Acura
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The ingenuity of the Orient has come to The Mill New York, who had to learn from an Origami master how to fold paper before they could transform a stack of cardboard boxes into a life-size Acura MDX in a spot to promote this 300-horsepower motor as the next generation in luxury.
Director:
Jeffrey Plansker
Production Company:
Supply & Demand
Agency:
RPA LA
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The clever concept of having boxes unfold one by one, combine and eventually build into an Acura car obviously appealed to Supply & Demand director Jeffery Plansker, who from age 12 has been experimenting with filmmaking.
CG Animator Ben Smith and The Mill 3D team first had to study origami techniques. Fortunately, 'One of the designers, Keith Kim, already knew how to make a few objects,' says Smith. They also sought advice from origami master Robert J. Lang, author of many books on origami. He built them an origami car, a car seat and a steering wheel, and was later filmed unfolding the finished designs, which provided great reference for Ben and the team to study the craft in detail.
'The biggest challenges,' says Ben, 'were choreographing the spot so that the boxes appeared to unfold like real origami, and figuring out how to make compound surfaces out of flat ones.' Continuity and flow were vital. As Ben says, 'We had to establish the language of the animation and how fast the boxes unfolded.' The team also developed a few repeatable tricks to achieve the required shapes. 'We wrote custom 3D tools to automate a number of processes,' Ben explains, 'but most of the animation was good old-fashioned hand animation.'
CG Animator Ben Smith and The Mill 3D team first had to study origami techniques. Fortunately, 'One of the designers, Keith Kim, already knew how to make a few objects,' says Smith. They also sought advice from origami master Robert J. Lang, author of many books on origami. He built them an origami car, a car seat and a steering wheel, and was later filmed unfolding the finished designs, which provided great reference for Ben and the team to study the craft in detail.
'The biggest challenges,' says Ben, 'were choreographing the spot so that the boxes appeared to unfold like real origami, and figuring out how to make compound surfaces out of flat ones.' Continuity and flow were vital. As Ben says, 'We had to establish the language of the animation and how fast the boxes unfolded.' The team also developed a few repeatable tricks to achieve the required shapes. 'We wrote custom 3D tools to automate a number of processes,' Ben explains, 'but most of the animation was good old-fashioned hand animation.'
CreditsCredits
Agency
Agency: RPA LA
Producer: Shelley Eisner
Creatives: Mark Erwin, Pat Mendelson, Bill Bayne, Scott McDonald
Production
Production Company: Supply & Demand
Director: Jeffrey Plansker
Executive Producer: Kira Carstensen
Producer: Tina Nakane
Editorial
Editing Company: Spotwelders
Editor: Michael Heldman
VFX & Design
VFX & Design: The Mill
VFX Producers: Helen Hughes, Dan Roberts
2D Lead Artist: Angus Kneale
3D Lead Artist: Ben Smith
2D Artists: Dan Williams, Jeff Robbins
3D Artists: Jason Goodman, Keith Kim, Andrew Proctor, Jong Jin Choi, Joshua Merck
Assist: Randy McEntee
Art Department: Elizabeth Koeing
Colour
Colour: The Mill
Colourist: Fergus McCall