Wanna see an Audi commercial that you'll never see in the states?
10-07-2002, 10:23 PM
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Wanna see an Audi commercial that you'll never see in the states?
You can thank Len Hunt and the rest of the AoA marketing team to keep cool commercials from these shores.
<img src="http://www.uemedia.com/artman/uploads/1001audibull4_big.jpg">
Turn up your subwoofer!
--------------------------------------------
This just in:
Framestore-CFC Dances with Bulls for Audi
By Katie Makal
Oct 1, 2002, 17:35 PST
The effects team at Framestore-CFC took four weeks to create a photorealistic CG bull from scratch and teach it to dance for "Bull," a :40 spot for the new Audi RS6 quattro that debuted on September 20, 2002. "Bull" was produced by Outsider for agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty and directed by Nicolai Fuglsig.
Heavy Beasts, Light on Their Feet
"Bull" was shot in Calgary, Canada, over five chilly nights at the beginning of September. The spot features some of Canada's top rodeo talent and shows a cowboy, alone at night in a corral, pitting himself against the might of a large bull. He rides the bull as it violently tries to throw him; the rider finally subdues the bull to his will to the point where it performs the equestrian maneuver known as a "half pass," where it "dances" sideways, crossing its front and back legs as it does so.
Dramatically effective, if physically impossible, the spot highlights the Dynamic Ride Control feature of the Audi RS6 quattro and demonstrates how great power can be controlled and chanelled. Although the CG bull features in only the last three shots of the corral footage, it had to match what preceded it in every detail for the spot to work. Framestore-CFC's track record of convincingly portraying creatures of great mass and power, in work such as "Dinotopia" and "Walking with Beasts," helped convince Outsider that the company would be right for the project.
Taking the Bull by the Horns
The Framestore-CFC team, marshalled by producer Lara Hopkins, received the go-ahead to start work on August 27. The first step began with reference material, from which the team built up a basic bull. The bull model was improved as the effects artists received more specific information about the animal's breed.
Special effects supervisor Stephane Allender flew to Calgary on September 3 to supervise the shoot for Framestore-CFC. He first sent back a series of digital snapshots of the 'hero' bull so that the artists could continue to refine their model. This 'hero' was an amiable older bull named Wendell, whose pleasant nature allowed him to be ridden easily for the final action shots before the CG stunt-double took over. Wendell also provided Allender with many of the textures and other close-up detail required to fine-tune the spot's CG bull.
The production team used five cameras to shoot the action sequences, producing thousands of feet of raw footage of the bull from every conceivable angle. The result, when edited down, is a dynamic sequence that then slows and contrasts beautifully with the controlled power of the CG shots that conclude the piece. It was during this editing process that Virgil Manning and Sophie Lodge, CG artists for the project, started to feed in low-res greyscale footage of the CG bull going through its animation cycle. Working in SOFTIMAGE|XSI, the CG team was able to provide the editors with three cameras worth of coverage of the digital creature, giving them a broad selection of material.
Once the animation had been approved, it fell to technical director Martin Parsons to make the muscles and the enveloping on the model bull work. This attention to muscular detail helped sell the weight and heft of the beast to the audience's eye, as did Thomas Pastor's sympathetic lighting. The compositing work was done on Henry by Tim Greenwood and his team.
Though not a newcomer to commercials, this was director Nicolai Fuglsig's first encounter with a CG creature. "This was not a dinosaur or martian," he said. "It was a real bull. I was quite nervous at first, but the Framestore-CFC team made the process a pleasure. From Stephane's reassuring presence at the shoot to Tim's meticulous comping, I've learned a million things. It's given me ideas, and now I'm looking forward to working with CGI again."
Computer-generated 3D creature work is improving at a startling rate at the moment. Better software and increasingly skilled artists mean that an ever-expanding range of photorealistic animals is available to creative teams. Thanks to Framestore-CFC, bulls have now joined this digital menagerie.
Credits:
Client: Audi
Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London
Creatives:
Al Welsh
Nick O'Bryan Tear
Producer: Toby Clifton
Production Company: Outsider Films
Director:
Nicolai Fuglsig
Producer: Benji Howell
Post-Production and Effects Company: Framestore-CFC, London
Special Effects Supervisor:
Stephane Allender
CG Artists:
Virgil Manning
Sophie Lodge
Martin Parsons
Ulf Lundgren
Thomas Pastor
Jason Baker
Digital Paint Artist: Jason Horley
Henry Compositors: Tim Greenwood
Maryanne Lauric
Dave Clifton
Matte Painter: Stephanie Mills
Post Producer: Lara Hopkins
<img src="http://www.uemedia.com/artman/uploads/1001audibull4_big.jpg">
Turn up your subwoofer!
--------------------------------------------
This just in:
Framestore-CFC Dances with Bulls for Audi
By Katie Makal
Oct 1, 2002, 17:35 PST
The effects team at Framestore-CFC took four weeks to create a photorealistic CG bull from scratch and teach it to dance for "Bull," a :40 spot for the new Audi RS6 quattro that debuted on September 20, 2002. "Bull" was produced by Outsider for agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty and directed by Nicolai Fuglsig.
Heavy Beasts, Light on Their Feet
"Bull" was shot in Calgary, Canada, over five chilly nights at the beginning of September. The spot features some of Canada's top rodeo talent and shows a cowboy, alone at night in a corral, pitting himself against the might of a large bull. He rides the bull as it violently tries to throw him; the rider finally subdues the bull to his will to the point where it performs the equestrian maneuver known as a "half pass," where it "dances" sideways, crossing its front and back legs as it does so.
Dramatically effective, if physically impossible, the spot highlights the Dynamic Ride Control feature of the Audi RS6 quattro and demonstrates how great power can be controlled and chanelled. Although the CG bull features in only the last three shots of the corral footage, it had to match what preceded it in every detail for the spot to work. Framestore-CFC's track record of convincingly portraying creatures of great mass and power, in work such as "Dinotopia" and "Walking with Beasts," helped convince Outsider that the company would be right for the project.
Taking the Bull by the Horns
The Framestore-CFC team, marshalled by producer Lara Hopkins, received the go-ahead to start work on August 27. The first step began with reference material, from which the team built up a basic bull. The bull model was improved as the effects artists received more specific information about the animal's breed.
Special effects supervisor Stephane Allender flew to Calgary on September 3 to supervise the shoot for Framestore-CFC. He first sent back a series of digital snapshots of the 'hero' bull so that the artists could continue to refine their model. This 'hero' was an amiable older bull named Wendell, whose pleasant nature allowed him to be ridden easily for the final action shots before the CG stunt-double took over. Wendell also provided Allender with many of the textures and other close-up detail required to fine-tune the spot's CG bull.
The production team used five cameras to shoot the action sequences, producing thousands of feet of raw footage of the bull from every conceivable angle. The result, when edited down, is a dynamic sequence that then slows and contrasts beautifully with the controlled power of the CG shots that conclude the piece. It was during this editing process that Virgil Manning and Sophie Lodge, CG artists for the project, started to feed in low-res greyscale footage of the CG bull going through its animation cycle. Working in SOFTIMAGE|XSI, the CG team was able to provide the editors with three cameras worth of coverage of the digital creature, giving them a broad selection of material.
Once the animation had been approved, it fell to technical director Martin Parsons to make the muscles and the enveloping on the model bull work. This attention to muscular detail helped sell the weight and heft of the beast to the audience's eye, as did Thomas Pastor's sympathetic lighting. The compositing work was done on Henry by Tim Greenwood and his team.
Though not a newcomer to commercials, this was director Nicolai Fuglsig's first encounter with a CG creature. "This was not a dinosaur or martian," he said. "It was a real bull. I was quite nervous at first, but the Framestore-CFC team made the process a pleasure. From Stephane's reassuring presence at the shoot to Tim's meticulous comping, I've learned a million things. It's given me ideas, and now I'm looking forward to working with CGI again."
Computer-generated 3D creature work is improving at a startling rate at the moment. Better software and increasingly skilled artists mean that an ever-expanding range of photorealistic animals is available to creative teams. Thanks to Framestore-CFC, bulls have now joined this digital menagerie.
Credits:
Client: Audi
Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London
Creatives:
Al Welsh
Nick O'Bryan Tear
Producer: Toby Clifton
Production Company: Outsider Films
Director:
Nicolai Fuglsig
Producer: Benji Howell
Post-Production and Effects Company: Framestore-CFC, London
Special Effects Supervisor:
Stephane Allender
CG Artists:
Virgil Manning
Sophie Lodge
Martin Parsons
Ulf Lundgren
Thomas Pastor
Jason Baker
Digital Paint Artist: Jason Horley
Henry Compositors: Tim Greenwood
Maryanne Lauric
Dave Clifton
Matte Painter: Stephanie Mills
Post Producer: Lara Hopkins
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10-07-2002, 10:49 PM
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It was a good teaser, but to be honest I wanted to see the car ripping it up on the road.
The bull is a great symbol but better suited to a Lamborghini in my opinion. The side stepping was a little goofy to me. Even with my critisisms I still liked it.
10-07-2002, 10:53 PM
#9
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Out of all the animals, I think the bull was a good choice...
Because it has such brute force, and taming it (represented by the side stepping) is the very point of the Dynamic RIDE control.
I know you "got it", but I really think the nature of the beast (RS6) requires such a mass of an animal.
I don't think a bucking horse would have done it for me (alongwith its Ferrari comparisons). It's too wimpy of an animal.
I think what made that commercial was the sound above all else. It was soooo threatening.
I know you "got it", but I really think the nature of the beast (RS6) requires such a mass of an animal.
I don't think a bucking horse would have done it for me (alongwith its Ferrari comparisons). It's too wimpy of an animal.
I think what made that commercial was the sound above all else. It was soooo threatening.
