The studio partnered with sister companies Nice Shoes and Freestyle Collective to finish the :30 spot for broadcast and possible cinema release.
"Safari" opens with a beautiful sunrise and giraffe, zebra and elephant walking majestically across an African plain. As the camera cuts to a lion, viewers find that they have been watching the scene through a crystal clear Bausch & Lomb contact lens. The spot progresses with the lion leaping onto the hood of a parked SUV, whose startled occupants find themselves with a perfect view of the animal. The camera pulls out and the scene transition into night, but the lion is still perched on the vehicle and the occupants inside are stuck in their front row seats. A tag reads, "See your world in high definition."
Color correction was completed by Lenny Mastrandrea at Nice Shoes, while the effects work was done by Guava. The end graphic sequence was designed in part by Freestyle Collective.
"We knew going into the project that it was going to be a really beautiful spot," recalls Alex Catchpoole, Guava's visual effects supervisor. "The challenge was to get this huge amount of work done in a very short period of time, and to deliver it all in HD."
Guava's work included rotoscoping each animal and digitally combining them into one shot. They also digitally added to the height of a crane shot.
The Bausch & Lomb contact lens, which is used as a transitional device, was built as a 3D element. The lens incorporates true optics, such as refraction and reflection for more realism, while staying true to the client's interest in it being crystal clear.
"I guess we got it right," notes Catchpoole, "because by the end the client was asking for the lens on more shots - they loved the way it looked."