Tallgrass Pictures Delivers Spot for Hot Pockets

San Diego-based Tallgrass Pictures recently completed an ambitious 3D animation project in collaboration with Ferguson Presents for Nestle‘s Hot Pockets entitled, “You Got What I Eat.” The spot is a spoof starring Snoop Dogg and Kate Upton, capturing the epic battle of “Team Crust vs. Team Meat.”

The studio was called on to create 13 seconds of 3D animation that links two live action worlds. Tallgrass Pictures’ lead animator, Beau Runnels, created an 8-bit world complete with pepperoni nunchuck fights and flying bad guys.

By taking frames from the live-action footage and using them as a base for the animated characters, Runnels was able to make a seamless transition from the dueling celebrities to the animated world and back. When the animated character, Oliver, twirls his pepperoni nunchucks, the company’s animators made sure that the motion was identical to the live-action nunchucks. These smooth transitions give the viewer the feeling of floating along in a dream sequence.