Motion / American Express ‘Gold’

BRIEF
After a successful CGI Print campaign Digitas New York came back to us to create a TV advertisement using the same assets. They came to us with a script nearly complete but apart from that they were open to our creative interpretation and exploration of the product.

OUR ROLE
Our idea was to treat the Amex Card as a luxury item such as a car or watch, and explore it with the camera in just such an epic style, using slow light reveals and moody scenes to tease the card into shot before revealing it in its entirety. We had a very tight timescale so our big task was to get everything timed out a fast as possible so we could use all the time left available to hit our high production standards.

PRODUCTION/SOLUTION
With the creative’s happy with our ideas and time being tight we went away and created beautifully illustrated story-boards that set out exact framing and timing of the animation. We also illustrated the actual mood of the shots too so we could be sure from the outset that everyone was on board with what we were creating. This sort of quick visualisation is essential when time is tight. The main aim was to create a piece that neatly integrated both graphic and filmic elements, interweaving 2D and 3D seamlessly, and drawing upon science-fiction references to add an epic feel, as though the card is huge and is being explored in space. The card itself has a very detailed surface, with millions of reflective glittering particles catching the light. Our skilled 3D artists specialise is replicating this sort of minute detail, which many other companies ignore, adding so much life and realism to the final renders. We directed scenes that neatly integrated with the finished script, maintaining a strong narrative and exploring the card in subtle glimpses. The final spiral of cards was quite a tricky effect to perfect in the tight time, as there were a number of visual optical illusions to overcome.

RESULT
The final simple yet elegant TV spot was very well received and enjoyed huge exposure in America as they had a huge media buy. The ad was a big success and led to high take-up of the card so they re-ran it for several months and we had some great feedback. It was fun quick-turnaround project that showed how CGI can make great use of existing Print assets, and produce a result in a very short time. Since the success of this job we also worked with Digitas again on an American Express Delta print campaign where we collaborated with photographer Andy Glass to create holiday scenes containing oversize CGI credit cards.