Dieselfx provided design and vfx services to Foote, Cone & Belding Southern California and The Advertising Council for a new public service announcement about the dangers of wildfires. Sponsored by the USDA Forest Service and the National Assn. of State Foresters, the ad is part of the groups Firewise program meant to educate homeowners on how to protect their properties from fire.
Titled ASSAULT, the spot centers on a group of grotesque characters with flaming bodies who attempt to attack a home on the edge of a forest. However, the creatures are stymied by actions the homeowner has taken, such as creating a fire barrier around the home and using fire-retardant materials in its construction. The voiceover encourages viewers to take similar measures, asking, What have you got to loseexcept everything?
Exec producer Carl Seibert, who also supervised the production of the spot, encouraged Diesels involvement from pre-production forward to help develop the look. PSAs and visual effects can be a challenging combo economically, observed Seibert. It was important for us to define the look and process early so we could develop a shooting methodology with the director.
Having Diesel at the shoot was a big help, added Chip Fuller, FCBs group creative director. We didn't waste a lot of time shooting stuff that wouldnt work once we got to post.
Diesels creative director Elliott Jobe worked with agency creatives in developing a look for the wildfire characters. They were restricted from using practical fire elements in the production, so we had to develop a look for the characters that showed heat and flame but did not depend on using real fire, Jobe explained.
Instead, Jobe suggested a design where fire elements would be added in post-production. The characters, played by a trio of actors, were dressed in Lycra suits with red patches applied to areas meant to be aflame. In post, Diesels compositing team digitally replaced the patches with animated flame elements resembling bubbling lava.
Before the shoot, Jobe conducted tests using both flat artwork and a mock-up of the suits to demonstrate the finished look. The tests were helpful in gaining the agencys confidence in our approach because on the set, it simply looked like actors in costumes with patches on them, Jobe observed.
The pre-production work paid off in both a dynamic look and a smooth post process. Because the look of the characters was predetermined, we were able to complete it very quickly, Jobe said, noting that post work was completed in under a week.
In fact, Jobe said, the agency and client were so pleased with the look, they asked to see more of the characters. Jobe and his crew increased the number of Wildfire characters in several shots by pulling elements from alternate takes and adding them to the scene. Additionally, Diesel reconstructed the lawn around the property to give it a more uniform appearance by cloning bits of sod. We were able to give them a lot of production value for a relatively modest budget, Jobe said.
Creativity, attention to detail, forward thinking and incredible speed, that's how I characterize the team at Diesel, said Fuller.
The spot is part of a multifaceted campaign that also includes radio and print advertising encouraging the public to visit www.firewise.org for more information about how they can make their homes more defensible against wildfires.
Other Dieselfx credits include: Craig Price, inferno artist; Korey Cachon, producer.
Santa Monica, California-based Dieselfx (www.dieselfx.com) recently worked on THE BROTHERHOOD OF POLAND, NEW HAMPSHIRE TV spot.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
