Special Effects

Outer Space Portrayed in the Movies.

Since the dawn of civilization humans have always had a fascination with space. From that point where we first looked up at the night sky and pondered the stars and the vastness of the night sky, through today where we still explore the heavens. One of the more interesting takes on our fascination with the heavens and space is how it has been portrayed in film, especially in the last 50 years. As special effects have progressed from the ground breaking2001: A Space Odyssey”, to today’s blockbuster “Interstellar” the portrayal of space in film is one of amazing visuals and fantasies drawn out of human experience and imagination. The video below is wonderful edit of just how space has been portrayed in the movies. At almost 4 minutes in length it’s worth watching. Now can you name all of the movies referenced here?

Advertisement

Gang Films and Digital District Produce an Epic Spot for Volvic.

So you make mineral water and you want to advertise in a way that sets you apart from the crowd. What are you going to do? The competition is stiff and you are selling water. What you do is, hire  and Gang Films to produce a spot that feels like a movie trailer for an epic Sci-Fi movie. I have no idea what the budget or production schedule was on this, but I can tell you it wasn’t cheap, and it took some serious time and effort. If this doesn’t sell some Volvic mineral water, I don’t know what will.

“What If” The New Nissan Juke Spot from UFO.

The spot below was produced by UFO for Nissan and TBWA / Else. Directed by Sebastien Cannone it features a nice blend of CGI and live action footage with copious amounts of special effects thrown in. If you watch this on a system with surround sound, turn up the volume. If not put on your headphones. The sound design is really, really good. There are so many things Iike about this spot. The fact that it is in an ultra-wide aspect ration, the blue color pallet, the entry shot where the Juke assembles from a series of particle systems, and so much more. This is a perfect example of you get what you pay for. Big money went into producing an ad that feels like a big budget film. What a great look for 30 seconds of automotive eye candy.

“The Craft of Movement”

Since it is a frozen waste land of bone crushing cold and snow outside I thought I would search Vimeo for some nice Spring clips. Something with green leaves and cherry blossoms. I thought it might make the 6 more weeks of winter a bit easier to tolerate. While cruising through a number of Spring related short films I came across ‘s Spring/Summer campaign fro 2013 and the making of film.

 got together with NAM to capture the Craft of Movement in modern day Japan. The 60 second spot features some really nice slow motion footage great camera work and post. As you watch the film you see objects, and people suspended in air slowly moving through frozen objects. NAM made no attempt to hide the rigging and wires in the shoot, which ads a level of surrealism to the overall effect. If you are the least bit curious about how they made this, watch the making of video below. It takes almost 24 hours of studio time and compresses it into just a few minutes showing the magnitude and complexity of of the final piece.