How do you celebrate a milestone anniversary? With an epic film, of course.
In collaboration with agency 77 Ventures Creative and director Mark Jenkinson of Imperial Woodpecker, our artists, led by Creative Director Chris Bernier, crafted NASCAR's 75th anniversary film by recreating some of the sport’s most memorable moments.
Shot over several days in Barstow, California, the spot combines original footage, historical highlights and reenactments, and VFX. Our artists brought these historical events to life using 3D models, Houdini with custom simulations, and more. Topping off the film is a grade by Mill Colourist Philip Hambi.
Creative Director Chris Bernier goes further in-depth into the exhilarating spot below.
Another important element to the spot was the 75 car. In the script, the 75 car that represented the 75 year history of NASCAR and served as a transitional element that transported us into each iconic moment. The 75 car was to peel its exterior away revealing the famous car from the moment underneath. A custom detailed 3D 75 car was modeled in 3 versions, Chevy, Ford, and Toyota. This 3D model was tracked onto filmed footage of a car and a peeling reveal was created in Houdini, with custom dust, smoke, and debris simulations to bring these transitions to life. Individual pieces were modeled and animated to pull away and reveal our classic moment car underneath. We worked closely with the director and agency to find just the right sense of speed, energy, and strength to emphasize the reveal of these historic moments.
The themes of history and excitement were what guided us through the process of making this film. We were focused on accurately representing the tracks in their moment while also bringing a life and excitement to them that elevated it beyond the historical footage that already exists.Chris Bernier, Creative Director
Behind the Scenes
In collaboration with agency 77 Ventures Creative and director Mark Jenkinson of Imperial Woodpecker, our artists, led by Creative Director Chris Bernier, crafted NASCAR's 75th anniversary film by recreating some of the sport’s most memorable moments.
Shot over several days in Barstow, California, the spot combines original footage, historical highlights and reenactments, and VFX. Our artists brought these historical events to life using 3D models, Houdini with custom simulations, and more.
Check out the breakdowns for the film below!
Interview with Executive Producer, Matthew Loranger
What was the most exciting part of working on this spot?
For me, as an EP the most exciting part was figuring it out. To achieve the client’s vision for the spot we needed to fabricate multiple locations, eras and vehicles and balance that with the realities of live action production.
What were the biggest technical challenges while working on this?
I think it was the creation of the different environments and conceiving what those would be and also tying all the shots together into a cohesive narrative where each shot flowed and progressed into each other finally arriving at the present day.
What was the creative process like for your department?
It was wonderful to watch the creative partnership and connectivity between Chris (Bernier) and Mark (the Director). Often times we merely execute and I enjoy the opportunities where Director and the Mill can both contribute.
What’s been your career trajectory in VFX, have you worked on a lot of automotive projects before? How was this different?
Not to get caught up in semantics but I wouldn’t categorize this as an automotive spot. For me it is a historical action film with race cars as main talent. For me car spots tend to be feature based and speak to horsepower and leather seats. This spot was a brand spot for NASCAR and beautifully captured the feeling and fanaticism that racing fans feel, and what makes NASCAR such a huge sport.
Interview with Colourist, Philip Hambi
What was the most exciting part of working on this spot?
NASCAR is iconic and has such a massive following in the US. Combine that with the fact that this film is a celebration of the last 75 years of the sport and it’s hard not to get excited! I’ve always been a fan of Mark’s work and being able to collaborate with him on this amazing project was very cool.
What were the biggest technical challenges while working on this?
The biggest technical challenge on this job was successfully executing the six different looks that defined the eras presented throughout the film. Fortunately, I had time on my side with this one, as it was posting for a few weeks at The Mill NYC office. This allowed me the rare opportunity to tinker with the grade to make sure that it was immaculate.
What was the creative process?
The creative process was as expected driven by Mark (Director) and Macgregor (Cinematographer) and their vision for the spot. The briefing from both Mark and Macgregor was comprehensive and insightful as it allowed me to immediately focus on what they were after and achieve it with relative ease.
Its key to remember that usually, with car commercials, there’s a requirement to deploy a load of shapes to really help the car POP. But NASCAR 75 is a celebration of the history of the sport and we’re not actually trying to sell the car. This meant that the priority and main focus of our work was on the narrative of the film and not the car and its design characteristic.
Did you learn anything new while working on this spot, especially while collaborating across The Mill sites?
This biggest take away is how awesome The Mill NYC office is. The work achieved by the NY team in the time that they had is genuinely incredible. So many of the shots had massive CG Stadium and crowd take overs and they’re all seamlessly integrated with the live action plate. This wasn’t the first job that I’d worked on with the New York office and I am constantly impressed with their super collaborative attitude.
Interview with Junior Artist, Jyothika S
What was the most exciting part of working on this spot?
One of the things which I was most excited about for the NASCAR spot was the transition of the car from one time period to another - the changes in the car skin. The idea of this project was interesting and challenging at the same time. I enjoyed working on the DMP for it.As an artist, I get a lot of interesting work which helps me keep learning. I’d like to work on more automotive projects in the future as well.
What were the biggest technical challenges while working on this?
As a DMP artist, there weren't many technical challenges we faced, it was all about how captivating we could make the shots and how everything is visualized from a third person view.
What was the creative process like for your department?
For us, the creative process is focused on the visualization, from a third-person perspective. Our imagination, reality, and fantasy combined creatively. My department not only creates the images but also creates a new set of visualizations.
What’s been your career trajectory in VFX, have you worked on a lot of automotive projects before? How was this different?
I’ve been in the industry for nearly three years now. Working in VFX, and making art into a career, is interesting. VFX is the point where art becomes reality, and I am happy to be part of that art. I haven’t worked much on automotive projects - this is the first automotive project that I worked on as a 3D DMP artist. I'm thankful and happy to be a part of this project.
Did you learn anything new while working on this spot, especially while collaborating across The Mill sites?
Yes, of course! This advertising industry has a great advantage because each project is different. Some things might be similar, but trust me, nothing is the same. Working on different kinds of projects is fun and interesting and allows for continuous learning and exploration as well.As a junior artist at The Mill, I thank my supervisor and my team, as they helped ensure I had a very nice experience working on the spot.