BRIEF
TJ was asked to produce an international cross-platform campaign for global brand, Citrix Systems, Inc. promoting their server and desktop virtulisation technologies. The project was made up of 12 separate deliverables- six print and six animations and combined the use of both live-action scenes and photography with CGI content and VFX. Each deliverable also had to cover a multitude of formats, from print to varying sizes of animated web banners.

OUR ROLE
As a complete Creative Production Studio, we were able to plan a solution that not only pushed the ambitions of the project, both technically and creatively, but also streamline the process through our REALWorld Rendering™ workflow, maximizing efficiencies and stripping out any unnecessary costs. Handling the complete production on this project gave us control over the total budget, which allowed us to organise and allocate costs  for every aspect of production and not over invest in unnecessary crews or third parties. We were also able to keep the quality consistent giving us the flexibility to really push the creative and continually develop ideas with the agency that otherwise would have been restricted.

PRODUCTION/SOLUTION
As always, with larger productions, the key is in the planning. From the storyboards provided, we created 3D animatics to take on set, which were important visual references for the actor to mimic movements and match the timings. The Virtualization (puppet master) sequence required very precise actions, with fingers dropping and lifting in a specific order to prioritise how the CGI assets entered frame and to also fit within the format of multiple banner crops. The more complex shots were tackled on day one, so our team had opportunities to test the pipeline properly and reshoot any pick-up shots if needed. Throughout, we ran the print and live-action shoot simultaneously to maximize the crew and talents time more efficiently and again saving on unnecessary costs. Photographer and DOP worked closely together to build an identical and constant lighting setup, so that the same look and feel could be achieved between the print and the video. The order of the shoot alternated between live-action and photography. Once the director was happy with the actor’s movements on the live action, he could just walk over to the photographic shoot and recreate it, making the photographers job much easier and quicker. Whilst directing on set, we were able to constantly assess the balance between photography, CG and film and confidently troubleshoot any issues whilst gauging any potential impact later in the pipeline. Each shot needed its own ‘place holder’ props, so that the hand actor had something real to interact with to ensure the actions were convincing.  We didn’t need to invest in elaborate props or set-building. For ‘Virtualization’ we used miniature ropes used in model shipbuilding, with small weights suspended from them to control the movement. Each weight had tracking markers on them so we could accurately match the movement and swing later in CGI.  ‘Crush’ ran in a similar vein… it shows a hand crushing server cabinets and we needed a prop that offered the right level of resistance to the actors grip and act as reference for the creasing and buckling of the server cabinets.  We found that miniature boxes made from chroma-blue card with hard foam inside offered the best results.

RESULT
The agency and client were exceptionally pleased with all the final shots and the cross-platform campaign proved to be a big success, going on to win awards in the Internet Advertising competition for Best Technology in Online VideoInternet Advertising Competition, sponsored by the Web Marketing Association, USA. “The animation and still images created brought to life the sense of simplicity and power these ads were meant to convey.  Both the web and print media have produced great results for our client.  Working with the teams through postings, tight email communication and phone conversations proved to be no obstacle to creating great work in spite of the time zone differences.” Melinda Estey Vice President, Senior Art and Broadcast Producer, Young and Rubicam San Francisco.