose to shoot high resolution stills. These images were then projected onto 3D geometry, which created a virtual set into which the 3D characters were later composited.
“There was a huge time savings in doing things this way,” explained another member of the Psyop creative team, Jon Saunders. “We didn’t have to worry about tracking live action plates and getting our 3D cameras to match that movement. We just did all our camera moves in 3D and relied on our team of lighters and compositors to sell the look—which they did with flying colors.”
Client: MiO Energy
Agency: TAXI, New York
Executive Creative Director: Dave Clemans
Creative Director: Stephen Leps, Michael Pierantozzi
Copywriter: Tim Wassler
Art Director: Phillip Cho
Producer: Joyce Lee, Holly Flaisher
Director: Psyop
Production Company: Psyop/Smuggler
Psyop Creative Directors: Eben Mears and Jon Saunders
Executive Producer: Lydia Holness
Producer: Michael Neithardt
Assistant Producer: Anu Nagaraj
Designer: Naomi Chen, Ram Bhat, Annalisa Swank
Lead 3D Artist: Pakorn Bupphavesa, Alvin Bae
Lighting Lead: Jonah Friedman
Lead Animator: Pat Porter
Lead Nuke Artist: Nick Tanner
3D Artists: Zed Bennett jr., Bryan Eck, Dave Chen, Joerg Liebold, Shant Ergenian, Andy Hara, Lee Wolland, Will Robertson, John Payne, Phill Avanzato, Denis Kozyrev, Larry Leung, Dan Fine, Lee Wolland
3D Animators: Stephanie Russell, Anthony Travieso, Kevin Scott, Douglas Litos, Danny Speck, William Frazier
Nuke Artist: Thomas Panayiotou, Jason Conradt
Editor: Cass Vanini
Storyboard Artist: Robin Nishio
