COMMERCIALS NEWS

Way Better

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:49

Clover''s Way better ad

Concept in June 2010. Full treatment in September. A year in production. 37 people involved; 20 of them full time. You might picture a production line at full capacity, but that’s what it took to create Clover’s Way Better production line.

Shy the Sun have aimed to set a benchmark for South African animation and, along with ad agency Joe Public and digital wizards Black Ginger, it’s hard not to agree they’ve done it.

Some say the concept is too similar to Coca-Cola’s Happiness Machine, but they cannot ignore the skill and detail that has gone into Way Better.

“We were given a dream opportunity and were inspired by the enthusiasm and free reign Clover gave us,” says Shy the Sun director, Jannes Hendrikz.

Each aspect of the magical Clover production line and the thousands of characters working on it were planned in detail before going digital, from the enormous milky landscape down to the frilly lace on the ballerina whisk’s bloomers. Even characters with the smallest roles like the tiny flutterby’s baring the net aloft to filter the milk as it cascades down a high precipice are meticulously crafted. You hardly see them but they add to the visual sensation.

“Each frame is a work of art,” declares Hilton Treves of Black Ginger. He is understandably proud of this latest piece of work and praises Shy the Sun for their attention to detail and planning before digital animation began. He explains that constant collaboration was essential throughout the long process.

The detail required amounted to about seven hours per frame for rendering, even after server capacity was doubled from 20 to 40 terabytes. Hendriks adds: “It needed to be a hygienic world, so we had to avoid the animation trick of using gritty textures. Clean metal and ceramics were used, presenting a challenge as to what they would reflect in such a vast, animated landscape. It meant creating much more detail and design on these surfaces to break it up.”

All the effort seems to have paid off. As Treves says: “Kids go absolutely wild when they see it.” This should make parents very happy. After all, it’s way better if they choose dairy over Coke.

SCREENAFRICA Print Magazine – November 2011 (view here)
By Antone Crone

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