Digital Kitchen recently worked with ad agency DraftFCB on a viscerally stylish campaign for El Jimador tequila. The spot began exclusively airing in Mexico on October 1, 2008.
"This project gave us a perfect opportunity to create a piece of rich, tactile storytelling," says Brian Behling, Producer at Digital Kitchen. "The team at DraftFCB had already created a print campaign and a rough storyboard, which gave us a good start, while leaving plenty of room to have some creative fun. We wanted to reveal the wealth of Mexican culture, featuring the agave plant in an iconic way, while also maintaining El Jimador's position as a 'top-shelf' tequila. That said, the schedule was pretty intense, and I don't mind saying that, along the way, most of us became big fans of El Jimador."
The spot opens with a close shot of El Jimador's distinctive label and bottle at center screen. As a pounding beat rises, an elaborate black design extends around the bottle like rays of sun. The camera proceeds smoothly into the label and fixes for a moment on the drawing of the "jimador," or agave farmer, at the center.
"Our concept and screenplay were strongly influenced by an earlier El Jimador print campaign," says Camm Rowland, lead creative at Digital Kitchen. "The bottles of El Jimador were shot in front of an ornate wood engraving, filled with iconic references to the mythology behind the agave plant, and the process of making El Jimador. In all, there are three 'chapters' to our story: beginning with the growing of the agave plant, moving through the harvest and production, and culminating in the fiesta or celebration."
From the drawing of the farmer, the camera moves swiftly and smoothly right to a hand drawn image of a rising sun bathing a desert field. Agave plants with stylized letter J's at their hearts sprout. The undulations of the field quickly form the detailed texture of an agave plant being harvested by a farmer. Just as quickly, the scene gives way to a barrel labeled "100% Agave." As the camera swings overhead, the barrel top transforms into the hole at the center of a guitar. A fiesta atmosphere pervades as the guitar is joined by several others in an elaborate design, and the camera exits the label. In a short time, the spot impresses a vivid experience on all five senses.
"Team members Claudio Limon and Laura Etheredge, among others, created a wide variety of pen and ink drawings for this spot," continues Rowland. "The nuances of the photographed wood engraving provided us with the visual language for the spot, which we developed through motion tests in After Effects. Here, we set about replicating that rough, beautiful, tactile style in motion. For the production pipeline, our hand-made illustrations moved into Illustrator, then into After Effects and 3D Studio Max. We created very fluid motions, but we also wanted to draw attention to the elegantly carved textures of the wood. It was important that the look be sensual and tactile, without feeling too rough. It needed to feel authentic, as well as premium-quality, like El Jimador. We finished things off in Apple Final Cut Pro."
"Working together with our creative team to seamlessly combine all this material was an intoxicating experience," says Behling. "The agency provided fantastic work, and we had a blast putting this project together."
Credits:
Product: El JimadorSpot Title: ICON OF AUTHENTICITYLength: 1 x :30, 1 x :20
DraftFCBSenior Producer: Tyler JayCopywriter: Stu ThompsonCreative Director: Suzanna BierwirthChief Creative Officer: Rob SherlockKey Illustrator: Claudio Limon
Digital KitchenCreative Lead: Camm RowlandExecutive Producer: Kent SmithProducers: Brian Behling and Erica RangelAnimators: Gene Park, Jason Esser, Joey Park3D: Chad AshleyEditor: Mike AlfiniIllustrator: Laura EtheredgeInterns: Phil Guthrie, Ihan Cheng, Matthew Triolo, Dan Marker-Moore
