Chicago-based Filmworkers, which also has locations in Dallas and Nashville, has been fortunate enough to work on a number of high-profile campaigns over the course of the company’s 30-plus-year history. Some of these include campaigns for GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Ford, Firestone, Nintendo, State Farm, Allstate, Kool-Aid, Bayer, Mars Brands, SC Johnson, McDonald’s, Samsung, and Nike. Outside of the heavy VFX work the studio is known for, its Nashville office also works on music videos.
Among its successful branding campaigns is the studio’s continued visual effects work on the series of spots for Capital One featuring actor Samuel L. Jackson. The four-commercial set, conceived by DDB, Chicago, directed by Spike Lee, and produced by Pony Show Entertainment for Capital One’s Quicksilver card positioned Jackson in a number of stunning and highly creative digital environments.
Now in its third year in providing visual effects and post services for the popular campaign, Filmworkers was involved in this latest project from pre-production, preparing storyboards and concept drawings for the digital effects.
In one of the spots, titled “Chasm,” Jackson is featured walking across a giant cavern on a bridge made of levitating stepping-stones. For that production, Churchill designed a rig for Jackson to use on the set to simulate the effect of unsteady stones. Once in post, Churchill and Senior Art Director Daniel Pernikoff supervised the company’s team of visual effects artists and compositors in creating the monumental, photorealistic environment that surrounds Jackson. That included meticulously detailed 3D matte paintings showing layers of canyon and mountains receding to the horizon, as well as clouds, shadows, and other details that cement the illusion.
The spots were completed using a combination of Autodesk’s Maya and Flame, Side Effects’ Houdini, The Foundry’s Nuke, and Adobe’s After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator. “Whatever tool we need, we have them all,” says Churchill.