Ad agency Team Detroit recently called on production company King and Country (K&C) to produce a 30-second commercial for the 2015 Ford Transit that combines a mixture of 3D animation, design and live-action.
K&C came up with a pod concept to illustrate how a diverse range of professionals can use the Transit models. Taking the viewer through a series of stylized environments, the action reveals a variety of visually driven, self-contained scenes of people interacting with their customized Transits.
“Combining live-action and CG allowed for the best coverage of the Transit, inside and out,” explained Efrain Montanez, K&C partner/director. “The key to transitioning from scene to scene was keeping the tempo of the pod movements dynamic, which we achieved with a range of zooms and perspective shifts, and evenly proportioned so you seamlessly experience the singular flexibility of the model.”
K&C took pains to detail every advantage of the Transit, from photo-real 3D renderings of custom interiors to the copy and graphics that echo tone of the Ford F-150 advertisements the company previously created in collaboration with Team Detroit.
“By varying the van colors and transforming the interiors in CG, as well as the graphic aesthetics, we were able to express the immense versatility of the Transit for the various occupations featured in the spot,” said Montanez.
The 2D graphics unfold on an orange, black and white palette. Franklin Gothic, a San Serif font, was used for its bold legibility. Together, these two elements were layered with the flexibility to stand alone or seamlessly integrate with the 3D world. The team also designed fictional business logos for the different vans.
K&C shot the spot over the course of two days at a soundstage in L.A., using both greenscreen and practical sets, including one where a cross-section of a “man cave” was flooded with 3,000 gallons of water. Interior and exterior van details, props and talent were captured in-camera with the flexibility to augment them in CG. Lighting was also crucial to affirming the realistic look of the vehicles within the varied environments. Rather than studio lighting, K&C used warm natural light, which pops from the graphic background.
