When their client AstraZeneca wanted to launch a campaign with the goal of educating families and altering unhealthy eating habits, Digitas’ team, led by Group Creative Director Mark Musto, developed an integrated approach to deliver this useful information via “fish tips” from a pair of Striped Sea Bass named Sal and Marty. This messaging was conveyed via microsite, targeted outreach via Pinterest and Twitter, and a series of videos starring the cheeky pair of fish. To craft the video content needed to populate the client’s entertaining and informative microsite, TakeItFromAFish.com, Digitas sought out Nice Shoes Creative Studio Director Harry Dorrington, who lead the team on production through delivery of 13 pieces.
The campaign was a huge success, winning a Grand Prix in the pharma category at the 2015 Cannes Health Lions. For a case study on the campaign’s success, click HERE.
To bring Sal and Marty to life, the Nice Shoes Creative Studio production team built a set decorated to replicate the seafood section of a grocery store and rigged real fish so that they could be puppeteered to capture line delivery and movement. The practical solution ensured that Sal and Marty created a foundation on which the the 3D animators would build for realistic movement and personality.
The goal of the web campaign was to educate families and alter unhealthy eating habits, delivering useful information via “fish tips,” delivered by a pair of cheeky Striped Sea Bass named Sal and Marty. To bring Sal and Marty to life, the Nice Shoes Creative Studio production team built a set decorated to replicate the seafood section of a grocery store and rigged real fish so that they could be puppeteered to capture line delivery and movement. The practical solution ensured that Sal and Marty created a foundation on which the the 3D animators would build for realistic movement and personality.
The on-set team also shot photo references of the two striped Sea Bass from every possible angle to aid the animation process. This allowed the animators to build a realistic 3D models and apply textures from the shoot. “By getting all this material during the live shoot, we were able to capture great movement on the mouths, as well as all of the beautiful highlights and natural reflections,” said Dorrington. It also enabled Nice Shoes to produce seven minutes of animated footage within the tight production schedule. Finally, they animated the fish heads to match up with the voiceovers for Sal and Marty, blending the live action and CG for realistic-looking fish…who just happen to have a penchant for triglyceride banter.
Credits:
Agency: Digitas
V.P. Group Creative Director, Copywriter: Mark Musto
A.C.D., Copywriter: Todd Feitlin
A.C.D., Art Director: Marcelo Ramirez
Copywriter: Bharat Kumar
Executive Producer: Stuart Raffel
Creative Strategists: Carla Wilke and Brian Sherwell
Group Account Directors: Krista Bowman and Sarine Marangosian
Production Company: Nice Shoes
Director:Harry Dorrington
DP: John Hunter
Producer: Nancy Giandomenico
Line Producer: Terrie McGinnis
Post Production and VFX: Nice Shoes
Editor: Cameron Kelly
Supervisor: Ivan Pribicevic
Lead Artist: Ivan Arsic
Compositing Artist: Aleksander Djordjevic
Colorist: Gene Curley
Audio Post: Sound Lounge
Source: Nice Shoes