Studio SQ gets deep with Specsavers
This brilliant new viral by Specsavers answers the age old question of what happens when a whale’s eyesight is slightly skew-whiff. The answer is that every submarine crew in the vicinity needs to get out of the water…. fast. This spot was directed by Cris Mudge from Mustard and beautifully captures the “Das Boot” style submariners’ fear of the unseen attacker. We see the trepidation on their faces as they are rocked and jostled inside the sub, then almost as quickly as it started the “attack” ceases. The sailors look at each other relieved as peace descends and, outside in the murky depths, a whale slowly swims away with a slight swagger in its tail oblivious to the panic and mayhem it has caused.
Ed and Adam modelled the photo real cg submarine and whale using references supplied by the agency and production company. Ed skilfully animated the whale as the timing of the 3D section was limited but had to show as much action as possible whilst representing the true movement by such a large creature. Rod comped the 3D elements in Nuke, subtly blending the whale and submarine with a line of air bubbles and passing shoal of fish. The lighting was also key to the realism of this piece, emphasising the depth of the water whilst also enabling the action to be clear and true to life. Rod used natural water textures and a small amount of distortion to the image to give a feeling of the environment in constant movement. Caustic passes were added to the submarine and whale to integrate lighting from the ocean surface above.