MATTA
GARETH BALE
Following on from the Golf is Good campaign we created with Matta, we were enlisted to create a spin off animation featuring the R&A’s global golf ambassador, Gareth Bale.
CHARACTERISING
With the style of the campaign locked in the main film, we gathered lots of reference of Bale and began realising him in the same style.
It took the artists a while to find the right balance between characterisation and realism, but eventually we were ready to go into sculpting.
STORY
A big part of the film was to showcase how golf can be relaxing as well as good for you.
After much development work, we opted to contrast the pressure scenario of a big game penalty against the serenity of a putt with friends on a green.
With a lot of action and story to fit into 30 seconds, along with having to show the similarities between a putt and a penalty, we used split screens, and quick cuts to help tell the story in a succint way.
PAINTINGS
As with the main film, we needed to create the world. The plan was always to create 2D painted backgrounds and integrate our Bale character into them. A challenge in this film was to sell the big game stadium atmosphere without the need for complex crowd simulation.
BALE
SCULPT
Following on from design, our artists used this along with lots of online references to help create a version of Bale in our angular world.
Getting Bale to look correct took several iterations. There were times where he existed in the ‘uncanny valley’ territory, however, we had a breakthrough in the sculpt when a few minor proportion changes, along with shifting his ears down a touch made him look just right.
With the face and body sculpted, we then moved on to create his outfits for the golf and footballing worlds.
CREDITS
Client - The R&A
Agency - Matta
Director - Dan Edgley
Producer - Charlie Batho, Anika Zinat
2D Character Design - Marta Calvo, Giada Carboni
Storyboards - Paul Cohen, Marta Calvo
Lead Environment Artist - Lorenzo Natale
Environment Artists - Matheus Ricardo, Nidhi Keluskar, Ola Kolendo
Character Model/Texture - Leo Rezende, Nur Diker Koksal, Carlos Villagomez
Prop Model/Texture - Matteo Ascente, Amina Muench
Rigging - Rig-IT.net
Pipeline TD - Mike Bond
Animation - Dagmara Ziemianska, Darija Geissendoerfer, Ines Pagniez, Manuel Gomez
Lighting/Comp - Gherardo Zurla, Callum Harwood, Mike Bond
Sound - Clearcut Sound