The Mill has a bright idea for Audi’s Economy Drive

2nd July 2009 - Completing its trilogy of ads with BBH, The Mill has collaborated on ‘Economy Drive’, the third and final spot in Audi’s latest TV campaign.

A Spheron camera was used to take 360 degree Spheron maps of the locations allowing The Mill to recreate the geometry and lighting conditions of the set in 3D with maximum precision. Tom Bussell led a team of five 3D artists who modelled, textured, animated and rendered seven different light bulbs. Tom adopted a different rendering process on this job where all the layers were split up and the elements isolated so the final look of the bulbs could be achieved in Shake.

A team of shake and flame artists, led by The Mill's Mike Outlaw, worked on over 30 shots. The 2D VFX work consisted of a huge amount of clean-up work, notably removing a truck with a rig and light on top of it from over 25 shots which was made more complicated by the light interaction on the plates. The 3D light bulbs had over 10 layers which were created to achieve the photo real look. Mike composited all of the bulbs into the plates and created the realistic glows around them to match reference stills the directors had shot.

Finally, Colourist Adam Scott applied a master grade to the final HD data picture. A lot of contrast was added along with a subtle duo-tone the directors specifically cited as a colour guide. Adam said: “This look gives the film an interesting quality whilst keeping the clarity that you always expect from Audi.”

Agency: - BBH / Creatives: - Adi Birkinshaw, Paul Yull / Producer: - Olly Chapman / Production Company: - Stink / Director: - NE-O / DP: - Joost Van Gelder / Producer: - Juliet Naylor / Editing Company: - Marshall Street / Editor: - Tim Thornton-Allan / Post Production: - The Mill / Producer: - Harry Jones, Darren O’Kelly / Telecine: - Adam Scott / Shoot Supervisors: - Tom Bussell, Jay Bandlish / Lead 2D: - Mike Outlaw / Flame: - Simon Holden, Jay Bandlish / Flame Assist: - Andy Bate, Gareth Parr, Paul Downs, Ilia Mokhtareizadeh, Zoe Cassey-Hayes / Shake: - Peter Hodsman, Ben Perrot / Smoke: - James Pratt, John Thornton, Tim Robbins, Huss / Lead 3D: - Tom Bussell / 3D: - Eva Kuhelmann, Aidan Gibbons, Alex Hammond, Ed Shires, Sergio Xisto / Art Department: - Ian Wharton, Jimmy Kiddell / Kit: - Shake, Xsi, Flame, Baselight

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