CUPBOARDS, a commercial honoring 75 years of PG Tips tea in the U.K., was created by Aardman Animations through DDB London and included a series of vignettes through the last three quarters of a century. Animators included Richard Webber, Kim Keukeliere and Martin Davies. Post-production was done at Rushes under the production of Joe West. Rushes had to make sure that in each vignette the room was comped and graded to give it the unique feel of sepia tone, heavy grain and scratches or black-and-white.
Actually, five different decades were chosen to be represented, reflecting events during great tea-drinking eras: the 1930s and the abdication of the King; VE Day in the 1940s; the massive popularity of the Beatles in the 1960s; the introduction of mass tourism in the 1970s; leading up to the present day and the nations obsession with gaining a tennis champion.
Darren Robbie, Aardman director, explained, One of the main concepts was that this cupboard should be in the same position in the same house throughout the 75 years, so we could see the changes around it over the years. So using a fixed camera position throughout, each time the cupboard door was opened we could see the kitchen outside changing styles and fashions with the times. Also, the characters were given the right hairstyles and clothing for each decade. The PG packs reflected the correct period represented. To really accentuate and emphasize the differences between each separate vignette, we thought it would be great to use contrasting film styles. So, we go from the 1930s shot in scratchy, grainy black-and-white with a dose of sepia, through various film changes to the 1970s, which has a very bright heavily saturated feel, and the present day shot back to how we would expect it to look like now.
John Woolley, sr. producer at Aardman, added, The important thing was not necessarily how historically accurate this was, but to show a definite change and progression as the commercial was viewed, a sense that we were moving through the last 75 years and that despite all the changes, PG Tips has remained a constant favorite.
London-based Rushes' (www.rushes.co.uk) visual effects department specializes in the production of digital imagery for commercials, music promos and all media contact.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
