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Thursday, 28 June 2007 | Levent OZLER
Imaginary Forces Gets Sexy for Pontiac
 Pontaic Lights.mov ( 3MB ) - Viewed 260 times
Imaginary Forces explores the sexy side of Pontiac in three new spots from Miami ad agency Accentmarketing. "Inkblots" is a design-driven piece incorporating color and shape with the latest in Pontiac vehicles. "Lights" and "Escape" marry the sexiness of the cars with a futuristic, film-noir look that combines visual effects with live action.
The spots were directed by IF's Michelle Dougherty, with Sean Koriakin serving as director of CG. The campaign started running on Hispanic media outlets in the U.S. this month.
"Our idea was kind of bare-bones when we presented it to IF, hoping that they'd add their touch," says Accentmarketing producer Danny De Cespedes. "Michelle really has a fantastic eye for design and storytelling, and we affectionately call Sean the mad scientist. Together, they've brilliantly pushed our ideas into a living and evolving project."
Pontiac Escape.mov ( 3MB ) - Viewed 147 times
There are three separate "Inkblots" spots, each one highlighting a different Pontiac model-a red G6 sedan, a yellow G5 and a blue Torrent. Each color splashes across the screen in Rorschach shapes, with beautiful cars and beautiful women in the foreground. "This spot is driven by the design," says Dougherty. "It has some narrative, but the animators had more of an opportunity to play with the images."
IF producer Jamey Kitchens says the opportunity to create 3-D liquid gave the animation team a creative jolt. "We're using RealFlow 4.0 to create the ink," says Kitchens. "It's genuinely imaginative software to use, and the animators were very excited about the results."
"Lights" and "Escape," known together as "Sexy City," are a completely different design challenge, based on a strong narrative. All live action for the two spots was shot in 24P HD on the Panasonic Varicam, with footage later composited in Flame.
Pontiac Inkblots G5.mov ( 3MB ) - Viewed 149 times
"Lights" follows a main female character who finds herself drawn out of a bar into the streets, where she encounters a Pontiac as sexy as herself. In "Escape," a man and woman take part in a complicated race up and down a fire escape. The action in both spots takes place in a monochromatic, noir-like universe with spots of color, suggesting the stylized comic book art of Frank Miller. Creating this complex look took a massive team of production, post production, design and animation artists, as well as a giant set built on a soundstage in Mexico.
"The fire escape was 12 feet wide, five feet deep and 50 to 60 feet high," says Kitchens. "It was anchored to the floor and to the ceiling to minimize the vibration-that would have been a tracking nightmare!"
Pontiac Inkblots Torrent.mov ( 3MB ) - Viewed 107 times
Aside from the giant fire escape set, all other environmental elements were created by the IF team. Dougherty took hundreds of reference photos of buildings and textures in Mexico City to send to the design team in L.A., which began building the virtual city while she and the team in Mexico shot the live action. "The agency wanted to make a city as futuristic as they could, while also referencing Mexico City," says Dougherty. "We set out to create a painterly version of a futuristic Mexico City."
IF was also responsible for creating CG versions of many of the cars in both the "Sexy City" spots and "Inkblots." The agency provided IF with the models of the cars which IF then animated, textured and lit.
Pontiac Inkblots G6.mov ( 3MB ) - Viewed 150 times
Pontiac "Sexy City" ("Lights" and "Escape") and "Inkblots" Credits
Advertising Agency: Accentmarketing
Agency Creative Director: Juan Carlos Piedrahita
Agency Art Director: Carlos Menendez
Agency Producer: Danny De Cespedes
Designed & Produced by: Imaginary Forces (IF)
IF Director: Michelle Dougherty
IF Art Director: Michelle Dougherty
IF CG Director: Sean Koriakin
IF VFX Supervisor: Rod Basham
IF Producer: Jamey Kitchens
IF Designers: Michelle Dougherty, Sean Koriakin, Joan Lau, Miguel Lee, Rob Bolick
IF 3D Animators: Sean Koriakin, Ryan Bosworth, Hao Cui, Bradley Grosh, Nate Homan, Robin Roepstorff, Hai Ho, Ben Lopez
IF Editors: Danielle White, Justine Gerenstein
IF Inferno Artists: Rod Basham, Matt Spencer
IF Coordinator: Ila Taluban
Music Company: Elias Arts
Imaginary Forces
Imaginary Forces (IF) is an entertainment and design company based in Hollywood and New York. Its award-winning work spans the diverse industries of feature film production, entertainment marketing and promotion, corporate branding, architecture, advertising and interactive media. IF's recent work includes identity packages for USA Network, Animal Planet and MTV, as well as effective and compelling broadcast advertising for Nike, Toyota, Pontiac, Smirnoff and Lexus. In entertainment and media marketing, IF created campaigns for such films as Transformers, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Stepford Wives, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Signs and both Men in Black films. The company also designed and produced main title sequences for Number 23, Charlotte's Web, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, Ray, The Legend of Zorro, Band of Brothers, Spider-Man, Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat and Seven, and produced the highly successful Blade trilogy. Most recently, the company designed the media installations for the new HBO retail store in Manhattan, and created projections for the "Bubbles in the Wine" exhibit at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. For more information about Imaginary Forces' capabilities, contact Danixa Diaz, Director of Business Development, at 323-957-6868. The company is represented for TV commercial assignments by Roxanne Artesona on the East Coast and Robin Pickett in the Midwest.
Imaginary Forces: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/7434.html
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