Good Skin, Good Life!
Popular Malaysian singer Amy Mastura was chosen as ambassador for the Safi Rania range of skincare products to refl ect the branding attributes – feminine, regal and modern. Based on several key objectives laid down by the client, Unza (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, the creative team at DraftFCB Malaysia (formerly known as Interface Advertising Sdn Bhd) came up with a symbiotic concept that seamlessly blends the USPs of the product with the songstress’ personality.

Targeted at Malay women in their 30s and above, the TVC begins by introducing Mastura as the ambassador in written words, against an out-offocus montage. A jazzy piano tune plays dreamily in the background, to a humming voice that presumably belongs to Mastura herself. The softly shifting images that follow present the radiant looking singer gazing at her own refl ection in the mirror, in front of which she sits demurely garbed in a satin bedroom gown. She smiles sweetly, only to reveal subsequently that she is looking at photographs of her loved ones. Then a bouquet arrives for her, and she reads with a knowing smile; the accompanying note from one of her ardent fans. In the closing frames, the singer steps into the spotlight; her willowy svelte fi gure wrapped in a shimmering white long gown. The framestore Look Southeast! TV commercials made in Southeast Asian countries are giving their international counterparts a run for their money – in fact, providing the same creative outputs on much leaner budgets. Asia Image showcases two examples from Malaysia and one from Singapore. applause grows as the fi nal montage shows a fl attering close up of one of Malaysia’s most beloved contemporary artistes, with superimposed images of the product range to the right of her screen.

Titled Lifestyle, the ad pushed the concept of the ‘Rania’ woman as being surrounded by all the things that she loves in the world: husband, family, career and beauty. Costing RM220,000.00 (USD 63,000) to make, the ad is produced by Carrot Films Malaysia and posted in VHQ Post Malaysia.

The TVC was shot on location at the presidential suite and banquet hall of the exclusive boutique hotel, Carcosa Seri Negara. The permission to shoot on the premises came with a litany of restrictions; including minimal noise allowed while fi lming, the crew’s need to be decently attired, no food and drinks allowed on the set, among other stringent rules and regulations. Complicating matters was the fact that the room chosen for the ad was the very room the Queen Elizabeth had been put up during her stay in Malaysia. This also meant that nothing in the room was allowed to be moved around which made the actual shooting area a lot smaller than it really was. Working within the limited space, the team at Carrot Films had to depend mostly on available light from the wall lamps, chandeliers and standing lights. A major diffi culty involved having to create cosmetic lighting when shooting the artiste. In the end, a dismantled kinofl o provided the desired illumination required around the mirror and off camera.

Using the Arri 435, DOP Eric Yeong shot on 35 mm from Kodak 5217 200T. Yeong analyses: “The choice of this format with this particular stock was chosen because it gives a very soft look and lots of latitude to play around during telecine. The latitude of shots exposed with wide aperture on lenses help to enhance the soft look.”

Throughout the ad, the main story of Mastura preparing herself backstage and fi nally appearing onstage is interspersed with soft focus, black-andwhite images of the songstress both to evoke a sense of nostalgia and to add a touch of class and sophistication, a la Audrey Hepburn. Director Virginia Kennedy enthuses:

“I like the old black and white shots. I wish there were more because (Amy Mastura) looked so beautiful and she performed magically...evoking the style and feel of a dramatic diva from the 50s... She looked and performed fabulously and the camera loved her!

Revealing that the location of the black-and-white 50s-style shots was chosen on the day of the shoot itself, Kennedy says the look and feel that she was gunning for was “the look of glamour in the traditional sense”.

Crediting her DOP for the stunning imageries, Kennedy couldn’t have wished for a more befi tting TVC that captures the nostalgic glamour of the 50s. She attests: “The look was totally achieved in camera. Post production was only used to clean up her skin. The look was achieved by the brilliant D.O.P Eric. I showed him my references and he showed me his and then it happened.”

Taking about two weeks, the post work was completed at VHQ Post. The footages were off-lined on the Avid Express Pro by Ng Kok Keat and Sharon Chan used the Flame Version 8.3.1. for online work. 3D animator Yahya Khalid worked on Maya while Kevin Jude Quek assumed the grading responsibilities.

Even better than the real thing
Imagine a caterpillar forgoing a pile of glistening tomatoes in exchange for a can of soup. That is the idea behind Campbell’s Soup’s recent ad campaign that attempts to sell that jaded concept of ‘freshness in a can’ in a bold new way. The folks at Y&R Malaysia are responsible for spinning the two ad concepts in the series that aims at making you buy into Campbell’s ambitiously tagged ‘Real Tomatoes’ campaign.

In Caterpillar, the slimy grass-feeding creature bypasses a stack of luscious red tomatoes, to discover a towering can of Campbell’s instead. The words ‘real tomatoes’ literally jump out of the can label as the caterpillar appears awestruck by the fi nding. In a humorous turn at the end, the caterpillar is seen dragging a can opener across the table.

In ‘Roots’, the scene opens on a row of Campbell’s Soup cans neatly arranged on a shelf inside a supermarket. As the camera pans down to reveal the bottom of the cans, we can see roots forming trough the cans beneath the shelves. The tag line “Real Tomatoes” dissolve out.

The two spots, were both shot indoors and simultaneously. The Caterpillar ad was shot at PRS studios and ‘Roots’ at Cold Storage, Ikano Power Centre. Production house PRS fi lmed both spots on 35mm using Arri III.

Conceived for the Malaysian audience, the ads were challenging in how they had to emphasize the freshness of the product without putting off viewers by the sight of caterpillars or roots, which normally do not sit well with food products. However, the clever use of visual effects compensated for what could have been unsightly or stomach churning imageries; turning them into what eventually was perceived as being cute and humorous by the viewing audience.

VHQ Post (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, took a month to complete post production for the VFX-intensive ads.

In the Caterpillar ad, 3D animators Yahya Khalid and Lee Chan Hoe were given a reference of the caterpillar that director Barney Chua would like to propose for this spot. Giving the director more options to choose from, the animators presented four versions of the CG caterpillar.The fi nal approved model was a hybrid of the last two designs that were proposed.

Lee says: “It was easy working with Barney, as he was very clear with his vision of the caterpillar right from the beginning. So all we had to do was come up with a couple of options for the caterpillar models.”

The next thing was to ensure that since this was a food commercial, the caterpillar would not look disgusting or creepy. “Through our research we found a few real caterpillars that had textures similar to the ‘gummi bears’ candy. So we decided to use that approach to get a realistic caterpillar minus the ‘Fear Factor’ element to it” said Yahya.

Both agreed that the main VFX challenge was tracking and animating the caterpillar within the short time allocated for this job. In total, the 3D department had 10 days to complete this and that included the WIPs with the client. Yahya adds: “In order to overcome the time factor, we had to ensure that the briefi ng sessions were very clear and careful planning was involved. For example, during Offl ine, a white line was drawn into the footage in place of the CG caterpillar so that all parties involved had a very clear idea where the caterpillar was and how fast it had to move.

“Also getting the model approved before they started shooting gave the 3D animators some time to work out the different expressions and body language they could use for this spot. Finally with the help of Barney we managed to get some time to fi nalize lighting before we went online.”

The caterpillar was modeled and animated in Maya V.8. Offl ine was completed on the Avid Adrenaline, with Telecine and Online on the Shadow and Flame respectively.

Banking on Relationships
A collection of four TVCs was commissioned by client DBS Bank Ltd, and targeted at their core markets in Hong Kong and Singapore. Under the campaign banner of ‘Portraits of Progress’, the vignettes include a two-minute compilation entitled Home and three individual 60-second stories entitled Evolution, Left front seat and Rebirth.

Originally telecasted last August, in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting held in Singapore, the ads are making a welcome return to local commercial airtime this month.

Production company Moviola (Asia) Pte Ltd assumes production credits for bringing to life three heartwarming stories and a last installment that interweaves the stories in a moving fi nale.

Evolution depicts a young boy growing up under the care of his widowed mother – the dedicated prima donna of a Chinese opera (Wayang) troupe and a stern yet loving mother. His love for the art form he grew up with; coupled with the modern dance education he received enables him to become an internationally renowned choreographer with his own unique style. He skillfully blends his in-depth knowledge of both disciplines and is able to revive interest in the Wayang tradition while at the same time breathing new life into the dying art form, achievable under the auspices of DBS.

Left front seat tells the story of a taxi driver who chauffeurs his son regularly to school. The father scrimps and saves; working extra long shifts so that he may provide his children with a decent education. Fate seems to dictate that the son would always be confi ned to the left front seat but that proves to be a good thing because the boy eventually becomes a captain with Singapore Airlines and does his father proud.

Rebirth is the story about the daughter of a traditional Chinese family and a loyal family employee who, through the former’s innovative ideas and the latter’s unmatched craftsmanship (and with the support of DBS) revive the family’s fl agging fortunes and turns it into an internationally famous brand and profi table business.

In Home, the three protagonists from the above fi lms all happen to be on board the same fl ight home from the U.S., though oblivious of one another. Each one of them is accorded his moment of refl ection as the plane makes its fi nal descent: The choreographer in First Class returning home for the fi rst time for his inaugural performance at the Esplanade; the rising fashion star and her mentor in Business Class; and the newly promoted airline captain completing his fi rst trans- Pacifi c roundtrip.

A fi tting ending takes place as the plane touches down on Singapore soil. The memories fl ood back into the minds of our protagonists as they are warmly greeted by the plane’s intercom announcement: “Welcome to Singapore. Our Home.”

Amazingly, as executive director Ronnie Lee reveals, all the talents featured in the TVCs were street casts. This made director David Tsui’s job of coaxing the right amount of emotions from the untrained actors quite a challenging one. “Since we shot the TVCs entirely on 35 mm, the wasted takes in using untrained actors can often result in higher productions costs, but luckily, most of them fared better than we thought.”

Co-fi lm director Patrick Ong attributes the smooth production to an experienced team that allowed for fl exibility and creative freedom.

“The good thing about Moviola is the way we operate on the set. Our set-ups are not so rigid such that they lack the fl exibility for changes on the go. This means that as and when inspiration hits you, even while on the set, the team is able to accommodate new ideas, even those we sometimes implement on the fl y.”

Ong says that Moviola abides by a basic framework of what to carry out on the set, but rarely following them to the last detail.

“Very often, the best ideas come when you are on location; while you’re out there soaking in the environment and atmosphere.”

Posted at Singapore’s Infi nite Frameworks, VFX supervisor Wendy Liow worked closely with Yasmin and Ben Conkey from Post Bangkok, on the effects. The project is edited Offl ine by Lawrence Ang on Avid Adrenaline; and Online by Inferno artists Colin Foo and Thomas Halle. The 2D/3D graphics team comprises Joseph Chia, Calvin Yeo and Chee Ming. Donny Pereira is producer.

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