iXL Digital Video Group provided visual effects for Tide's new "Angel" commercial. In the spot, a woman in a white ski suit makes snow angels, however she reaches the ground below getting dirt all over her clothes. The dirt in the live-action footage was not prominent enough, so senior visual effects artist Doug Dimon was assigned to "bring out the dirt," in addition to multiplying the angel mark five times for the final scene. "While the finished spot appears natural, we did a lot digitally to enhance the dirt," said Dimon, who sampled dirt from several plates in flame*. "I smudged the dirt to create just the right look, which required about eight layers of imagery, and then placed it strategically around the talent." To create the final multiple angel scene, Dimon began with a single image of the woman and duplicated her five times. "When we shrunk the angels and reduced them on-screen there were lighting issues, which required color correcting and some patching, to match the elements," said Dimon. "Then we created footsteps between each angel, which was especially challenging because they had to look real and did not exist in the live footage. And finally, to avoid a cookie-cutter look, we layered and smudged the dirt to give each angel a sense of individuality, In total, considering the dirt, the five angels and the footsteps, 'Angels' required 20 composited layers in flame*."
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
