ABOUT

Digital agency Vision Nine asked James to create a high-energy event video to be played at Burn’s end-of-season Formula One party in Sao Paulo, Brazil which was attended by F1 drivers, Lotus team members and VIPs alike.

The video required a transforming F1 car-robot character to take a kinetic journey from the F1® track to the burn Yard™ Sao Paulo end of season event, throughout locations in Sao Paulo, stopping off along the way showcasing memorable burn events and moments throughout the season for Lotus F1® Team and burn energy drink – culminating with him making a powerful entrance into the party venue.

Working with renowned graffiti artist M-City’s initial drawings, James designed and created the character which could be brought to life in both the event video and also created as a larger-than-life static sculpture in the middle of the Burn Yard dancefloor. To this end, it was important that the design of the robot was not too complex and represented the finished product – as it had to be manufactured and built in real-life from the available materials.

James decided a stylistic approach to the character was called for, with the focus more on making each shot look as good as possible, with a tight edit.

After the design of the character was settled, shots were planned to involve the journey of the character from the circuit to the venue following his transformation. James created an edit using footage filmed throughout Sao Paulo city, timed to a track by one of the resident DJs – and the base video was ready for the 3D character to be tracked and composited in.

In order for the character to move and free-run through the city, the character was rigged and set up to be used with motion capture. Following animation and feedback based on multiple animatic test, multiple render passes were created to give a large degree of control in the composite, with effects such as lens flares, dirt, dust and artifacts added in post production.