Dallas/Santa Monica-based digital studio Reel FX  reveals details of its work on a VFX-laden new :30, “Imagine,” for the Florida Lottery out of St. John & Partners, Jacksonville, FL.  The spot features a daydreaming man on a balmy beach accompanied by dollar-bodied butterflies, cloud-shaped images of wealth, and graceful, low-flying flamingos.

Director Kevin Althans and Executive Producer Steve Johnson collaborated closely with agency Executive Creative Director David Bonner and Producer Lauren Irving to tackle this visually-striking spot on a compressed timeline. Once concepts and initial assets were agreed upon, the Reel FX animation team immediately went to work on previs. They quickly moved into modeling, rigging and animation on the extensive CG elements which included the clouds, sky, oranges, flamingos and foliage. The team used Maya for these assets, then completed CG composites in Nuke and executed color and online in Inferno. Meanwhile, Althans and Johnson chose to take a weather gamble and utilize a stunning, secluded section of Key Biscayne beach for the live shoot, rather than going with the “safer” studio option. Althans notes, “We lucked out with absolutely stellar skies and sunrise on a beach in Miami. The heavens opened up and it poured rain 45 minutes after we wrapped.” The footage, captured on a Red Epic, was transcoded on set. Althans worked with Reel FX Executive Creative Director Dale Carman and the agency to deliver the final cut by 7pm that night.

Johnson recalls, “We all loved the concept from the beginning, but I think we were all asking ourselves, can we really do such a CG-heavy spot, in a matter of weeks, with the holidays approaching? Luckily, we had an agency and a client that were up for the challenge and a team of creatives that were dedicated to making this happen. The result is a beautiful spot we’re really excited about.”

About Reel FX

Reel FX is a fully integrated movie studio that develops and produces both animated films and live action movies. The company’s development slate includes Day of the Dead, Turkeys, and Beasts of Burden.

Reel FX launched its feature length development and production slate in 2010 after almost 20 years of experience as an award-winning one-stop studio for the creation of animated content including films, special attraction/live venue projects, commercials, and interactive projects for companies like DreamWorks Animation (Rise of the Guardians), Fox, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios.

Since starting the development and production of feature films, Reel FX has aligned itself with some of the most recognized and respected names and brands in the entertainment industry for its projects including Cirque Du Soleil: World’s Away (Cirque Du Soleil, James Cameron, Andrew Adamson, Aron Warner), Day of the Dead (Guillermo Del Toro, Jorge R. Gutierrez), Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse Comics, Andrew Adamson, Aron Warner) and Turkeys (Jimmy Hayward, Craig Mazin). 

Credits:

Title: “Imagine” :30

Agency: St. John & Partners, Jacksonville, FL

Creative Director: David Bonner

Producer: Lauren Irving

Art Director: Ben Wallis

Live-Action, VFX & Animation: Reel FX

Director: Kevin Althans

Executive Producer – Live Action: Steve Johnson

Executive Producer: Gary Banks

Producer: Kurt Kirchner

General Manager: Keith McCabe

Executive Creative Director: Dale Carman

CG Supervisor: Ludo Michaud

Editor: Dale Carman

Creative Directors: Kevin Althans, Barrett Lewis

Lead Compositor: Marc Rienzo

Designers: Bill Nuske, William Wallace

Motion Designers: Jackson Armstrong, Kyle Craig

Art Department: Crystal Leal, Paton Tunstall

Layout Artists: Branndon Fricks, Crystal Leal

Rigger: Raf Anzovin

Animation Supervisor: Jason Taylor

Animation Leads: Hunter Athey, Todd Wilbur

Animators: Shaun Freeman, Todd Wilbur

Lighting Artists: Branndon Fricks, Crystal Leal

VFX Artists: Jason Cunningham, Laychin Lee, Jared Brower

Audio Artists: T.J. Callaway

Production Manager: Sherry Wallace

Production Coordinators: John O’Brien, Susan Nguyen, Rachel Bradley