Coca-Cola “Spirit of the Euro”

In “Spirit of the Euro,” director Carlos Lascano and Bent Image Lab crafted a madcap romp through a cast of zany characters for Coke and agency Santo.

Carlos explains one of the challenges in producing the spot:

My proposal was technically very demanding, since it required the use of real eyes on 3D characters with massive head rotations and a wide range of expressions …

There is a saying that goes that eyes are windows to the soul. Well, by using real eyes I am not only animating these characters, I am also providing them with a soul. This technique that I have been developing for the last few years gives me the chance to work with actors and the intention of their gestures. There is a wide range of small ocular moves that cannot be achieved in animation.

Some technical details from Bent Image Lab:

Bent’s CG team, using 3D Studio Max, supplied tracking markers for the character eyes to the compositing department. The pre planning was extensive. Halfway through production, (after blocking the animation) the live action eyes were shot, selected and locked. Using this tracking data, Lascano applied the eyes of his choosing to each CG character using After Effects.

Thereafter, the animators worked with the eyes to add subtle facial expressions to achieve the performance that Lascano was after. Then, using both After Effects and Nuke, the compositors incorporated the eye comps and CG animation into the finished cinema 3D stereo production.

See more making of details here.


Agency: SANTO
Creative: Pablo Minces
Agency Producers: Nadia Lozano
Leandro Sussman

Production Company: Bent Image Lab

Director/Production Designer: Carlos Lascano

Executive Producer: Ray Di Carlo

Creative Partner: David Daniels

Producer: Marissa Weisman

Line Producer: Paula Lema
Louise Barlow
Kevin Sullivan

Sound Design/Mix: Lance Limbocker

Technical Director: Joshua Cox

CG Art Director: Javier Leon

Lead Animator: Eric Scheur

Animators: Austin Hillebrecht
Michael Wilson
Ryan Hayford
Jim Donovan
Anthony Soto

CG Artist: Shirak Agresta
Gina Burgess
Donielle Blanc

Modeling/Texturing: Isabel Garcia Jaen
Alvaro Gasco
Omar Sarmiento
Gina Burgess

Modeling: Arantxa Claudio
Libor Batěk
Martin Ličko
JosefKasal
Pavel Šiška
František Štěpánek
Dan Falta

CG Riggers: Gina Burgess
Joshua Cox
Patrick Dorris
Daryn Olson
Shirak Agresta
Donielle Blanc
Paul Hormis

Character Designers: Carlos Lascano
Colin Batty
Jesse McManus
Abbey Paccia

2D Artists: Abbey Paccia
Dave Manuel
Stephen Bodin
Sally Sherwood

Matte Painter: Nate Hallinan

Lead Compositor: Cameron Carson

Compositors: Evan Phillips
Chris Russo

Lead Editor: Shawn Wight

Editors: Liam Gillies
Brent Heise

Colorist: Jalal Jemison

Elements Director of Photography: Jim Birkett

VO Talent: Sam Mowry

Production Coordinators: Nathanael Horton
Jacqueline Fitzgerald
Eryn Murrie
Shirak Agresta

One Comment

blakeplandry

great character animation is always so nice to see in commercial work :)

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