Marina del Rey, Calif. - Director Grady Hall of production company Motion Theory dramatizes a young woman's life story as an imaginative visual journey for Camparisoda, via ad agency Euro RSCG, in a :45 commercial.
"Welcome to Giulia" represents the launch spot of Campari's major 2011 marketing push for the iconic aperitif brand. The commercial opens as a bartender flips the cap off a Camparisoda bottle. The opening triggers the life story that Giulia shares with a handsome stranger, who so vividly imagines her tale that the pair is transported into her daydream world. A series of intricately linked adventures reveal Giulia's past as a ballerina, peace protester, and princess whose heart is broken by a knight in shining armor. Subsequent vignettes show her exploring the world by horseback, motorcycle and hot air balloon, before finally returning to the present day at the bar as she shares her story over a drink. Each vignette creatively segues into the next through various in-camera and visual effects, with each transition providing a key storytelling element as Giulia travels effortlessly through time and space in the scenes.
Euro RSCG wanted a visual representation of the brand concept "We are all worlds to explore" and the tagline "Nice to meet you". Hall, who specializes as a story and character-driven director with an ability to weave in highly filmic and conceptual visuals, worked closely with the agency to further develop and refine the life journey of Giulia.
"This huge, round-the-world visual adventure is really about the simple idea of getting beneath the surface - beyond the small talk--with both friends and strangers," says Hall. "I wanted to evoke that sense of a deeper personal connection, but also show how the imagination can run wild when interpreting someone's story."
Hall and his Motion Theory production team shot the commercial on location in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The highly technical shoot involved wire and stunt work of the lead actress, who had a background in dance and horseback riding, so was physically capable of carrying off the spot's various stunts. It was all captured as live-action footage with a RED One camera fastened to a Locomoco motion control rig. To achieve the Viewmaster-like effect as seen in the spot's final travel vignettes, Hall spearheaded the engineering of a custom crane arm weighted on a pendulum that allowed DP Martin Coppen to spin and shoot at the same time. The visual effects team back at Motion Theory sister company Mirada then contributed extensive CG, matte painting and compositing work to give the spot its final polish. CREDITS
Camparisoda "Welcome to Giulia"
AGENCY
Agency: Euro RSCG Milan
Executive Creative Director: Giovanni Porro
Creative Directors: Erick Loi, Dario Villa
TV Producer: Richard Ronan
Account Director: Giancarlo Pagani
Account Executive: Federica Papetti
PRODUCTION
Production Company: Motion Theory
Director: Grady Hall
Executive Producers: Javier Jimenez, Annie Johnson
Line Producer: John Marx
Director of Photography: Martin Coppen
POST PRODUCTION
Post Production/VFX Company: Mirada
Executive Creative Director: Grady Hall
Head of Visual Effects: John Fragomeni
Senior Art Director: Jonathan Wu
VFX Supervisor: Jonah Hall
VFX Producer: Scott Boyajan
Designers: Casey McIntyre, Heidi Berg, James Levy, Andrea Tseng
Designer/Animators: Phil Guthrie, Ben Hansford, Tom O'Neill, Scott Uyeshima
Previz: Slavik Anishchenko, Samir Lyons
Modelers: Colin Cromwell, Charles Stornolio
3D Generalists: Brian Broussard, Oded Raz
FX Lead: Kevin Gillen
FX Animators: Scott Pagano, Charles Stornolio
Comp Supervisor: Andrew Ashton
Compositors: Daniel Raschko, Brett Reyenger, Mark Robben
Matte Painters: Chris Duncan, Paul Fedor, Eric Mattson
Roto Artist: Elissa Bello, Zac Chowdhury, Megan Gaffney, Aya Peard, Edie Paul, Carlos Rosario, Jackie Shibles, Midori Witsken, Shih-lin Wu
Tracking: Juan Colon, Dylan Jutt, Apirak Kamjan, Jared Sanders
Flame Artists: Mark Renton, Brian Conlon
Production Manager/HR Director: Tina Van Delden
Production Coordinator: Michael Ross
Storyboard Artist: Yori Mochizuki
EDITORIAL
Editorial Company: Mirada
Editor: Fred Fouqet
Assistant Editors: Jeff Aquino, Rigo Madrigal