Nice Shoes & Grey NY Tell A Story of Air Particles for 3M Air Filters

In devising a spot to showcase 3M’'s Filtrete™ Air Filters’ removal of indoor air particles, Grey presented a unique challenge for Nice Shoes Creative Studio. They needed to shoot actual air particles (visible to the naked eye) to make people aware of how much dust, allergens and bacteria are contained in the air that people breathe in every day. Director Harry Dorrington presented an efficient solution utilizing the creative resources of Nice Shoes – including colourist Chris Ryan – to take the project from concept to completion. 

Dorrington cast and shot the spot in Vancouver, capturing actual air particles with a high speed camera, as it was important that real particles be utilized during the live action scenes.

These on-set particles were also sampled to build an animated 3D demonstration of Filtrete™’s capabilities, which was then augmented by a CG particle system to create more depth.

Upon returning to New York for post production, Dorrington collaborated with Grey at every step, from editorial and VFX, to the final color grade with Ryan; ensuring that the piece was delivered in the highest quality while offering the convenience of the project being handled entirely in one studio and with one point of contact.

"“The partnership of director Harry Dorrington and the Creative Studio was key to this project from the beginning,"” explained Adam Seely, VP, Executive Producer at Grey NY. "“Nice Shoes has been an invaluable post-production partner to Grey over the years, so the approach to do this spot from ‘end to end’, by shooting with Harry was a perfect solution for this type of spot. Harry was there from treatment, to pre-production and supervised every step of the way through post-production. It’s a much better way of working with a spot that relied on integrated graphics and demo work in addition to getting the humanity of the live action and have it all come together into one cohesive piece.”"

"“As a director, I have a vested interest in seeing a project through – from start to finish,"” said Dorrington. “"To have a colourist of Chris Ryan’s skill in-house, as a natural part of the creative offerings, is a fantastic luxury. It’s extremely beneficial to have all these resources together, as we’re able to speed up the overall schedule, and deliver a piece that looks incredible.”"

The Creative Studio’'s ability to offer end-to-end creative solutions was extremely important in winning and executing the project.

"“This project illustrates the philosophy on which the Nice Shoes Creative Studio was founded: to create with our clients, every step of the way, allowing for efficiency and high quality deliverables. Grey knew exactly what they wanted from this spot when we first met – they presented a direction that required a realistic and elegant approach. With everything at our disposal here, I was able to show them pre vis and motion tests, take that and show them how this spot was going to look before I even shot it,"” concluded Dorrington.