Client: Mercedes AMG Formula 1
Agency: vStream
Brief: Produce a welcome video for the Formula one team factory tour using only still photographs and some 3D animation. The clip will be shown to guests on their arrival at a small theatre in the factory.
Role: I created 11 of the parallax assets used in the edit and also edit the clip in its entirety with direction from the director and client feedback. The other shots / assets were created by 3 other members of the team. A bespoke audio track was designed around the edit once the VO was recorded.
Mercedes AMG Formula 1 Factory Welcome Video
To create each shot I first selected an appropriate picture from a vast library of shots provided to us by the team. The original copy for the voice over would influence the kinds of shots that were used.
The process for creating each parallax image involved carefully cutting out each element from the still, touching up the background if needed and then importing all the layers into After Effects and using 3D camera moves, puppetry and atmospheric effects to bring the still to life. Here is an example of how 8 layer was separated before being brought into After Effects an manipulated:
Some of my colleagues that also worked on this project added real 3D elements such as the Pirelli tyres and smoke effects, where as the shots I worked on were more people based and stuck to things that could be manipulated in 2D.
Another example of here of Valterri Bottas with some classic Mercedes cars after he was announced as their new driver for 2017. Not a lot was going on in this shot but by separating his limbs and body from the car and doing some rough clone work in the background I was able to make the shot have a lot of movement.
Below is my parallax animation reel. It includes all the shots that I worked on from the Mercedes project. The image below that is another glimpse at the different layers that were edited and used to animate one of these scenes.
