L.A.-based visual effects and design studio Brewster Parsons recently completed VFX for a new Lexus commercial. Created by Team One for Lexus, and helmed by the Sweet Shop’s Iain Mackenzie, the new spot entitled “Break the Circle” showcases the power of the Lexus GS sedan.
Brewster Parsons’ VFX supervisor/lead flame artist Andrew Eksner worked closely with the creatives from Team One and Mackenzie to give the spot a very specific look. “Subtle changes made a dramatic impact,” said Eksner. “My biggest challenge was to balance saturation, contrast and strong vignettes, to come up with something unique and great.”
Collaboration with the director and agency from the out-set was key, explained Eksner. “Iain had a very strong vision and we were able to apply it to every step of the process including the pre-vis.”
Pre-vis for this project served as the blueprint for everything that followed on set and in postproduction. This allowed the production to more easily plot the day on a very aggressive shoot schedule in the desert. “We only had so many hours of daylight and we used the pre-vis notes to leap-frog set-ups to keep things moving from lensing, to camera height and focal length,” said Eksner. “Iain’s team pulled the shoot off with military precision.”
Eksner explained that every shot in the spot involved several local adjustments in order to create the final result. “This was difficult because of the heavy contrast environment,” he said. “We were chasing the sun toward the latter part of the shoot. In some shots, the difference in exposure between different sections is very high, yet the combined result is convincing.”
