Vanish Proves That Knowledge Is Powder with Hyperbolic Gold Carpet Campaign
Stain removal experts, Vanish, have released their latest carpet care campaign, a hyperbolised example of the unnecessary stresses of getting that ground-in dirt out of each and every fibre.
The project, created by Havas and developed by Jamie Lane at Generator Films, features a boldly dressed protagonist as he submerges his living room in gallons of water in the hope of extracting the most persistent of filth from his carpet.
Jamie, director on the project, comments, “What’s great is that it’s a new concept and direction that Owen and Brodie from Havas came up with. The challenge was the water tank and how we would enhance the size and scale of it to make it bigger and dramatic.”
Post-production company, Big Buoy, were tasked with this dramatisation, with VFX supervisor and lead flame artist, Skippy Clifton on set during production. He adds “it’s not every day you get a script that cuts a living room in half and washes a carpet with tonnes of water. Testing was called on straight away and we were amazed at how much dirt a clean-looking carpet would churn up.”
“We could only drown the living room once, so we shot with two cameras at 4K resolution to give us plenty of choice for editing. We faced the logistical issue that the glass could only take so much water weight, so we were restricted to a meter-high tank. After cutting all the props, including sofas, tables and decor in half, it was time to turn on the fire hose and see what it was like to wash a living room carpet in masses of water.”
Floating furniture and drifting debris prove entertaining and visually dynamic; however, this is of course an impractical solution. Therefore, Big Buoy’s beautiful macro sequence demonstrates Vanish’s much simpler method to keeping carpets squeaky clean and free from grit.
From an audio perspective, Big Buoy sound designer Nick Olsouzidis comments, "we tried to keep it all amusing and fun, whilst at the same time staying clear of sonic clichés and any sound that would make the spot feel cartoonish”. He adds that the creatives and director were all “really involved throughout and an absolute pleasure to work with”.
Jamie concludes that the final result is “a very visual and colourful piece with an interesting and surreal twist we are all very pleased with,” whilst Skippy states, “We thought that we might have to put a "don't try this at home" super on, like on Britain’s Got Talent. Fortunately not.”
