KromA concocted some mind and body bending illusions in providing visual effects services for three new spots for the California Milk Processor Board Got Milk? campaign. The spots are the first out of Grupo Gallegos since the agency won the Hispanic portion of CMPB account last year and the first Spanish-language spots to employ the ‘Got Milk?’ tag.

Amazing Contortionist centers on a family of circus performers who use their incredible flexibility to perform every day tasks. Mom ties her daughter shoes by literally bending over backwards 180 degrees. Dad reads the newspaper by holding it with his feet, while the daughter turns herself into a human hula hoop. They attribute their talents to milk.

The other two spots make similar eye-popping, albeit tongue-in-cheek claims. Amazon Hair Goddess shows a village of women who use their long hair to perform extraordinary feats, including lassoing a wild horse. Teeth features a city where people tap into milk ability to strengthen teeth by using them to carry around heavy objects.

The three spots were shot in Argentina by director Andy Fogwill. For the Contortionist spot, Fogwill employed actors with contortionist skill, but their abilities did not extend to the over-the-top dimensions exhibited in the spot. Instead, the actors were filmed in pieces. ‘For the shot of the girl using a computer with her hands and feet, we first shot her seated in a chair with her legs covered in blue and then shot her again with her legs draped over the chair back with her body in a blue suit,’ explained KromA Bob Yukich, who supervised the effects work on the set. ‘In post production, we married the two halves of the girl together.’

Turning the girl into a human hula hoop required a bit more manipulation. ‘That was also created from two elements: a girl mimicking the action of hula hoping, and a second girl holding her own ankles to form a ring,’ explained KromA visual effects supervisor Bert Yukich. ‘In order to make the girl look more like a hoop, we morphed her body, and then animated her to make her spin around the other girl.’

The other two spots involved similar digitally enhanced illusions. In the Amazon spot, KromA created the hair lasso the women uses to snare the horse. ‘The challenge for us was making the lasso move naturally as it flies through the air,’ noted Bert Yukich. ‘The woman who throws it mimed the action, so we had to animate backwards and make the CG element fit her motion.’

Amy Yukich was executive producer for KromA.

KromA is located at 9421 & Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035. For more information, call (310) 282-0370 or visit www.kroma.biz.