Venice, Calif. - Old Spice’s new :30 spot, titled “Double Impact,” shows that visual effects can play a supporting comedic role.
In the spot, a half-man/half-horse lathers up while speaking about the benefits of being “two things in one: a man and a pretty smart shopper.” To set up the ridiculous notion of having a centaur deliver this line, the artists at Digital Domain had to create a photorealistic centaur, and they also added a few visual tricks to keep the audience amused.
“Funny is hard,” says visual effects supervisor Vernon Wilbert. “It is a whole different set of standards. Of course the centaur needed to look plausible, but an effect like this can get creepy really quickly. We worked closely with (director) Phil Morrison to walk a very fine comedic line.”
Being funny is something Old Spice and its agency Wieden & Kennedy took very seriously when they assembled an all-star production team, comprising Digital Domain artists, director Phil Morrison (JuneBug), and the practical visual effects of Stan Winston Studios.
The team worked closely together on the biggest visual challenge—the connection point between man and horse. In the past, practically every centaur effect in movies and television is fudged with a piece of armor or cloth covering the connection. But for “Double Impact” the effect would be naked for the world to scrutinize.
“[Stan Winston Studios] built a prosthetic piece and attached it to the actor so everyone understood the size and whereabouts of the horse,” explains Wilbert. “Their piece was done extremely well and we had accurate reference points to work with as a result.”
Digital Domain’s extra touch was adding strategically placed soap suds, blending, and visual tricks to create an extremely convincing centaur. As the centaur delivers his lines in the shower, soap suds drip seamlessly from the man’s body to the horse’s legs.
“The suds made it work,” continues Wilbert. “It worked better because the suds and the soap go places where they shouldn’t. That made it real…and it made it funny.”
Old Spice “Two in One”
Directed by: Phil Morrison
Agency: WIEDEN & KENNEDY
Ben Grylewicz Head of Production
Mark Fitzloff Creative Director
Monica Taylor Creative Director
Chris Larson Art Director
Dominic Orlando Art Director
Andres Murillo Producer
Marcelino Alvarez Interactive Producer
Heather Harvey Print Producer
Michael Illick Writer
Production Company: EPOCH FILMS
Phil Morrison Director
Doug Halbert Executive Producer
Adam Gross Producer
Animation and Visual Effects by: DIGITAL DOMAIN, INC.
Ed Ulbrich Executive Vice President / President of Commercials
Karen Anderson Executive Producer / Head of Production
Vernon Wilbert Visual Effects Supervisor
Brad Hayes CG Supervisor
Jason Cohon VFX Producer
William Lemmon VFX Coordinator
Charles Paek Lighting R&D
Matthew Bell Digital Artist
Anthony Ramirez Digital Artist
Patrick Mulane Matte Painter
George Krauter Character Modeler
Mattias Jervill Character Rigger
Daniel Loeb Character Animator
Hilery Copeland Roto Artist
Rob Liscombe Roto Artist
Jonny Hicks Flame Compositor
Kevin Ellis Flame Assistant
Jackie Cooper Nuke Compositor
Rafael Colon Nuke Compositor
Som Shankar Tracking
Montu Jariwala Tracking
Editing by: SPOTWELDERS
David Glean Executive Producer
Dawne Mills Producer
Michael Heldman Editor