Shades of Love
Benjamin Moore
Framestore's artists used a mixture of real and CG paint for this stunning advert for Benjamin Moore by The Martin Agency. The work was directed by Framestore New York studio's Head of 3D, David Mellor, and creative directed by Head of Design, Maryanne Butler, who talk through the process below.
'When we first saw the script for this project we were pretty inspired by the concept and knew straight away that we wanted to capture as much real paint as possible', says Maryanne. 'Initial designs and art based on this approach gave us the confidence that much of the story could be brought to life this way.'
'It was incredible that only weeks before we had been admiring a showreel from The Marmalade, showcasing their liquid skills and super-camera SPIKE on Vimeo, and we made it our goal to get them on board! We assumed they'd think we were nuts, and there was a bit of that, but we were floored when they agreed we could go for it and bring a story told through paint to life... and after a weeks testing and three days of shooting the results were amazing.'
'We had a great journey through this project', adds Director David Mellor. 'The sheer number of minute variables: 1ml more paint, room temperature fluctuations, the texture of a cup lip, they all come together to essentially create chaos. We would be in search of a specific shape, but during that search we'd discover others you hadn't considered. Elements from one throw or pour would often be used in another vignette it wasn't initially intended for. A large part of seeing the shapes was to let your imagination run with it and embrace the beautiful chaos.'
'The next challenge for us was to apply what we had learnt on set to what we were creating in CG to fill the gaps', continues Maryanne. 'Real set rigs were recreated virtually and CG liquid was "thrown" so we could mimic what reality would give us. Of course we took some liberties, but these moments were kept to an absolute minimum so as to not destroy the initial concept. The result was really quite amazing, especially in Shades Of Love, which managed to be created with 80% real paint.'
'In all it proved to be a wonderful experience, especially with The Martin Agency and Benjamin Moore, who kept the faith and the vision intact with us the whole way through. It was a treat to have been given such an imaginative project and we hope to see more of them', said Maryanne of the work.
