MPC's Molten Lava Man for Vigorsol

 

The spot opens on a city under assault from a huge fire-breathing monster. ‘Captain Ice’ is the unlikely hero who eventually defeats him with the help of Vigorsol gum.  MPC VFX Supervisor Richard Mckeand said, “We absolutely love working on these kind of jobs. To concept a fictional character such this, means we work from scratch. We need to determine his personality, features and the precise texture of his lava-covered body. The options are endless.”

 

View the spot here.

 

Character development…

MPC’s team of concept artists developed an extensive series of exploratory sketches using films such as  ‘Wrath of the Titans’ as reference.  The team researched volcanic behaviour, as well as ice cracks and rocks to create the monster, affectionately nicknamed James.

 

 

The next step was to create a 3D model of the selected character. 

 

 

The team took special care to define James’ personality, using human expressions and applying them to the 3D model.  This allows a high level of anthropomorphism, and shows James both angrily destroying the city, then in shock as he is vapourised. 

 

 

The next step was to texturize his body through grooming. The team constructed a shader in Maya that could dynamically change its apparent temperature to vary between volatile fiery lava, all the way down to icy frozen rock.

 

 

In the final spot we see a city under siege. The opening scene was built up using stock footage and built up still frames. MPC’s extensive element library was used to add smoke effects while the team of matte painters added a menacing feel to the sky. The helicopters were created in-house and are completely CG.  

 

As James gets to work destroying the city, his touch on the buildings around him blackens them- this effect was added by the matte painting team. A great deal of the fire and flames were captured in camera, and were embellished with CG elements. As James turns a corner to face up to the Ice Man, the buildings behind him were added for scale, as well as additional cars and buildings in the background. 

 

A bespoke shattering software system was used to vanquish James, and break down his body into rocks.  

 

There was extensive clean up involved in the job, plus rotoscoping and compositing James so he fit the shots perfectly.  The team added ice to cars and the road, embellished explosions and matte painted in extra parts of the city.

 

Credits

 

Agency: BBH

Creatives: Felipe Guimaraes & Lambros Charalambous

Creative Director: Marc Hatfield

Producer: Natalie Parish

Assistant Producer: Katie Burkes

Strategist: Ben Shaw

Team Director: Tom Woodhead

Team Manager: Leo Sloley

 

Production Company: Stink

Director: Rafael Lopez Saubidet

Producer: Debbie Ninnis

DoP: Ray Coates

Editor: Andy McGraw @ Stitch

 

VFX: MPC

VFX Producer: Chris Allen

VFX Supervisors: Richard Mckeand and Anthony Bloor

VFX Team: Benoit Mannequin, Jama Djurabaev, Levente Peterffy, Christopher Antoniou, Anthony Bloor, Brice Lehmann, Sean Ray, Tim van Hussen, Tom Rowell, Samantha Meisels, Rachel Wright, Alex Cernogorods, Billie Vine

Grade: George K