The new commercial for McCain Oven Chips entitled ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§Sunflower Park’s features an all singing, all dancing musical bonanza complete with back flips and cartwheels. Directed by Michael Gracey and Pete Commins for BMB through Partizan, this energetic commercial features a young lad and a cast of smiling dancers and singers belting out a customised version of ‘Oliver!’ classic ‘Food Glorious Food’. Those of you with a beady eye might be able to spot the original costume from the 1968 film version of ‘Oliver’!

After Mick Vincent graded the film to achieve the technicolour look Gracey and Commins wanted, The Mill was given the task of completing the post production on the commercial. Rushes were given some of the shots in the opening sequence to work on and The Mill created the visual effects for the rest of the piece.

This job was particularly challenging due to the fact the entire job was HD, there were a large number of plates that required compositing and there was a short timeframe. Lead Flame Stefan Coory commented, ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§we really had to use all the available resources The Mill had to offer to complete this job ?‚àö√ë‚àö¬® it was definitely worth the sleep deprivation!’s

The commercial was shot on a continuous set using a small group of dancers who were filmed on different layers which were then composited together to create the effect of an entire dance troupe. A huge number of mattes were created to achieve the final effect and The Mill employed a large team of artists over the course of the job to solely complete this task.

In addition to the extensive compositing on the spot The Mill also replaced and enhanced parts of the existing background with a digital matte painting, they also added the dancing chimney sweep at the top of the painting and added the puff of smoke. In addition to this they also inserted 3D trees, banners and pigeons.

The Mill pulled out all the stops to create this vibrant commercial for McCain’s with over twelve 2D artists working across six flames suites over two weeks with plenty of night shifts thrown in. The final product is testament to the hard working, adaptable nature of The Mill 2D, 3D and production teams.

View the Spot here!

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