Flower Power, Smart Tech and Solving Labyrinths: A Retrospective
From adding even more hype to Lil Jon’s hype song to crafting an entire maze out of one panel, Chimney has certainly seen a colourful variety of commercial projects come through its doors globally. In the long form department, the group saw a flourishing year in the feature department with over 12 films (including The Wife, Chappaquiddick, Anon, Tau, and Polar) completed, and exciting new features upcoming (including upcoming Jim Jarmusch film, The Dead Don't Die). The full-service production company now looks back at its highlights from the past year or so...
Breaking Down Barriers: Lexus, ‘Maze’
A young woman attempts to escape a sinister hedge maze in this deliciously dark Lexus spot. Finding a maze location wasn’t possible within budget, so this was shot in a studio with just one panelling of actual greenery. The entire maze was created in CG. Again, we tapped into our global resources to cater for the fast turnaround and keep costs down – splitting the VFX between our LA and Warsaw offices.
You can see the VFX breakdown here:
Smart Tech Got Smarter: Kronaby, ‘Hybrid Smartwatches, Technology Made Human’
This was a full-service production from Chimney for Swedish watch brand, Kronaby. We conceptualized, produced, and delivered post. As a newcomer in the highly competitive hybrid smartwatch market, Kronaby tasked us with building awareness and preference of its brand. We created one main film with a large number of edits, enabling us to use, re-use and adapt the material in a wide range of versions and channels.
Our 360-degree strategy resulted in a 500% increase in traffic to Kronaby’s YouTube channel and social media during the launch campaign in the US. The films have reached more than one million views on YouTube and the view-through rate on digital video ads has exceeded all expectations, thanks to intense testing. One year after the launch, Kronaby is an established watch with a leading position in the global market for hybrid smartwatches.
The Ultimate Hype Track: Stok Coffee
Lil Jon brings his iconic catchphrase to an adrenaline-fuelled new campaign for cold brew coffee brand, STōK. For its new hype commercial, STōK tasked Chimney with creating an exciting, fast-paced video from editorial through to finishing. Chimney LA's VFX team created custom 3D motion graphics. The Editorial and VFX departments collaborated throughout the process to create visuals that matched and complemented the tempo of Lil Jon’s hype song, which soundtracks the commercial.
VFX Magic Hits the Jackpot: MGM Springfield, ‘This is a First’
How do you fit an entire casino stocked with slot machines, wild bellhops, a marching band and a lion onto a moving truck on a bridge without it collapsing? Answer: You don’t!
Originally, the spot was supposed to be shot outdoors on a runway in Budapest which would have given us practical skies and foreground elements such as the road. However, due to bad weather, the entire shoot was moved indoors at the last minute and the entire Springfield environment was created in CG.
Working in close collaboration with McCann, our VFX teams in Stockholm and LA modelled, textured, and lit the iconic Springfield Bridge, created CG water, did digital matte paintings for all of the skies and the city skylines, created confetti FX and comped everything together to get an exciting, photo-real result. The process involved 100 days render time, 500 million polygons, and 200 handcrafted textures.
You can see the VFX breakdown here:
Going for Gold in PyeongChang: Suntrust, ‘Figure of Confidence’
This joyful spot about a young girl’s triumphs on the ice aired during the 2018 Winter Olympics. Originally supposed to be a 30-second spot, the client loved it so much that they extended the piece to 60-seconds and bought double the media time. Chimney was brought on in the early stages of production to help solve the problem of creating a full crowd in CG to fill the Olympic-sized stadium.
To meet the tight turnaround, we harnessed the capabilities of both our NY and LA offices – finishing this in a two-week window. The color was done in NY by Vincent Taylor and the VFX was done by LA.
You can see the VFX breakdown here:
A Year in Bloom: Estrella Jalisco, ‘Marigolds’
For Dia de Los Muertos, we partnered with Rocket Film and David Agency to finish their emotional tribute to family and culture in their campaign for Estrella. Chimney’s Kody Wescott colour-corrected the project and the VFX Team in New York, led by Sam O’Hare, worked collaboratively with the agency to craft all the visual effects to simulate the path of the iconic marigolds falling from the plane.
Things Take a Darker Turn: PETA, ‘The Bear’
This PETA ad follows the nightmarish journey of a beloved teddy bear who becomes a test subject in a laboratory. Created by VMLY&R and produced by Push Pull Production & Ray Productions, this spot shines a light on the cruel practices of animal testing still taking place today. The spot was coloured by Chimney’s Lez Rudge, adding cold green and yellow hues to reinforce the film’s clinical atmosphere.
