The Mill London team has produced a new commercial for Infiniti. Directed by French directing team Pleix for Chiat Day/ TBWA through BlinkInk, the spots contain a very clever use of paint for dramatic effect. In the first spot, we see the Infiniti creating and parting huge waves as it drives through a sea of warm colored paint, and in the second spot a stormy sky of deep blues, purples and yellows crash above the cars below.
With pre-production lasting more than two months, this effects-heavy project employed four senior flame artists and key members of The Mills 3D animation team. Mill 3D animator Andrew Proctor attended the shoot.
Lead Flame artist on both spots and vfx supervisor Yourick Van Impe commented, Pleix really pushed the boundaries on this project all the paint was shot in the studio at high speed with Phantom cameras and the clever use of camera movement coupled with the high speed makes it look like time-slice. The original paint was one color and to create the multi-colored paint I had to grade each section. Shooting the paint at high speed (up to 2,000 frames a second) rather than time-slice gave the director and Mill team greater range for creating the effects.
Most of the live-action paint shots and splashes required CG enhancements, color grading and lighting detail. The process of matting-off the live-action paint from the backgrounds and compositing with the car and making the interaction of the paint and car look realistic was very challenging for the Mill team.
Along with aesthetically improving the footage, other challenges included creating translucent light and reflections in the paint, the addition of 3D paint splashes and creating realistic shadows for the cars.
Adam Scott, senior colorist at The Mill London, brought this film to life with a vibrant colorful grade.
Infiniti is on-air in the U.S. only.
The Mill (www.the-mill.com) is a world-leading visual effects company with bases in London and New York.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
