CRASH+SUES brought summer to Minneapolis early this year, with a whimsical, fully animated spot for Bailey Nurseries that transports viewers through a beautiful garden created with a variety of hydrangeas that ensures blooms all summer long.
The spot, from Initio Advertising/Minneapolis, opens with a butterfly taking flight, and follows its path over a colorful field of hydrangea. It continues through a stylized composite global landscape - complete with landmarks, such as the canals of Venice, the Sydney Opera House and Mt. Fuji, as the voiceover asks, “Is your summer endless? Is it filled with lasting color and inspiration? You could travel the globe to find it, or discover it in your own backyard with the Endless Summer Collection of remarkable hydrangeas that bloom all summer long.”
The animated journey continues, revealing a lush backyard garden showcasing a pastel pallet of hydrangeas in bloom, framing a charming outdoor living space with a fountain, gazebo, bistro table and seating - that takes season-long advantage of the magnificent flowers.
“Unique plants, unique blooms, voila – unique garden,” says the voiceover as fireworks erupt in the night sky. The spot ends with the butterfly entering an open window where a woman, seen in silhouette holding a bouquet, transforms into the Bailey logo. “You don’t need crazy gardening superpowers or an endless amount of time,” concludes the voiceover. “All you need is Endless Summer – look for the blue pots at a garden center near you.”
CRASH+SUES animator Sean Hall and CG artist Matt Sattler collaborated with the agency creatives to develop the storyline’s visuals, which showcase three varieties of hydrangeas. The agency also wanted to incorporate several still photos of the plants and a live-action shot filmed in a Georgia garden while maintaining a seamless animated look.
“The commercial illustrates how to integrate a lot of styles and tools,” notes Hall. “Using Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects we were able to create a spot that was never meant to feel realistic yet includes real world elements.”
Matt Sattler tapped Maya to give more dimension to the hydrangea stills and crafted 3D flower petals and the butterflies, which emit pixie dust created with particle effects.
FX artist Adam Celt manned Autodesk’s Discreet Flame for the shot where the camera transitions from pushing into the global landscape and flashes to the garden where it pans down to the potted hydrangeas adapted from still product photos.
Online editor Mark Anderson cut different length versions of the spot which features original music post-scored by Hest & Kramer.
Now if it will only stop snowing in Minneapolis…
CRASH+SUES is an award winning post-production company specializing in the seamless integration of cg, visual FX, animation, motion graphics + design, color correction, creative editing, and finishing - as well as a fully equipped media department and all-inclusive client services. The company is committed to providing the ultimate creative environment featuring a team of premier talent assembled from a diverse complement of award-winning industry veterans to young, out-of-the-box creatives with vast amounts of energy and fresh, innovative perspectives. For further information contact Executive Producer Donna Drewick at 612.338.7947 or visit www.crash-sues.com http://www.crash-sues.com .
CREDITS:
CLIENT/PRODUCT: Bailey Nurseries
CATEGORY: (Spot, New Media, Film, etc) 1 x:30 spot for broadcast
TITLE: Endless Summer Garden
AD AGENCY: Initio Advertising/Minneapolis
DIRECTOR OF BROADCAST PRODUCTION: n/a
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Scott Sample
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Tamara Parrilli
ART DIRECTOR: Dustin Schiltz
COPYWRITER: Dave Schutz
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Cindee Daugs
PRODUCER: Wendy Johnson-Ness
POST PRODUCTION + FX: CRASH+SUES/Minneapolis
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Donna Drewick
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Amanda Burgland
ONLINE EDITOR: Mark Anderson
ANIMATOR: Sean Hall
CG ARTIST: Matt Sattler
FX ARTIST: Adam Celt
