It is just over a year since the Rexona/Sure commercial Go Wild first aired – to enormous acclaim – and now the brand is giving Framestore CFC’s digital menagerie another workout. Redline, which features bears and wolves (both CG and real) and a purely CG rhinoceros, is a new 60 second spot, created by John Szalay and Tom Carter at Lowe NY, and directed by Daniel Kleinman.

This time around we are witness to the adventures of a young man in sunny Spain ?Äì Pamplona to be precise. A glimpse from his bedroom window reveals that the streets are already filling with like-minded souls, clearly here for the annual running of the?Ķwell, bulls, normally. After applying his trusty toiletry and donning the traditional red neckerchief, our hero steps out and is swept up in the turmoil.

However, this fiesta is even more dangerous than usual, as our hero finds himself fleeing first bears, then wolves, then several enraged locals, and finally a charging rhino. Accompanied by a fellow runner, he escapes into a handy arena. Both men are hailed by the crowd and have their arms raised in triumph by an attractive senorita. Confronted with the sight and pong of the drenched pits of the non Rexona user, she pushes him to one side, leaving our man to savour the crowds roar alone?Ķ

Supervised by Stephane Allender and Andy Boyd from Framestore CFC, shooting for the spot took place in three locations: Barcelona and Tarragona, Spain for the interiors, exteriors and background plates, and Vancouver, Canada for the blue screen live animal studio shoot. “Although there are fewer species of animals involved in Redline,” says Allender, “The ratio of real creatures to CG remains around the same, at 50/50.” In addition to the creatures, Framestore CFC’s contributions include several CG props, including a knife hurled at our hero in some versions of the spot, and crowd replication that bumped the 200-odd extras up to a more respectable number for a couple of shots.

“All of the R&D that went into Go Wild really paid off in Redline,” says Head of 3D Commercials, Dan Seddon, “It was a great opportunity to put our CG ideas through their paces.”

It was just as well that the R&D was already in place, as Redline had a much tighter schedule than Go Wild. In addition, the action required of the creatures in Redline differed from its predecessor. “The new spot is essentially one long chase sequence,” says Animator Nicklas Andersson, “So the animals are seen almost entirely in full pursuit mode, rather than standing their ground as they did in many of Go Wild’s shots, so there was more animation involved. That said, one of the creatures ?‚àö√ë‚àö¬® the rhino ?‚àö√ë‚àö¬® was a lot easier for us: no fur and relatively immobile flesh, so there weren’t the sort of deformations which can cause us headaches.”

Telecine for the spot was handled at Framestore CFC by Colourist Matt Turner. “The director wanted a warm feel,” he says, “Which we created whilst keeping the whites neutral, to avoid any suggestion of sepia. The entire job was done at HD, which gives us better isolation and so more control over the look.”

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CREDITS
Rexona/Sure ‘Redline’
Agency Lowe NY
Creatives John Szalay, Tom Carter
Agency Producer Josh Litwhiler
Production Company Rattling Stick
Director Daniel Kleinman
Producer Johnnie Frankel

For Framestore CFC
VFX Supervisor Stephane Allender
VFX CG Supervisor Andy Boyd
Technical Directors Dan Seddon, Louis Dunlevy, Laura Dias, Simon French
Modelling Alex Doyle
Animators Dale Newton, Nicklas Andersson, Mike Mellor, Florent DeLaTaille, Matt Everit, Marie Celaya
Junior TD Paul Jones
Inferno Artists Marcelo Pasqualino, Christophe Allender.
Roto Artists Nicha Kumkeaw, Dasha Ashley
Telecine Colourist Matt Turner
VFX Producer Scott Griffin