Rushes was called upon by AMVBBDO to illustrate the search for "Sheba," the ultimate luxury food for cats. Produced by Lindsay Hughes and directed by Graham Fink, MAZE is a fantasy quest through a beautiful world, with a cat leading its owner to its favorite food.
The :30 spot opens on a woman walking through what appears to be a formal, landscaped garden, complete with gravel paths, yew hedges and topiary, accompanied by her beautiful gray cat. It soon becomes clear that they are twisting and turning through a maze, which is punctuated with stunning pieces of sculpture. One is a giant hand with a finger extended, which clearly points the way. At the center of the maze, a silver salver sits atop a curved stone table and as the cat hops up the domed lid is opened by his mistress to reveal Shebas latest offering. He tucks in and, once replete, they curl up together on the aforementioned bench and settle down. The tag line reads Sheba Share the experience.
Rushes vfx artist (Flame), Emir Hasham, explained: A large model maze was constructed, together with full size maze sets for the characters to interact with. The full size live action was composited into the model shots together with real trees and sculptures, skies and sunbeam effects to complete the scene, creating a hyper-real, but believably lavish world.
Other Rushes credits include producer Angela Lucantoni and Hayden Jones (3D titles).
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.
