Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/773214
www.postmagazine.com 31 POST JANUARY 2017 VFX FOR SPOTS move and hang a flat-screen television. Consumers can get helpful tips from the videos, which also suggest contacting a Best Buy 'Blue Shirt' for pro- fessional delivery and installation. The videos make use of the company's blue and gold color scheme, reinforcing the Best Buy brand. Gasket has been working with Samsung on a similar package for their smart TVs. Gasket's toolbox includes Autodesk Maya, which is uses at its main animation application, along with Adobe After Effects and Autodesk Flame. At press time, the studio was working on a VFX-driven project for an undiclosed client that involved a table-top shoot and integrating custom CG charac- ters into live action. — By Marc Loftus FILMWORKERS — CAPITAL ONE Chicago-based Filmworkers, which also has loca- tions in Dallas and Nashville, has been fortunate enough to work on a number of high-profile campaigns over the course of the company's 30-plus year history. Some of these include cam- paigns for GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Ford, Firestone, Nintendo, State Farm, Allstate, Kool Aid, Bayer, Mars Brands, SC Johnson, McDonalds, Samsung and Nike. Outside of the heavy VFX work the studio is known for, its Nashville office also works on music videos. Among its successful branding campaigns is the studio's continued visual effects work on the fresh new series of spots for Capital One featur- ing actor Samuel L. Jackson. The four new spots, which were conceived by DDB, Chicago, direct- ed by Spike Lee, and produced by Pony Show Entertainment, for Capital One's Quicksilver card set Jackson in a number of stunning and highly creative digital environments. Now in its third year in providing visual effects and post services for the popular campaign, Filmworkers was involved in this latest project from pre-production, preparing storyboards and concept drawings for the digital effects. "Our campaign work relies on our skills to be a creative partner with the agency and pro- duction company," says creative director Rob Churchill. "Our involvement starts at visual con- ception through finish which includes concept art, style frames, storyboards, 3D animatics, VFX su- pervision, expert 3D and 2D finish and delivery. The Capital One Quicksilver campaign is an extremely successful one that we have contributed to for a number of years. As a VFX company, we like to think that our best spot will always be the one we have yet to work on. To creatively outdo yourself is the goal and what agency's love about us." In one of the spots, titled Chasm, Jackson is featured walking across a giant cavern on a bridge made of levitating stepping stones. For that pro- duction, Churchill designed a rig for Jackson to use on the set to simulate the effect of unsteady stones. One in post, Churchill and senior art direc- tor Daniel Pernikoff supervised the company's ded- icated team of visual effects artists and compos- itors in creating the monumental, photo-realistic environment that surrounds Jackson. That included meticulously detailed 3D matte paintings show- ing layers of canyon and mountains receding to the horizon, as well as clouds, shadows and other details that cement the illusion. "Chasm has, for the first time, Sam Jackson navigating a more naturalistic world," explains Churchill. "Creating a levitating bridge over an enormous chasm was a creative thrill for the studio. It is entirely 3D, with elaborate textures created for just that spot to keep this world unique to Capital One." "We pre-visualized the environment before production began so that that Spike Lee and his team could use them in designing shots and cho- reographing movement during the shoot," further explains Pernikoff. "That not only helped produc- tion work more quickly, it gave us a head start on post production, allowing more time to focus on creative refinements." Churchill says that one of the big challenges in creating the series was "getting teams of artist all working together on a dozen spots with very sophisticated visuals. I say a dozen because the Quicksilver finish timetable matched that of the Jen Garner Capital One Venture Card spots we were finishing with equally high-end effects. We had to expand our pipeline to match the workload in a very short amount of time. Like our artists, our engineering team worked tirelessly to get what was needed done. Because of this expansion, we have expanded our output tremendously." The spots were completed using a combina- tion of Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Flame, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator and "whatever tool we need, we have them all," says Churchill. Churchill adds that "DDB and Spike Lee always bring in very high caliber people and give them plenty of freedom and encouragement to do their jobs. The ability to work on a great campaign like this and build massive CG environments made it a visual effects artist's dream come true." Addressing the overall quality of visual effects work found in spots for television, he adds, "VFX tools are constantly changing and the quality of those tools always improve. Artists need to be committed to getting the most out of them creatively and technically. Within the studio, we are set up like a feature film pipeline. We strive to achieve that level of finish in all of the campaigns we are honored to work on." — By Linda Romanello Filmworkers completes visual conception, VFX supervision, 2D/3D finish and delivery for Capital One. Gasket completed 4K videos for Best Buy.