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It's easy to get pretty blasé in regards to special effects nowadays. Let's face it, with the help of computers we've managed to be convinced that a vocab-limited tree and an angry raccoon can be life-partners, that a woman in high heels can outrun a speeding T-Rex and that there's an entire planet of blue aliens that talk to trees which the cast of Aliens want to destroy. We're drawn in by it, beguiled by it, but how many of us actually appreciate how much work goes into even the 'simplest' VFX. We took a look at MPC's latest masterwork 'The Storm' to get a grip on the artistry of creating serious weather out of ones and zeroes.

Conceived out of Arnold Worldwide and directed by RESET's Johnny Hardstaff (the aforementioned VFX provided by MPC NY), the bold new spot launching New Balance's 'Always in Beta' global brand campaign "embodies the brand's promise to relentlessly improve, evolve and push its limits." MPC's CG & 2D team created over 50 complex VFX shots within an incredible six weeks, reimagining a fully CG storm breaking over the Moroccan-shot mountainside and engulfing the protagonist in an intense plume of sports figures running, batting, smashing onwards towards even greater athletic accomplishments.

We were amazed by the film and its accompanying 'making of', so sat down with Vicky Osborn (VFX Supervisor 3D) and Rob Walker (VFX Supervisor 2D) to find out just how they weave their digital magic.


How early do you get to work on the project?

RW - We get involved with the project at a very early stage, usually when we receive the director's treatments. Often we will receive multiple treatments each with differing approaches to the project. We look at how we can aid the directors to realize their vision, we offer up creative and technical solutions, and plan for what resources we will need to make the project happen.



What gets given to you and what do you help create? Is there a VFX supervisor on location when the source footage is shot?

RW - The film was shot in three countries - USA, UK and Morocco - with Vicky and myself supervising the shoot. Due to the location and availability of the talent we had Green Screen studio shoots in Miami and London and the location plates were shot in Morocco. Additional cloud tank elements were also shot in Miami. We always have VFX supervisors on set, especially with a project of this magnitude. Our role on set can be quite varied, but in the case of New Balance and because so much of the work would come together in Post, we were very hands on in the shooting process.


In the making of vid we see a lot of green screen action. Do you guys set this up or is it mostly organized through the production company and you receive the footage?

RW & VO - The production company organizes all aspects of the shoot, but we provide advice on how best to shoot certain elements so we can use them to the greatest effect in the VFX process. We had input to the size of the stage and platform the athletes were performing on. We needed the surface to somewhat match in all three locations, there were some practical rocks on both studio shoots and we gathered references in Morocco in order to create the CG rocks in Maya. The green screens allowed us to composite the athletes, the locations and the storm, and have flexibility in the editing stage of how this comes together. We were working with up to nineteen video layers of live action per shot.



It seems like there are a lot of plates/filters applied throughout the process. Do you guys start out with a final vision and set out to achieve that or is there experimentation during the process? Did the color palette, for example, develop through the post period?

RW - The starting point for the interior of the storm came from the cloud tank element shoot and provided most of the dramatic backgrounds. We then combined this with a CG simulated storm. There was a lot of exploration in developing the storm, Johnny's [Director] boards had some interesting sketches where you could feel the storm chasing the athletes and partly swallowing them in it, this is something we found interesting and wanted to develop. The color palette also evolved throughout the process, becoming richer as the storm intensifies. We designed an animatic visualizing how color and lighting would play out through the film, this proved to be very helpful in making the shots work coherently in sequence.



Can you talk us through the different elements in place for a typical shot in the spot? What might people not notice?

VO - Live action athletes we keyed and rotoscoped and then individually arranged for each shot. These were then comped over carefully selected cloud tank elements to create the backgrounds and set the tone for each shot. In the mean time we replicated the live action cameras in 3D so that we could create the multiple layers of CG storm, debris, rocks, balls and digital double athletes needed to fill out each shot. All these elements were composited together in Nuke and Flame to create the final look of the spot and add the color that progressed across the whole spot.



How long were you working on the job? What's the most time-consuming stage of the process?

RW & VO - We worked on the main film for just over six weeks and had all departments working simultaneously. Given the huge number of athletes involved the process of keying and roto was very time consuming, although a lot of time also went into the CG and comp as so much of the final image was generated in post. In addition there was a high shot count to complete, and with the evolution of the aesthetic of the storm, many shots were worked on for the full duration of the VFX schedule.