For this Nissan CUV spot, ‘Winter Allies’, MPC worked with agency TBWA Toronto and Radke Director Leigh Marling to personify different kinds of weather into different kinds of monsters. We find out about the process with visual effects supervisor Vicky Osborn.
Pothole monsters
“This section was shot in Toronto on a stretch of side road nicely sealed off from the rest of the traffic,” says Osborn. “On the ground we made some little markers to mark where the potholes would be. But then there was a practical shoot with the car, which they had dodging the potholes. The hail was actually huge chunks of salt in the end that rained down in the foreground to get the bouncy interaction between the car and the street. The idea was that we would always add to that – more in the background and on the road.”
For the pothole monsters, MPC began with concept sketches. “The challenge was trying to get character into the teeth and also have it look believable like road and fall away like a regular pothole,” notes Osborn. “We actually broke up the road into the pothole shape with Houdini. Then we jumped back into Maya and rigged it like a character so we had control of how it bit, and the action and speed. Then it went back into Houdini for a sim over the top.”
Mud monsters
The mud creatures also began with concepts, which originally had features designed to only suggest a head and mouth. Later, eye areas were added. “The shapes were then rigged and animated in Maya,” explains Osborn. “At the animation stage for approval they were just gray shapes. Then they went into Houdini and we had a setup there that allowed us to simulate the surface of the creature and make it feel like the mud was moving across it. It was tricky because we had to get the believability.”
Snow creature
The snow creature was built and rigged in Maya, with Houdini utilized for its branches and snow effects. Over the top, MPC added falling snow. “We had designed the character up front,” adds Osborn, “but we were not able to finalize it until during and after shoot because we need to know what the trees for its branches were going to look like.”
Bridge attack
This character was based on a hybrid of real bridges, using parts to suggest facial features. Shot on a plain road, the bridge work required intricate compositing. “The cars are all practical,” says Osborn, “but we did need to add reflections and use CG cars to do tracking.”
