Client: Acorn Dentistry For Kids
Agency: Cappelli Miles
Role: Creative, Direction, Filming
Date: Spring 2021
THE PITCH
When I found out we’d gotten a meeting with the crew from Acorn Dentistry For Kids I was super excited. They brand themselves as ‘Disneyland for Dentistry’ so I knew that any campaign I would get to build for them was going to bring out my inner child. After experimenting with several different creative options, the one that Acorn latched onto was A Magical Place, which was by far my most favorite idea.
Dentistry can be scary, especially when you are a kid. What if we could take something scary like a dentist and turn the location into something magical? I pictured a young boy, scared about his appointment, walking through the doors, and suddenly finding himself in a 2D animated forest surrounded by dentist-themed forest creatures there to help him along with his journey. I pictured a mask-wearing deer, brushing teeth near a waterfall, even meeting a moose with braces! The Acorn team fell in love with the pitch and the nostalgia effect provided through traditional hand-drawn animation. The stage was set, now it is time to make the magic happen.
PRE-PRODUCTION
A Magical Place needed a combination of live-action mixed with traditional hand-drawn animation, similar to cel animation in the classic Disney feature films like Snow White. To handle the animation, I found an amazing partner in Demo Duck, a Chicago based production company. The team I managed would be responsible for the live-action segments as well as the storyboard, sound design, music, and editing, while Demo Duck would do the animation. This required close communication as we needed to make sure the whole project integrated seamlessly.
The original storyboard created using the shot angles and pacing I was looking for
Initial layout featuring the characters that would appear in the spot, including initial exploration of the color palette for each character. We went through many revisions before finally settling on the key designs to proceed into animation.
THE BOY
Our boy character was the way for children to see themselves, a vessel to reduce their fears of the dentist. As such, finding a perfect boy character was very important. We lucked out with a young boy who ended up being the perfect fit both for his on-screen acting but also his off-screen acting, contributing laughs and chuckles perfectly to the animation stage. I dressed him in simple solid clothes, shoes, and a hat to hide his hair, all of which would make animation easier.
The initial test blocking of the animated elements in the early refinement stage.
Work on animation continued as cameras rolled. I directed the on-location shoot in front of an Acorn Dentistry, working with our Mom and Boy character while the lighting held. In the meantime, the background artists finished the "forest” versions based on the interior architecture of the Dentistry we shot on-location.
MUSIC
As always, I can’t help but want to create original scores for all the projects I direct. As usual, I turn to my goto, Dave Dexter, and his incredible work did not disappoint. This time we both fulfilled a dream and were able to record the Acorn score with a live orchestra.
The opening notes to the original score for A Magical Place by Dave Dexter.
POST-PRODUCTION
With filming, music and animation done, it was time to wrap up the last details, including all the SFX and some VFX, all of which I performed myself. Below you can see the original plate plus the cleanup, adding in trees, removing telephone poles, and adding an Acorn Dentistry logo sign.
I was the voice of the Bear. It was a pretty big role.