Inspired by Nature, Enhanced by CGI
Indoor vertical farming is the alternative agriculture method taking the produce industry by storm. As a concept, indoor vertical farming has instigated a radical shift in the agricultural landscape. Not only does it remedy the detrimental problems caused by climate change, it also saves vast amounts of space. In 2023, vertical farming company, Plenty®, opened the West Coast’s only commercial-scale vertical farm, growing up to 4.5M pounds of produce annually. As leaders in the field, Plenty needed help curating show-stopping animated CGI sequences which accurately conveyed their state of the art agricultural capabilities. Los-Angeles based 3D animation and post-production studio, Frame48, fit the creative bill.
Well versed in helping brands demystify innovative ideas, weaving them into visual stories, Frame48’s team were excited for their first foray into the agricultural space. “Our design philosophy revolves around breaking down complex, cutting-edge concepts and presenting them in a way that's both compelling, fun, and easy to grasp,” says Tom Teller, executive creative director at Frame 48. This campaign presented the perfect chance to blend their creative skills with a topic the entire team felt passionately about: sustainability and innovation.
After an in-person visit to Plenty’s Compton farm, the team began integrating their real-world findings into the creative. Here, Tom tells LBB’s April Summers how Plenty’s future-facing blend of nature and cutting-edge technology inspired the creative direction of the sophisticated VFX work.
LBB> What was the initial inspiration when the team was first introduced to the brand? And how did reality inspire the surreal?
Tom> We got to visit Plenty's Compton farm, and the sheer scale was awe-inspiring. The juxtaposition of lush agriculture thriving in the middle of the urban Los Angeles setting was a spectacle that didn’t hit us until we were inside. On top of the scale of the operation, seeing how many issues they are solving at once was just mind-boggling and really motivating for the team. Plant health, nutrition, no pesticides needed, minimal water and land use, running laps around traditional farm-to-table timelines – it’s just incredible.
The question that sparked the initial creative was, “How would these plants feel if they were grown in an environment where they have everything they need?” We thought they’d probably get up and dance, and that set the tone for the piece...
LBB> How does the VFX in this spot showcase Plenty’s state of the art science and technology?
Tom> We approached this project as we do all of our commercial projects: with the ground truth of what the company is offering to the world. And in this case, as mentioned above, it was a whole lot of great stuff. Science and technology became the scaffolding that let us tell that story in a fashion that was authentic but still rooted in reality. The robotic arms, towers, even the shape of the root structures - every decision was informed by reality then taken up a notch to add a little magic.
The Compton location is a glimpse into the future of agriculture, and that blend of nature and cutting-edge technology is what we aimed to capture in our VFX work. You know, the way the robotic arms glide through the farm, it's almost like they're performing a dance – so smooth, precise, and oddly soothing. That's what we used as our starting point. We took the real movements we saw in the farm - the way everything flows together in this symphony of technology - and amplified it to create a piece that feels both surreal and genuine.
LBB> Can you tell us how the team worked together to create the visual identity of this campaign?
Tom> When we first started brainstorming for the campaign, our main goal was to stay authentic to the essence of Plenty's technology and the vitality of the plants. We realised pretty quickly that what we needed to focus on was the dance between the plants and the technology. It was like these two elements were characters in their own right, and we wanted to choreograph their interaction perfectly. We spent a lot of time fine-tuning this choreography, ensuring that the motion design highlighted this unique relationship. We took a lot of inspiration from Lindy Hop swing dancing actually - the speed, energy, and attitude of that dancing style fit so well with the piece. It was all about capturing that harmony – how the technology supports the plants, and in turn, how the plants bring the technology to life. That dynamic relationship really became the heart of the campaign's look and feel.
LBB> And how did the team utilise SideFX Houdini to achieve the more intricate 3D elements of this spot?
Tom> Houdini was an absolutely essential part of our pipeline on this project, having so many plants interacting with one another and dynamically swaying with each movement wouldn’t have been possible in any other software package. In fact, following this project, we switched to Houdini as our primary DCC for basically everything from layout to look development. What makes Houdini such an incredible software for projects like this is that you can work all the way down at a microscopic level: How is a plant structured? How strong is it? How should it move? And as you answer these questions you build a series of tools and blocks throughout the project that can be used over and over again. Each project becomes its own design language composed of modules that are all art directable and configurable. No other software allows for this level of control and nuance.
LBB> The final campaign is truly striking - do you have a favourite visual or shot from the final campaign?
Tom> We do! It all goes back to the initial spark of inspiration: imagining how plants would move if they were thriving in a perfect environment. There's this one particular shot in the film that really brings this idea to life - a kale plant, gracefully twirling in a slow-motion, outside swing-out, cradled by the mechanical arms of Plenty's vertical farming towers. The kale's movement is perfectly synchronised with the music and captures that bond between nature and technology. It's like a visual pause, a slow-motion breath that captures the essence of what Plenty is all about, right before we unveil the wide shot of what looks to be an endless farm.
