60 Seconds with Jason Bergman, The Mill’s VFX Supervisor on Super Bowl LIV’s ‘Rocket Mortgage’ with Jason Momoa
What was The Mill’s involvement in the making of Rocket Mortgage ‘Comfortable’?
We were involved from the very beginning and discussed several methodologies outlining how to best proceed. At the end of the day, our responsibility was to marry various elements of Jason Momoa’s features to our skinny actor, making them appear as if they were one person.
What challenges did the team face?
The biggest challenge was getting Jason’s movements and the skinny actor doubles actions to match up. Momoa performed first and once everyone was happy with a take we had our secondary actor (Redamo) mimic his performance as closely as possible. But as hard as we tried, there was always going to be a discrepancy between their actions and so we had to rebuild arms, faces and hair to help make the timing match and allow the full comedic effect to shine.
What was the best part of this project?
Watching it live, with my team, at the same time as over a million viewers on Super Bowl Sunday!
Why do you think the spot was so successful?
It’s just funny. The creative was hilarious from the get go. I was laughing at the first animatic that I saw before we even shot anything and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. I am also a huge fan of supporting VFX, working with practical elements (like the prosthetic arms and abs from Legacy FX) and enhancing them rather than trying to go a full CG route.
Tell us about something from this year’s Super Bowl that inspired you?
Jeep’s ‘Groundhog Day’ commercial. I was actually almost jealous when I saw it because I wanted ‘Rocket Mortgage’ to be the #1 spot on USA Today’s Ad Meter this year but I knew right away this one was pure gold. It was simple but so funny and that always wins in my book for Super Bowl!
