When Opel was looking to make a powerful impact
with its new range of Ampera-e electric cars, they turned to Australian
creature animation and visual effects specialists, Alt.vfx.
Instead
of using a technical explanation to introduce the range, the car
giant's latest viral clip instead used black humor to deliver the
message. In the spot, from Scholz & Friends in Hamburg, the Ampera-e
not only surprises the animal kingdom but also the Almighty himself, as
two cockchafer bugs attempt to cross a quiet country road. Who could
expect an electric car to come along in the middle of nowhere? However,
at least one of the cockchafers in the spot finds out the hard way that
he should expect the unexpected.
VIEW THE SPOT
The special charm of the humanized cockchafers is brought to life
via Motion Capture Animation. This technique captures the motion
sequences of real actors and transfers them to 3D models.
Alt's lead animator Chris Rentoul donned a mocap suit, with his movements captured
and then animated as two life-like bugs.
Actor Ben Becker appears
as the astonished Almighty - a God who is imperfect and definitely not
up to date when it comes to electro-mobility.
To complete the ad,
the Alt team created a heavenly landscape in CG, and working with the
live action plates, the animated cockchafers and other CG elements,
created a seamless shot that gave the new Ampera-e range maximum impact.
Agency: Scholz & Friends Hamburg GmbH
CCO: Wolf Huemann
CD: Christian Fritsche
Production Company: Tempomedia Filmproduktion GmbH
EP: Vera Portz
Producer: Stephan Brockmann
DOP: Martin Ruhe
Creature Design and Post Production: Alt.vfx