Client: ASICS Shoes
Director: Alexander Alexandrov
Role: VFX Director, Artist
Date: Winter 2017
THE PROJECT
My dear friend and incredible cinematographer and director, Alexander Alexandrov, reached out to me to help direct the VFX for an ASICS shoes production happening in Japan. The goal was to create a series of CG minimalist buildings in the color scheme and art style of Japanese brutalist architecture, as well as generate simulated smoke for the shots when the actors were ‘lifting off'‘ the ground. I was responsible for preparing the VFX pipeline before and during shooting, and then for the implementation of the VFX themselves in post production.
PRE-PRODUCTION
References for the buildings that would need to be created, in addition to quick stock footage mockups that would show the kind of smoke effects needed to be produced for the videos.
There were two components to this project: the CG minimalist buildings and the smoke effects coming from the shoes themselves. Alex, the director, sent me several reference images for what kinds of buildings and color schemes he wanted to see. Since the buildings were just simple shapes, the main area of focus would be the lighting, sky, and textures.
POST-PRODUCTION
Initial tests of the smoke simulations showed promising results. The goal was to make each smoke have a distinctive style, shape, and feel to match the shoes and the actors themselves. Each simulation required extensive baking time, making prioritizing quality of the smoke effects vs ability to complete the deadline an important consideration.
Different tests of the buildings to create wildly different styles. This setup didn’t make the final cut, but I did like it.
Many compositions were shot over greenscreen and CG backgrounds needed to be created to match the original filming locations
I worked to build subtle animations into each scene, including camera moves and rotation of the sun light to make each shot interesting.
A Before/After of adding symmetry to the buildings and cleaning up the pavement.