Oktobor creates 3D commercials for Tiger Beer

Compiled by Christine Wong, 1 May 2009

The Skinny
Visual effects and animation studio Oktobor completed three full 3D commercials for Tiger Beer. The success of the ads also came down to an excellent relationship with both agency and client.
According to producer Amanda Chambers, "Creatively the ads were complex but the production was very easy. We presented each stage to both Saatchi and Saatchi Worldwide Sdn Bhd and Asia Pacific Breweries as a grey render or animatic and explained the process as it evolved. The communication was constant and the results speak for themselves."

Oktobor general manager Patrick McAteer said, "We are absolutely delighted with the London, New York and Paris ads for Tiger Beer. Damon, Amanda and the entire team at Oktobor have created some of the most unique and highly creative TVCs we have ever been involved in. They are a real credit to the talent that's worked on them. Both Saatchi and Saatchi Worldwide Sdn Bhd and Asia Pacific Breweries were excellent to work with and the entire 3-month process was completely hassle-free."

The Production
The series of 3 'Winning Over' advertisements presented the VFX house with a number of challenges that took every ounce of their collective expertise to overcome.
Oktobor's head of 3D and director of the Tiger Beer commercials, Damon Duncan explained, "We received the story boards and pitched for the project late last year. Soon after we were told we had been awarded the project, I flew to Malaysia and presented our ideas at the animatic stage to the team at Saatchi and Saatchi Worldwide Sdn Bhd who are responsible for the Asia Pacific Breweries (Tiger Beer) account. The meeting went exceptionally well and from that point it was all systems go and all hands to the pump."
Duncan and his creative team alongside Oktobor executive producer Amanda Chambers went through an extensive process with storyboard artist Stephen Ellis to finalise an idea that 'built cities from the ground up'.
Duncan continued, "The intention is that from a single drop of beer we would capture small moments of the three cities growing and build them into a bottle shape. The real challenge was to give a sense of scale in such a short amount of time."
The Post
For the London commercial Duncan rebuilt part of the historic city complete with its iconic Big Ben bell tower. "For London we decided to keep things simple. The bricks that built the city all had a uniform shape and the same style as they entered each shot. This really helped as there were often between 10-20,000 bricks being animated in a scene at any one time.
For the Big Apple, Duncan and his team built the city out of crystals. "Whilst visually stunning, there was a very heavy rendering time." He explained. "We tested various forms of lighting in order to give a true crystal look as opposed to one that resembled ice."
The final ad in the trilogy was Paris, which Duncan and his team built out of the kind of wire fencing often seen adorning typical classic Parisian architecture. "This was a tricky thing to do." He said, "We had to figure out many different ways of making the wire 'grow' to give a sense of purpose and intent. There was a real focus on composition with lots of depth of field and focus pulling in this commercial to avoid the environment looking empty."

All three ads were completed in 3DS Max and rendered in Brazil. For the audio, Oktobor partnered with Auckland based Liquid Studios.
Credits
Agency:
Saatchi and Saatchi Worldwide Sdn Bhd
Executive Creative Director: Adrian Miller
Head of Design: Gigi Lee
Senior Designer: Nazly Kasim
Creative Group Head: Primus Nair
Producer: Shirren Lim/Kay Ahmad
Group Account Director: Kelvin Ee
Regional Account Manager: Annie Boo
Brand Executive: Shirana Tahale

Client: Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd
Director of Group Commercial:
Edmond Neo
Assistant General Manager: Tan Jwee Peng
Senior Brand Manager: Patsy Lim

Oktobor:
Director: Damon Duncan
Producer: Amanda Chambers
Technical Director: Rhys Dippie
Animator: Craig Speakman
Flame: Laksman Anandanayagam
Music: Liquid Studio