Diving into the journey of the in-house production team: Famous House of Artists, a division of Famous Studios, creating a dynamic CGI TVC with PUMA designed with the objective to compete with renowned brands like Nike. Attributing its success to efficient collaboration, meticulous pre visualization and effective budget management, the client brief posed to be the production team’s greatest opportunity and challenge at the same time, given complete creative freedom to outdo themselves. The brief was both simple and highly technical, requiring the product to be promoted as an all-weather option to the audience covering all of the shoe’s features.

Jayant Hadke, Creative Director of Famous Studios along with his team created this piece of art by leveraging new technology such as photogrammetry, Unreal Engine, Cinema 4D, Blender and this proactive approach and early concept lock in ensured a smooth production process, allowing them to not only meet but exceed the client’s expectations, leaving a lasting impact on the audience during its broadcast alongside the Indian Premier League, India’s largest sporting league.

PUMA did not just provide a platform for the team to creatively explore and push boundaries but their trust and zest to create an output that rivals international studios was an integral element to this brilliant commercial. This paper further discusses the methodology and strategies adopted that led to the successful delivery of the client’s vision and marketing objectives.

Brief from Client

The brief provided by the client was technical in nature and focused on key features of the product to be showcased in the TVC, requiring technical data to be synergised with an engaging shot to transform vision to reality.

Pre Visualization Process

The team decoded the client’s brief for pre-visualization through research and references of existing work used in similar commercials in the industry to get a head start on the look, shots, lighting, styling and movement under the mentorship and leadership of Jayant Hadke. Drawing inspiration from these references began the storyboarding of multiple ideas to find the right feel for the film before presenting it to the client.

Scope of the Work and Departments Involved:

The scope of the work involved creating a CGI TVC that was fast paced and dynamic intended to captivate the audience and compete with other well-known brands like Nike. Several departments enabled the team to conquer challenges in the production process. It started with initial discussions and coordination with the Creative Director and Producer. The direction team played a crucial role in ideating the film through extensive referencing. The post-production team consisted of modellers (to create the 3D shoe), CGI lighting experts, animation specialists, compositing team, music director and editors. The collaboration of these departments was compared to musicians in an orchestra, with the director leading the way

Highlights and Challenges:

The major highlight of the project was the team's ability to achieve the desired outcome in the early stages of animation with minimal feedback from the client. Clearly the research and reference driven approach assisted the planning and direction for this TVC. The final film was well-received and the client's feedback was positive, leading to a smooth approval process. However, the project also faced some challenges. For a TVC expected to be ready for broadcast during the IPL, the client approached the team significantly late resulting in a tight timeline. Impressively enough a detailed CGI commercial was created from scratch in just 3-4 weeks. Delayed feedback and communication from the client's side posed to be yet another challenge. A period of 8-10 unresponsive days from the client’s end followed by urgent changes required the team to deliver in a high-pressure environment. Furthermore, the client requested an additional 10-second edit to be shown during the IPL semi-finals and finals. This last-minute request called for the addition of new shots not present in the main edit, further testing their capabilities.

Client Version and Feedback:

During the ideation and storyboarding phase, multiple ideas were considered and discussed with the client. However, only one version of the TVC was presented to them, which from the beginning was well-liked and aligned with the overall vision. The team managed to minimize changes by locking in on the creative concept early on. This proactive approach helped in avoiding significant alterations during the production process. Consequently, the changes requested by the client were minimal, and the final film stayed true to the original vision.

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