Mill+ Directors Andrew Proctor and Alex Maxwell collaborated with SMZ Advertising to put a lively spin on classic games for Michigan Lottery. ‘3D World’ made its broadcast debut during Super Bowl 50.
Director:
Alex Maxwell, Andrew Proctor
Production:
Mill+
Agency:
SMZ Advertising
Andrew explains, “The idea is it’s a lifestyle piece to show you can play the lottery within the mobile app anytime, anyplace. We had 30 seconds to convey the fun and diverse ways in which you can play – on your laptop, cell phone, tablet – so we decided on 11 different vignettes as a visual representation of different types of game.”
The challenge of the one-day shoot was that the vignettes were meant to take place in Michigan, quite a different environment from sunny Southern California. The Mill+ team shot each scenario within a five-mile radius including a few shots at The Mill itself. Thanks to thorough set dressing and meticulous compositing of outdoor scenery, Michigan came to life in Los Angeles.
For the design aspect of the project, Mill artists created virtual 3D versions for four lottery games. All of the animation was done in Cinema 4D and the elements were composited in Flame. Andrew adds, “We created a bunch of designs for the ‘extrusions’ that come from within the games. These were based on the 2D version of the real game, and we elaborated on that to invent something fun with interesting movement. It was wonderful to collaborate with SMZ on this – we were given a great opportunity to bring our own creativity to the table whilst staying true to the original games.”