Sphere Animation in Johannesburg created the ad Bank on Us for client Absa and agency Mortimer-Harvey earlier this year.
Their brief was to show the five key ways that customers transact using the Absa channels and how it makes peoples’ lives easier. “The incentive was that if customers did any of the featured transactions in a given time period, they stood to win one of three Volkswagen Gti’s worth R360 000 each and a share of R1m in cash,’ explains Sphere’s Ettiene Bosch.
“Because of the exclusive prize giveaway of these vehicles, we knew that they should feature throughout the ad. We drew the parallel of these cars zipping through the city with the fast and efficient way people can bank with Absa channels.’
Bosch notes that they used Softimage XSI, as well as Adobe After Effects and Photoshop for the animation and effects.
The ad was produced in two weeks, and according to Bosch they had to work within a short, demanding production timeline and find a way of creating a clear message within a 30-second ad. “It was a challenging project that tested our capabilities to deliver a TVC with excellent results in a third of the time one would normally need to pull off a project of this size,’ says Bosch.
“However, the biggest challenge for us was taking live action, shot on green screen, and integrating that into our 3D environment to create a seamless blend. We were able to do this thanks to proper planning from the start, and it shows in the end result.’
The live action was shot by director of photography Willem Viljoen on a Panasonic AJ-HPX2700 P2 HD camera.
The team working on the ad included creative directors Craig Duff and Chris Potter; stylist and art director Alice Rowe; and 3D animators Ettiene Bosch, Rikus Niewoudt and Ian Dehning. “We also had freelancer Mirna Stevanovic helping out because of the short deadline. All the shots were composited and final grading done by Nico Janse van Rensburg,’ concludes Bosch.
By Linda Loubser
screen africa magazine – september 2012
