To promote the news that all General Mills Bi G cereals are made with whole grain, General Mills and Campbell Mithun (Minneapolis, MN) partnered with Guerilla FX (New York, NY) to create a :30 branding spot, ‘Whole Grain Nation II,’ which began airing nationally April 2nd.

Guerilla FX, an independent design, effects and post finishing company, is the natural out growth of the relationship created when 0:2:60 Executive Producer Doug Robbins first signed Visual Effects Designer/Editor/Director Thor Raxlen for commercial direction. The two launched Guerilla FX, a uniquely creative, vertically integrated company, that has just completed the production, effects and both the offline and online post for ‘Whole Grain Nation II’ from General Mills, the first leading food manufacturer to make all of its Big G breakfast cereals a good or excellent source of whole grain.

As this spot opens, the viewer sees fields of wheat, lovely country barns and, ultimately urban environments that include passengers boarding a bus, a city skyscraper (with a projection of wheat on its fa?‚àö√ºade), and a variety of customers who praise the benefits of Big cereals made whole grain which include Honey Nut Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Total, Lucky Charms and many others. ‘Are you part of the whole grain nation? Look for the G and you are there,’ is the spot tag.

‘Since I had cut the previous General Mills whole grain spots, the agency asked me to do this one as well. This time however, Guerilla created and finished the spot, which is less about eating cereal and more about the lifestyle of the whole grain nation in which everyone benefits from adding more whole grain to their diet,’ Guerilla FX Director/Creative Director Thor Raxlen explained. ‘We did face one unique challenge. Although the spot was to look like spring, we shot our footage just three days after a major storm dumped nearly two feet of snow on New York. Sometimes moments of adversity create unique opportunities, and we were fortunate to find little pockets that were interesting. We were within 20 miles of Manhattan and trying to make the footage look like we were in a half dozen locations around the country so we had to get really creative with where and what we could shoot. A lot of the footage was lensed with hand held cameras and long lenses which allowed the camera to discover our subjects. When you are working on material that you shoot and hand off to someone else, that is one level of commitment; but, when you shoot the footage and know at the end of the day you have to put it together, the level of commitment is appreciably greater. We had only eight days to complete this job, and everyone gave their all – the Guerilla FX team and the agency folks as well,’ he continued.

Doug Robbins, Guerilla FX Executive Producer added, ‘What made this collaboration really special was the opportunity it gave Thor and Guerilla to take a project from preliminary discussions through the shoot, editing and effects. On a business level, and on a creative level, it a truly wonderful experience!’

The spot was filmed on location in New York City, Pelham and Mount Vernon by a Guerilla FX team lead by Director/Creative Director Thor Raxlen, Executive Producer Doug Robbins, Director of Photography Joplin Wu, Senior Producer Cathy Cooper and Production Supervisor Peter FitzGerald.

The editorial, postproduction and visual effects were also completed at Guerilla FX by Offline and Online Editor Thor Raxlen; Compositors Jesse Holmes and Jason Yantz; Concept Designer Linda Peters and Post Supervisor Jody Peters.

Guerilla FX shot the live-action with 16mm cameras, utilized Adobe After Effects and Photoshop and edited on Final Cut Pro, in the execution of this project.

Representing Campbell Mithun were Executive Creative Director/Art Director Craig Miller, Executive Producer Tom Sann, Copywriter Bryan DeYoung and Account Supervisor Jessica Hack.

Colorist Victor Mulholland of Company 3 (New York, NY) completed the film-to-tape transfer.

Mixer Joe Vagnoni at Audio Engine (New York, NY) was responsible for the final audio mix.

Some stock footage was obtained from Getty Images.

About Guerilla FX
Guerilla FX and 0:2:60 are headquartered at 121 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001. For further information about the effects and editorial facility, or the advertising production company, please visit www.0260.com
www.guerillafx.com

Credit Sheet

Airdate: 4/2/07, national branding spot
Client: General Mills
Title of Spot: Whole Grain Nation II
Length of Spot: one :30

Description of Spot: As this spot opens, the viewer sees fields of wheat, lovely country barns and, ultimately urban environments that include passengers boarding a bus, a city skyscraper (with a projection of wheat on its fa?‚àö√ºade), and a ariety of customers who praise the benefits of their whole grain cereals from General Mills which include Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Total and Lucky.The spot is tagged, ‘Are you part of the whole grain ation? Look for the G and you are there.’

Production Company: Guerilla FX
City/State: New York, NY
Director: Thor Raxlen
Director of Photography: Joplin Wu
Executive Producer: Doug Robbins
Senior Producer: Cathy Cooper
Production Supervisor: Peter FitzGerald

Postproduction/VFX Facility: Guerilla FX
City/State: New York, NY
Post Supervisor: Jody Peters
Compositors Jesse Holmes and Jason Yantz
Concept Design: Linda Peters

Equipment:
16mm camera
Adobe After Effects and Photoshop
Final Cut Pro

Location of Shoot: New York, NY; Pelham, NY; Mount Vernon, NY

Agency: Campbell Mithun
City/State: Minneapolis, NY
Executive Creative Director/Art Director: Craig Miller
Executive Producer: Tom Sann
Account Supervisor: Jessica Hack
Copywriter: Bryan DeYoung

Film-To-Tape: Company 3
City/State: New York, NY
Colorist: Victor Mulholland

Audio Facility: Audio Engine
City/State: New York, NY
Mixer: Joe Vagnoni

Stock footage: Getty Images.