No Passport, No Problem: International Ads Made Local with Virtual Production

Around the world in eighty days? How about eight hours?

Today we’re chatting with Jack Hannon, a producer for the in-house production company at Mother, a global advertising agency. They hired the studio for a virtual production shoot that took place at Advanced Media Production Dock Street, for cryptocurrency exchange company Kraken.

Hi Jack, thanks for speaking with us about virtual production today. So, what was the idea behind the ad? How did that come about and how did you end up using virtual production?

Kraken Cryptocurrency has been our client for a while but this TVC campaign had a very short turnaround time. They wanted to create an ad that was very all encompassing about the global impact of money. Virtual production meant that we could shoot anywhere in a very short time frame and demonstrate the global value of Kraken.

Had you used virtual production before, or was this the first time?

This was the first time, but it has not been the last.

If this was the first time, did you find the process of using virtual production easy to get your head around as a producer?

Actually, it was interesting. It wasn't that difficult once we understood it.

There were some minor issues, namely because we had a lot to achieve in one day. whereas if we had a bit more time it would have been fine.

But - I do think virtual production is actually a lot easier than people think. 

We didn't make the environments, so it was just a plate shoot. For this shoot, a lot of the work was in making the depth in the set through set dressing. That being said, the clips are so short that we didn't necessarily need the depth in the screen, because it was something like 10 frames per shot in the final edit. 

We have gone on to do a few other productions involving plates since then.

What would you recommend to other people using VP for the first time? Did somebody else in the team suggest it to you?

Yeah, the idea came from a conversation between me and the director. 

“Because we were trying to think, in terms of scouting, where do we find these locations? And the idea of going to all those places was so ridiculous.”

We thought “there must be a different way of doing it.” So that's how we landed on VP.

So it was just that there was a need and it fit the need?

Exactly. I had visited a virtual production studio previously but this was the first time our requirements matched what virtual production can offer.  I’d heard virtual production being used with cars and advertising, For example, they used it for the mirrors of the cars where they needed reflections. This had been my only knowledge and experience before doing this shoot.

You mentioned that you've used VP a few more times now. What would you say the real benefits are to virtual production?

You can be anywhere. We've done more stylised shoots in VP, like painted backgrounds, where we’ve separated the layers and created a parallax effect. It feels like the camera is moving around a 3D space and there's still an element of motion. It’s a more interesting way of using a set.

Like 2.5D?

Yes! Basically, we made these painted layers of backgrounds for three different environments and separated them out and then had each one moving.

It was a bit like the effect used in Barbie for a bit where they go from "Barbieland" to the real world. It was very stylised.

©Warner Brothers, 2023.

I haven't necessarily done a full VP production in which we're trying to recreate the real world with full fidelity, so the most real world thing that we’ve done was the Kraken advertisement.

That's interesting. So more stylised VP?

Yeah. There are different use cases and I think it's whether you've got the plate, or external people coming in with their own content - sometimes they build something, so it’s a real mix.

Are there any other advantages you've come across from using virtual production?

Well, we have a big green initiative here at Mother, as does absolutely every agency. I think that that is a real benefit to it as well. Also just the ease of it. You can do a shoot and then just go back home at 6:00 PM. That's quite crazy. That’s a massive benefit in my head.

How much knowledge do you feel your clients have about VP?

Whenever we've suggested it, it's been more of a conversation around how it works. In my experience, 

“I think a lot of clients don't have that awareness of the technology.  That being said, when clients are introduced to VP, they've been quite shocked and really, really into it.”

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and experience with us, Jack!

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