NEW YORK CITY — Ntropic (ntropic.com), with offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, provided VFX and color services for Rising, a new short film for The Ad Council that serves as an extension of its "Love Has No Labels" campaign. Conceived by R/GA and produced by Great Guns and director David Nutter, the short takes place in the immediate aftermath of a massive storm. The piece challenges viewers to consider why it takes a disaster to bring so many Americans together? The storm serves a central role — acting as a common enemy for the neighborhood to unite against.
Over the course of 10 days, Ntropic enhanced the cinematic narrative by weaving seamless visial effects and color enhancements throughout. This included creating two fully-CG scenes and amplifying the rain storm itself, which was added via visual effects. The storm appears in 90 percent of the 10-minute film, resulting in more than 100 enhanced shots. To convey the strength and danger of the storm, Ntropic added a few storytelling details, such as fallen trees, houses, and flooding that were not able to be captured in-camera.
“Beautifully epic spots of this caliber don't come around often in the advertising world, so we were thrilled to support their incredible storytelling mission,” says Ntropic LA EP Juliet Tierney. “The timing and creative were equally ambitious, but we saw this as an opportunity rather than a challenge. Our approach allowed us to find the highest quality solutions in a short amount of time.”
Take a look a the VFX breakdown HERE.
VFX supervisor Simon Mowbray and colorist Nick Sanders worked closely with director David Nutter and DP Peter Menzies from the Ntropic Los Angeles studio, while R/GA creatives viewed the short’s progress on color-calibrated monitors from Ntropic’s New York outpost. Sanders was able to fine tune color down to the last minute, even as VFX were being finalized.
“The visual challenges of the Rising/Love Has No Labels project were monumental,” says Nutter. “Every moment demanded precise visualization in concert with the power of the message itself. Of chief concern was the reality of the presentation of the neighborhood's ‘before and after the storm’ dynamics, which were studied, planned and executed to perfection, in my opinion, from a VFX standpoint. Ntropic was our secret weapon.”
James Demetriou edited the project, which features music composed by Blake Neely. White House provided additional post production services.