A red-headed girl dressed in rain boots and a raincoat excitedly runs out of her house after a rain storm. She looks into a puddle and sees a tide pool with a school of fish. In another puddle ahead of her, a penguin pops out, or so she imagines. Her trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium had followed her home.

And so it goes in the stunning commercial beautifully shot with live action and effects by digital production studio elementFX for BuderEngel Advertising and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, USA. This flight of fancy is also the live action co-directing debut of elementFX 's Marjolaine Tremblay after 15 years of vfx expertise.

"This was such an amazing project, I just wanted to get the ahhh factor in and to show the simplicity and playfulness of children and their imaginations," Tremblay said.

Element went for a gorgeous luscious realistic look and were happy to achieve this by using the Sony FP 23 HD digital camera.

Additional efforts by the Monterey Bay Aquarium are events with The Oakland A's, Sacramento River Cats, Radio Disney and other large Bay Area events. In addition, CBS Sacramento will be hosting a contest where finalists are given a Flip Video Camera and tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to tape their experiences at the Aquarium. The Grand Prize winner will be announced on Good Day Sacramento and will receive the Ultimate Aquarium Experience (one week for four to the Monterey Bay Aquarium including accommodation, $100 in gas, VIP tour of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and dinner).

With the opening of the expanded and renovated Splash Zone galleries, the Aquarium has created new, even more engaging interactive exhibits designed to promote family learning. These new exhibits will help Aquarium visitors engage with compelling ocean creatures and habitats, develop a connection to nature, and plant the seeds for environmental stewardship in the future.

The original Splash Zone galleries were designed to encourage families to learn about the ocean together, drawing in part on a comprehensive study on family learning in science museums and other informal learning centers.

Credits:

Client: The Monterey Bay Aquarium
Director of Marketing: Mimi Hahn

Agency: BuderEngel - San Francisco.
Creative Director/Owner: Vince Engel
Director of Integrated Production: Dennis Minor
Copywriter: Nino Dedenroth
Art Director: Ming Yu
Account Executive: Amanda Brock

Production Company: elementFX
Co-Directors: Marjolaine Tremblay and Jim Barton
Visual Effects Supervisor: Alex Either
Producer: Suzanne Atherly
CG Artists: Gab Gerrano and Todd Gill
PA: Heather Yarbrough
Editor: David Tanaka
DP: Svetlana Cvetko
Penguins DP: Eli Adler
Composer: Tom Disher -- Disher Music and Sound