How MPC Brought the Badass Bam the Ram to Life for Volkswagen

Volkswagen’s ‘Born Confident’ campaign, with a 60-second hero spot directed by Nick Gordon at Somesuch, and featuring VFX by MPC, opens with the birth of a young ram, delivered by a shepherd and his son on a dark and rainy evening. This self-assured little chap exudes confidence from day one, boldly stepping into the world to wreak playful havoc; leading his herd of sheep, standing up to a sheep dog, the farmer, and an intimidating bull. But when the ram encounters the new Volkswagen T-Roc, he realises that he has finally met his match.

The film’s CG ram is crafted by MPC’s Gold Cannes Lion-winning Life team, in collaboration with adam&eveDDB in London and DDB Berlin/Hamburg– and he grips you with his irresistible confidence from the start.

MPC’s artists crafted the photo-real character harnessing the expertise of their ‘Life’ team from across the studio, including the Jungle Book team in MPC Film. 

Carsten Keller, MPC’s 3D creative director elaborates: “We needed to create a baby ram with life-like proportions, staying true to physical anatomy. To make him feel real, subtlety was key. Push the animation and ‘acting’ too hard, and you instantly lose believability – the emotion and storytelling in ‘Born Confident’ comes from our little hero’s elegant and confident posing, with no need for buffed-up, oversized muscles.” 

Using innovative in-house software developed for photo-real creature work, MPC's Life team mastered the tricky balance of crafting a charming photo-real character – the brilliantly bold little ram ready to take on the world - without slipping into cartoon-like animation.