Title | HAIL TO THE GAMECHANGERS |
Brand | DIAGEO |
Product / Service | JOHNNIE WALKER |
Category | A03. Art Direction |
Entrant | BBH CHINA Shanghai, CHINA |
Entrant Company | BBH CHINA Shanghai, CHINA |
Advertising Agency | BBH CHINA Shanghai, CHINA |
Production Company | FILMS SHANGHAI, CHINA |
Production Company 2 | THE MILL London, UNITED KINGDOM |
Name | Position |
---|---|
Johnny Tan | Executive Creative Director |
Leo Zhang | Creative Director |
Jay Qian/Leo Zhang | Copywriter |
Jeffrey Sun/Johnny Tan/Nicola Chung/Woody Pan | Art Director |
Krystie Koh | Agency Producer |
Finnian O Neill | Account Supervisor |
Merrilyn Lim | Producer |
Joseph Kahn | Director |
Terence Manuel | Editor |
Zh Communication | Sound Design/Arrangement |
The Mill | Post Production |
Carlos Fraiha | Animation |
Chow Lam | Lighting |
Brain And Melissa | Music |
Charles Wigley | Planner |
Joseph Kahn | Cinematographer |
Christopher Probst | Director Of Photography |
Attic | Editing Company |
3d Leads: Sam Driscoll/Francois Roisin/3d Modeller: Dan Moore/3d Rigging: Andreas Greichen | Other Credits |
The latest iteration of Johnnie Walker’s Keep Walking campaign sees the brand partnering with game changers who exemplify the Keep Walking spirit. In Greater China, the work heroes Bruce Lee. Chinese consumers only know Bruce the martial artist. This campaign introduces them to Bruce the philosopher for the first time. Bruce’s Chinese screen-name is Little Dragon. In the opening line “Dragons never die,” he is referring both to himself and the great figures of the past (the dragons) who have gained immortality in popular culture. The water metaphor ties back to his thinking on instincts - applied both to martial arts and life, encapsulated in his famous quotation, ‘Be Water My Friend.’ The film opens with Bruce reflecting on a projection of the original 1971 interview when he first spoke those words. He then expounds his philosophy and explains the inspirational attitude that led to his gamechanging success. Recreated using revolutionary filmmaking technology, he encourages us to have the courage to express who we are and urges a new generation to follow in his footsteps and start living their dreams. He finally issues viewers an inspirational challenge: “Because someday you’ll be more than a success. You’ll be a game changer.”
The entire film was hand-animated in Maya. Only the base head-track utilized a motion-capture technique. Even with the head tracks many shots required modification by hand to get right. Our model was a combination of blend shapes and a complex rig. We made new shapes almost daily as the need for different syllables, facial positions and model corrections arose. Each animation scene had frames of Bruce Lee as a reference and target: if we wanted the model to make a certain syllable on frame 27 we would find reference from Bruce Lee's films and interviews where he was voicing that same sound or making the desired expression. Our primary reference for performance was the Pierre Burton "Lost Interview" because it is Bruce Lee speaking naturally and in his own words. As animation progressed we added smaller and smaller details, things that should go unnoticed but were essential to bring the face alive. These included facial twitches, wavers in the eyelids and eye saccades. These were primarily hand animated, but certain involuntary motions were built into the rig and would trigger randomly. Our primary difficulty on this job was getting enough movement into the face and ensuring that moment was true to Bruce Lee.