I recently directed a short CG animation for Kellogg's Optivita. The advert used a re-edit of pre-existing live action footage of master chef Aldo Zilli. I was asked to direct a CG animation for the main point of the commercial. The message being that Kellogg's Optivita can help reduce cholesterol in your arteries. The advert shows Chef Zilli explaining how Kellogg's Optivita's oat bran can help to collect cholesterol in your arteries and carry it away.
Our animation demonstrates this by having multiple cholesterol particles floating in a gut artery. Then two larger particles of oat bran flow down the artery and collect some of the free-floating cholesterol.
The animation was deliberately made to look more animated than photo-real, this would help move away from the idea that this was a scientific and anatomically correct advert. Thus giving a little leeway for interpretation.
The hardest part of the task was to make the animation look and feel like it belonged in the sequence of live action footage. We began by taking our cues from the footage and then incorporated the lighting, grade and palette into our animation. We used soft pinks for the artery walls to stay on brand with the Optivita logo, and we also used a softer lighting that marries with the early morning light of the live action scene.
The fluid effects in the artery were created with particle effects and 3D software and the whole scene was expertly animated by Jonathan Wood.
The advert is scheduled to start airing today for the next 4 weeks.
.jpg)