Press Release from Zoic Studios:
LOS ANGELES -- Zoic Studios, director Loni Peristere and Global Hue have completed two national spots for Jeep Wrangler that take on the elements and demonstrate that winter doesn’t stand a chance against the new 2012 Winter X Edition Jeep Wrangler.
The spot pits the 2012 Jeep Wrangler against an unrelenting avalanche in a death defying race to the bottom of the mountain. The cold serenity of the alpine landscape is fractured by the epic battle of a lone Jeep against the forces of nature; as the Wrangler negotiates the snowy terrain staying seconds ahead of the rolling mass of snow. Finally, the avalanche manages to catch the Jeep and for a brief moment consumes the vehicle. It is only a beat before the Jeep bursts from the snow wall – showing once again that Jeep is triumphant over the biggest challenge that winter can throw its way. Achieving the realism of the Jeep outpacing the pursuing avalanche required a combination of practical and visual effects created by Zoic Studios. The spot includes many impressive shots which feature both a photoreal CG avalanche as well as a fully realized CG vehicle.
“Avalanche”
“In creating the spot, we imagined a battle between behemoth and hero and needed to fully illustrate the power of nature, a stunning environment and the agility and ruggedness of the Jeep Winter X Edition,” said Peristere. “The Zoic Studios team created winter perfection, epic disaster and triumph on a cinematic scale, on time and on budget.”
Mauro Fiore served as Director of Photography for the commercial using both the Phantom and the Alexa cameras. Location and production services were overseen by EJ Foerster and Karen Rohrbacher of CMS Productions in the mountains of Utah. The spot was edited by senior in-house editor Dmitri Gueer. The compositing team was led by Steve Meyer for the Flame finish and by CG leads Dariush Derakhshani. Zoic has been knee-deep in winter work as of late finishing an extensive sequence with matte painting and snow effects for the recently release feature film “The Grey”.
Into Everyone’s Life a Little Snow Must Fall
Following in the success of the VES nominated spot “Any World” which featured the Modern Warfare 3 Special Edition Jeep Wrangler, the partnership between Zoic and Global Hue travelled - from the ancient streets of Budapest standing in for a war torn Paris – to the snow covered peaks of Utah. In this new campaign, Zoic Studios and Loni Peristere blended live action snow footage, seamless visual effects and Robert Frost’s poetry to generate a spot highlighting the Jeep’s renowned off-road capabilities in the spot entitled “A Little Snow”. The inclusion of Frost’s “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” fit the spot perfectly, and had a personal connection for Peristere. “My father used to take my brothers and I on walks through the woods and recite many of Frost’s poems while we trudged through the snow,” said Peristere. “While we were in Utah scouting locations, I thought of my dad every day and that poem; when we cut the spot, we worked Frost into the spot and it really adds to the majesty and wonder that off-roading brings.”
Steve Meyer led the visual effects team as Flame compositor and finisher aided by the 3D team supervision of Dariush Derakhshani. Alison Veneto-Grady cut the spot in-house for Zoic. The winning combination of DP Mauro Fiore, EJ Forrester and producer Karen Rohrbacher of CMS Productions again helped realize the production on location in Utah.
“A Little Snow”
About Zoic Studios:
Zoic Studios is a multiple Emmy and V.E.S. award winning visual effects (VFX) company headquartered in Culver City, CA that specializes in visual effects for feature films, episodic television, commercials, video games, advertising and design. Founded in 2002, the company has expanded to a full-scale global VFX powerhouse with studios in both Los Angeles and Vancouver, BC that is redefining the industry, efficiently delivering over 500 visual effects shots per week on time and within budget. Zoic has created effects for popular television shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, CSI, Fringe, V, True Blood and its Emmy-winning work on Firefly. Film credits include District 9, Zombieland, Get Smart, Spiderman 2, The Day After Tomorrow and many others. Zoic has also delivered ground-breaking visual effects in commercial spots for high profile brands including PlayStation, Craftsman, Gatorade, Jeep, ESPN and Walmart. www.zoicstudios.com [1].
Links:
[1] http://www.zoicstudios.com/