Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/22819
VFXfor Spots your production and use less people.” Dashing used Maya for CG, Mental Ray for rendering, Nuke for compositing, and Flame for finishing and conform. This Global Ring :60 was truly an interna- tional effort.“The agency is based in SF, I was in Toronto, the director is based in London, the editor was cutting in LA but thereafter collaborating from Australia, and we shot in Brazil,” concludes Moggach. The old adage, “location, location, loca- tion” is obviously becoming less important these days. A DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE Director Fred Raimondi comes to the discussion of visual effects for spots from a perfect vantage point. He spent 15 years as a visual effects supervisor at Digital Domain, where he would also step behind the cam- era himself.Two years ago he went out on Fred Raimondi directed an all-CG GMC spot for Leo Burnett Detroit: “The visual effects helped us go to a place we normally couldn’t go just by shooting.” King and Country go on ‘Rant’ for Ford S ANTA MONICA — Ford Truck and Team Detroit called on King And Country (www.kingandcountry.tv) and its direc- tor Efrain Montañez to re-imagine its“Rant” campaign for the debut of the 2011 F150 truck. This new model introduces the EcoBoost technology.The commercials, Kiddie Menu and Chokehold, feature a combination of type and textural graphics. For both spots, King And Country provided comprehensive services, including 2D/3D animation and visual effects,as well as concepting, live-action direction, production and editing. During production, King And Country used the Red MX camera. To create the visual effects and animation, the company called on Autodesk Maya, Maxon Cinema 4D and Adobe’s CS5, includ- ing After Effects, Illustrator and Photoshop, with the rotoscope work done using Silhouette.The spots were cut on Apple’s Final Cut Pro 7.0. his own and made the jump to full-time di- rector. He is represented by BRW-USA. He feels this background uniquely quali- fies him as a director.“Not only do I have vi- sual effects skills, I've been making films all my life.” He has also been studying acting for the past 10 years, to help him become a better performance director. “I never appreciated a visual effect super- visor more until I started directing,” says Rai- mondi.“It’s the difference between being the passenger in a car and a driver.You are both in the car but they are very different experi- ences. I have a whole different set of issues to think about as a director as compared to a visual effects supervisor.” When it comes time for Raimondi to pick a visual effects house, he looks for people who are not only technically great, but who are complete filmmakers as well. “Most of these people are making their own films; they shoot as well as create vi- sual effects.To me that is very important because they have actually walked a mile in my shoes as a director.That gives them a 30 Post • January 2011 www.postmagazine.com completely different perspective.They un- derstand production needs and problems, and all the stuff that comes along with the shooting part. In addition, these people also have the technical and artistic chops to be able to create mind-blowing visual effects imagery.” Like the others interviewed for this piece, Raimondi also sees a trend toward film-like visual effects in commercials and points to a GMC campaign he directed as an example.“I did two campaigns for GMC: one that was a complete CG campaign and one was live-action mixed with computer graphics, where we shot people and trucks. The CG one looks like a movie; there’s no difference.The visual effects also helped us go to a place we normally couldn’t go by just shooting.” That, points out Raimondi, is also a trend. “It was a fully CG spot,” he says. “Nothing was photographed. I think you’ll see more of that because it will allow and empower cre- atives on the agency side to come up with more ambitious ideas and do them as cost