In this film, we set to create a dynamic visual for the healthy and energetic flavor of this drink that becomes bursting liquids balls floating around in the air. I particularly enjoy working on projects involving liquids and fluids, they are usually a challenge but often allow for really satisfying visuals.
The main challenge in this case was the time constraints. I would usually push for fine-tuned CGI liquids that are time consuming but provide freedom with camera moves and fluid motions, but in this case the client was in a rush (when are they not?!). We decided to shoot all the liquids instead (which is also loads of fun) and composite them with the talent and environment. It was also one of the client’s first commercials and I thought it’d be good to have the extra flexibility of quick updates allowed by compositing.
The trick was to be able to use the Phantom camera to shoot green liquids that had exactly the right tint, a blend of yellow highlights and deep greens, and still be able to key them out of a blue screen for proper compositing. A couple of workshops taught us a lot about setups to get the right motion, recipes to get the right color and consistency, and light setup to have good looking liquids that are still compositing friendly. The studio was a bit of an oven with strong enough lights to shoot at a 1000fps, but the stunning footages coming out of the Phantom were worth it.
Confident with our liquids I then set to shoot our talent on a large blue screen set with blue stairs props and other items I thought would be cool to shoot like crystal balls, color balls in a fish tank etc… Each shots virtually rehearsed with previz beforehand, we shot lots of dynamic moves from the camera and the talent which was really fun. We used the Red Weapon 8K to stay flexible with the framing and allow for cool slow motions and speed ramps later in post.
The post-production required a lot of selection and fine-tuning to get the liquid footages timed and placed just right to feel natural and light. I really wanted to get this sensation that they defy gravity yet still move in a dynamic and natural way. All this was then composited in Nuke with a simple stylish white environment that allow for the colorful liquids to stand out and a final retouching pass in Flame to get the details and colors just right overall.
Credits
Production: Making Name
Ex. producer: Anand Krishan Singh
Creative director: Clarke Moses
Director: Julien Vanhoenacker
Assist. director: Goong
DOP: John Alfirevich
Editor: Marshall Raj
Music: Zane Adam
Post-Production: The Post Bangkok
Post supervisor: Joaquim Montserrat