LOS ANGELES — Method Studios (www.methodstudios.com) recently completed work on a theatrical spot for Samsung that ties into the release of the new Marvel Avengers: Age of Ultron film. The :60 cinema spot shows the similarities between the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge phones and the Avengers’ familiar weapons. Like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and The Hulk, the new Galaxy models are shiny, metallic, sophisticated and even green!
The spot is fully CG (aside from some live action footage shown on the phone screens), and was delivered in 4K. 72andSunny conceived the Beauty and Might spot, which was also cut in a :30 version.
Method received weapon assets from Marvel and CAD models of the phones from Samsung. The phone models needed to be re-worked for Method’s VFX pipeline and to achieve enough detailed to withstand the spot’s extreme close ups.
The Method team – led by VFX supervisor Olivier Dumont, compositing supervisor Patrick Ferguson, and CG supervisor Erik Gamache – animated several iterations of both weapons and phones in order to find the right angles and movements for smooth transitions.
Method spent four weeks on the project focusing heavily on lighting and textures. The studio used Maya for modeling, Mari for textures, Nuke for compositing, V-Ray for rendering, and Flame for finishing. Method also added some atmospheric elements to give the weapons and phones more depth against the black background.
In addition to the 4K master, Method delivered the final spot in a wide variety of codecs and formats for audiences worldwide. Alain Gourrier served as editor on the project.