Ntropic LA Delivers Cinematic VFX for Ad Council's Stormy Short film 'Rising'

Today, The Ad Council and R/GA celebrate the premiere of Rising, a short film that is a powerful extension of their iconic Love Has No Labels campaign. Featuring VFX and colour from Ntropic, the film was directed by Game of Thrones’ David Nutter and written by Lena Waithe, creator of Showtime’s The Chi and Emmy award-winning writer for Master of None. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the current American cultural and political climate, Rising takes place in the immediate aftermath of a massive storm and challenges viewers to consider why it takes a disaster to bring us together. 

Central to the film’s urgent message the raging storm provides a common enemy for the neighbourhood to unite against. Over the course of 10 days, Ntropic enhanced this beautiful, cinematic narrative by weaving seamless VFX and colour throughout. This included creating two fully CG scenes and amplifying the rain storm itself, which was added via VFX to 90 percent of the 10-minute film, resulting in over 100 enhanced shots. To convey the strength and danger of the storm, Ntropic’s VFX team also added a few storytelling details like fallen trees, houses, and flooding that were not able to be captured in-camera. 

“Beautifully epic spots of this calibre don't come around often in the advertising world, so we were thrilled to support their incredible storytelling mission,” said Ntropic LA EP Juliet Tierney. “The timing and  creative were equally ambitious, but we saw this as an opportunity rather than a challenge. Our approach allowed us to find the highest quality solutions in a short amount of time.”

VFX Supervisor Simon Mowbray and Colourist Nick Sanders worked closely with Nutter and DP Peter Menzies from the Ntropic Los Angeles studio, while R/GA creatives viewed the film’s progress on colour calibrated monitors from Ntropic’s New York outpost. Sanders was able to fine tune colour down to the last minute, even as VFX were being finalised, allowing the director’s vision to be fully realised in the compacted timeframe. 

“The visual challenges of the Rising / Love Has No Labels project were monumental,” said Director David Nutter. “Every moment demanded precise visualisation—in concert with the power of the message itself.  Of chief concern was the reality of the presentation of the neighbourhood's ‘before and after the storm’ dynamics, which were studied, planned, and executed to perfection, in my opinion, from a VFX standpoint. Ntropic was our secret weapon.