Director Sylvain White recently sought out Digit's Creative Director Elad Offer to help illustrate the idea of human connectedness for the respected humanitarian organization One World. White and Offer have collaborated on numerous projects -- from music videos to feature films -- and this time they turned their creative collaboration to the greater good.
"Veteran French producer Raymond Blumenthal, with whom I have worked on many films, approached me about the project," explains Director Sylvain White. "The idea of participating in this project simply seemed like a fun and meaningful challenge. I have been working with Elad for years. For this particular project, we simply talked about the ideas over the phone -- the tone, feel, and so on -- and I trusted him to run with it. What he brought to the project is apparent in the beautiful imagery he created."
White provided Offer with live action footage of different people and asked him to enhance the portraits in a manner that would both illustrate what makes them distinct and connects them at the very core of their being. Elad and a team of artists, including graphic artist Roi Werner, Flame artist Maya Kornwasser and CG Lead Yuji Yagasaki worked on the overarching design.
The heart became a natural transition image, carrying a dual meaning of compassion for others and the elemental oneness humanity biologically shares. Meanwhile, iconic visual styling highlights each person's unique cultural roots, offering both a metaphoric and literal background for every individual.
The team spent weeks developing the detailed multi-layered imagery including the CG heart, which began as a hyper-real organ and then, under Sylvain and Elad's direction, moved to the abstract final image. Elad then united the various elements and orchestrated the final spot. The tools utilized on the project were a combination of Photoshop, Illustrator, Shake, Combustion, Flame and Maya.
The film is part of a collection of 12, all by different European directors, evoking counter-racism ideas and destined for networks throughout Europe.
"This was an amazing project for many reasons," Offer said. "Sylvain gave me the creative freedom to explore any direction I wished. It was great to do something together and to contribute to the fight against intolerance."
