If you had to create a 60-second TVC that flows seamlessly through different scenes and time periods as one continuous shot, you can imagine the complexities and extent of work involved. But if the said time periods were to span from the 1920s to present day, the task suddenly turns mind-boggling.

That was exactly the challenge given to director Franco Marinelli, production house Konnect Films and post house Emerald City Design.

90 years in the making

This TVC for client Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd was supposed to highlight the timeless quality of the Anchor Beer. The concept by the creative team under Gordon Hughes at Leo Burnett Guangzhou, appears deceptively simple - on paper:

"A romp through time from the very beginnings of Anchor Beer to the present day achieved through one seamless sequence."

Tracing the origins of what is known as “The Smooth Pilsner Beer", they found that the beginnings of Anchor beer apparently date back to the 1920s. That literally meant that, somehow, the production teams had to visually present a series of era-hopping events that almost span an entire century! Snapping back to reality, the team immediately came to terms with the massive preparations - whether logistical, technical or creative - that were necessary to pull off such a grand scale production.

To begin, they needed a location that was comparatively inexpensive; with existing architecture that could be transformed to resemble buildings from the different eras.

For location, they decided on Manila in the Philippines. Using studio sets and old-styled European-inspired buildings, the team had to restructure the facades and, in many cases, erect large-scale set constructions.

Under the supervision of production designer Peter Collias, the production crew replicated objects, memorabilia and building facades to resurrect the early-to-mid 20th century periods. From hand-painting a giant 1950s billboard; to reconstructing a 1900s beer truck from plywood; to recreating a German beer festival, the mock sets were painstakingly assembled and put together; barrel by barrel, bottle by bottle.

To recapture the Saturday Night Fever-esque look and setting of the bell-bottomed 70s, they even had to design and build an entire discotheque, complete with illuminated dance floor.

Lensing through the decades

Collias' vision was critical not only in ensuring that the physical sets looked and matched the era setting they were supposed to mimic, he also had to make sure that they were built according to his pre-visualization sketches and drawings.

Says Marinelli of the precision involved: "Because of the seamless nature of the scenes, all of the sets had to be built according to the movement of the camera. To understand what needed to be constructed, Peter (Collias) drafted a precise previsualization. These sketches and schematics were instrumental in understanding and achieving these complex camera moves."

The director recalls a particularly memorable scene that required a cohesive interplay between set decoration and camera movement. "There is one 1920s scene that involves a complete 180-degree pan from inside an office through a factory scene to reveal a shipping terminal. This took five hours to shoot but was incredibly complex as all of the action had to be synchronized precisely. It was an awesome shot achieved through the deep focus capabilities of the T-Rex."

DOP Garry Wapshott wisely combined adjusted shutter angle and deep focus to achieve clarity on his Arri 435 ES, equipped with T-Rex Superscope lens system.

As the era changes, so does the look and feel of the morphing scenes. Running through the various 'looks' that depicts the changing decades, Marinelli describes: "We used aged, sepia tones for the 1920s part, at the beginning of the commercial. This turned into a bleached techni-color look for the 1950s; then to desaturated tones for the 1960s era; and the cool tones of the present era. Each scene had to be lit and graded with great expertise and sensitivity."

He adds that while post-production techniques were greatly employed to tweak the colors and simulate the looks of different film stocks, emulating the look and feel of the various time periods still came down to great lighting, which was Wapshott's area of expertise.

The post production process was completed within a three-week schedule by Emerald City Design. 2D lead James Hughes project managed a tailored 2D pipeline that enabled the workflow to be efficiently split up between Flame, Shake, Photoshop, Design and Matte painting.

Thrilled with the visually stunning footages produced by Marinelli and the team at Konnect Films, a spokesperson at the Sydney-based post house comments:

"Franco is a master at getting the most out of his available in-camera resources and this is clearly demonstrated by capturing the essence, look and mood of the eras through the use of the largescale sets and camera techniques."

Post clean-ups

Individual scenes were allocated to Shake and Photoshop. Cleanups of present day street furniture such as overhead power lines, street signs, poles and other elements that were not of the time period were removed.

Meanwhile, John Collins created matte paintings for each individual scene and era. These elements were then incorporated into individual shots that required set extensions, tracking, and crowd duplication.

In achieving the smooth flow from era to era, various transitions were crafted by 2D compositing on both Shake by Chris Grocott and by James Hughes on Flame. Final grades and film treatments were then applied to strengthen and consolidate the TVC.

A particularly memorable scene was that of the wharf side. It was important to establish the old warehouse building as being the exterior of an Anchor Beer brewery of the time. Marinelli had managed to capture the mood and action on camera, allowing the shot to flow and reveal a beautifully dressed set that retained the flavor of the time.

This location had its challenges for post as air conditioners and other modern buildings and props existed along with present-day Manila in the background. Invisible visual effects techniques were employed. Despite the amount of VFX work that went into this project, many of the changes were subtle and not easily picked up by the untrained eye. Just as matte paintings and extra live elements were added to complement the time period, they were part of the fleeting images that appear for mere seconds on screen, but instrumental to make the entire TVC work.

A good example is the transition shot from the beer festival scene to the one showing the 1960s 'hippie billboard'. The shot proved a unique challenge as the original full size scenic painting was filmed during the day. John Collins repainted the outgoing shot to match the original painted billboard. This was then tracked and transitioned between the two scenes by Chris Grocott.

Although the final TVC is dripping with visual effects - what with eye-popping transitions and heavy use of composites packed into a 60-second spot - it is still a good time to remember the post adage: "The best post work is that which you do not see." Whether or not you subscribe to it, you've got to admit that it makes sense.

The Anchor Beer TVC titled Changeless will be aired in 2008.

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