Overview
Artex and CCOM have been partnering to create beautiful work for clients for years, so we were extra-thrilled by the opportunity to help them make a statement with another one of their clients. NUSCALE builds modular nuclear power plants that are easier to make, safer to operate and cleaner than ever, which is an important step to mass-adoption of nuclear power as a clean alternative to fossil fuels.
We wanted to make a statement piece, using cutting-edge CGI environments and clever practical shoot strategies to create an immersive journey from a dark vision of the future to one of hope and innovation.
Process
We knew that to capture the global scope of the client’s directive, we would be shooting in a studio and relying heavily on CG to bring everything to life. The agency’s vision for the spot called for seamless transitions, a one-shot feel, and traveling around the globe while witnessing the transformative effect of NUSCALE on energy.
This created several interesting (read: fun, but challenging, but still fun) parameters for the creative team. Because we were taking the approach of masking all transitions with VFX, each shot had to be perfectly pre-timed so that they all fit perfectly together and added up to :60. The sweeping and swooshing nature of the spot also presented a fun puzzle, as we were limited to a single studio space no larger than the length of our fully-extended Technocrane while needing to convey this epic scope and constant sense of motion. And with the emotional and anthemic undertones in the spot, we needed actors who could hit precise technical and timing marks while carrying the story at the same time.
Especially since the camera was constantly shifting perspectives as opposed to looking in the same direction, we needed a lot of practical set elements around the talent to create believable depth. The set extension VFX freed us from the need to create fully practical environments and allowed us to focus on areas that would have the most punch.
Naturally, the engine of this project was in post-production. Our VFX team relished the challenge of creating entire worlds from scratch, knowing that the quality of their work would completely make or break the spot. The result speaks for itself- it can be tough to tell what’s practical and what isn’t throughout.
This project is a stellar example of our post-production capabilities. Rather than forcing a client or agency producer to track down, vet, and manage 5 different post vendors, we provide high-end results with seamless creative direction and consistency of vision in all phases, and all under one roof.
At the end of the day, the client’s product is big news, for the future of energy production around the globe. We were proud to create something powerful and striking for such a positive force.
Results
This project produced a :60 spot, which was used to create :30 and :15 cutdowns for online and social media distribution. It was shot over two days in a blue-screen studio, and then blended with high quality CGI environments created in post-production.
Artex was responsible for the production and post-production of the spot.
We’re always excited to roll with CCOM and can’t wait for the next one!
