Traktor and MPC let their imaginations run wild in a new spot, conceived by WCRS, for ‘Candy Crush: Soda Saga.’
Just try not to smile while watching the ridiculously surreal Candy Crush: Soda Saga spot, where confectionary from the hugely popular game causes havoc in the city.
Traktor let their imaginations run wild with the spot, conceived by WCRS - turning a dachshund into a jellybean, filling a skyscraper with purple soda and creating a gummy bear the size of a skyscraper. MPC developed CG assets and props based on exact elements in the game, as well as added shot elements and supervising a shoot with over 200 extras.
CG Supervisor Carsten Keller said, “However bizarre this spot may look, an incredible level of detail has gone in to ensure that the elements are recognizable to the 93 million people who play Candy Crush every day. One of the biggest challenges for us was recreating these elements within a 3D space (as they are 2D within the game), as well as stabilizing the movements and reflections of the candy as it attaches to unsuspecting pedestrians heads.”
As the candies and soda falls from the sky, ordinary people and objects are transformed as they are hit. The VFX team used rigs attached to people’s heads, which utilized ping-pong balls as tracking markers. Despite the strange looks received from passersby, the lighting and measurement references they provided were invaluable to the 3D team back in the studio when adhering the corresponding candies.
Each candy was individually modelled, with a unique consistency and reflectivity. Many shots consisted of shot elements alongside the CG candies, with VFX Supervisor Kamen Markov taking on the elaborate task of composting the film. He explains “The shoot at Universal Studios in L.A was incredibly challenging – we had more than 200 extras who all needed to be measured and have their tracking markers in exactly the right position. Added to this we had an extensive elements shoot, as many details including splashes, puddles and the soda bottles were composited in, rather than built in CG. The CG renders have been carefully blended and graded to work with the grade of the film as well as precise attention to detail with regards to shadows and reflected colours added to the environments and people.”
The soda plays an important part in the story, with Traktor initially opting to use a tank filled with real soda to spray around set. To give the directors complete freedom the CG team recreated the soda and added additional splash elements that were shot separately to achieve fully integrated soda as well getting the scope required.
MPC also added and animated the bottles in the vending machine, added a CG dog collar to the newly transformed jellybean and created the chocolate ball explosion using animated lighting bolt effects.
Source: MPC
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
