Reel FX Director Dale Carman Transforms Playtime For Hasbro

Integrated studio Reel FX leverages its growing live action division and CG expertise to blur the lines between imagination and reality in the :30 Reunion, directed by Dale Carman for Hasbro's Transformers out of Grey, New York. The spot features a boy who follows the monstrous truck, Optimus Prime, into a Dinosaur Dig Park where the full-sized versions of his toys transform before his eyes. The campaign also includes the two additional :30s Parking Garage and Construct-Bots. The spots hype the latest batch of Transformer toys launched in conjunction with the recent release of the Michael Bay-directed Transformers: The Age of Extinction - which brought in over $100 million in its opening weekend.

Click HERE to view the campaign.

A diehard Transformers fan, Director Dale Carman was thrilled at the opportunity to be involved with this project. Reel FX took on the live-action shoot, editorial and VFX - including the creation of the photo-real CG Transformers. Starting with the shoot - Carman paid careful attention to the casting process to ensure that he would get believable performances from the young actors who would have to work with and react to the CG Transformers. Though the realizations of the larger-than-life robot version of the Transformers were added later in post-production, the actual vehicles from the Transformers movie were used in the spot.

Notes Carman, Having the actual vehicles on set provided a bit of magic and really got everyone excited. Being able to use the real Optimus Prime in its truck mode, really pulled everyone into the world of the Transformers.

Kevin Althans led the VFX team to elevate the actual vehicles from the film. The brand-new Optimus 18-wheeler and Bumblebee Camaro were shipped to Dallas and used for the live-action photography. For the Reunion spot, the Optimus rig was shot in a rock quarry that doubled for an archeological dig where scientists were unearthing a long-buried Grimlock. Grimlock in his dinosaur form rises up from the dirt and roars to life in front of a boy who has just transformed a smaller scale toy version of the beast.

The large dinosaur was realized through a combination of 3D matte paintings and CGI. Animation was done in Maya with final renders using Arnold and compositing in Nuke and Flame. The same pipeline was used to bring Bumblebee to life after he zips around a darkened parking garage in his car form. Bumblebee rises to his full height and stares eye-to-eye with an awestruck boy holding a matching toy version of the friendly alien robot in the Parking Garage spot. Executive Producer Gary Banks added, This was a great first project to work on with the Grey NY team. Their collaborative approach to the work made for some fabulous commercials.

Credits:

Client: Hasbro

Agency: Grey NYC

ECD: Rob Lenois

GCD: Manny Galan

CD: Damion Sammarco

Copywriter: Ryan Crane

Production Company: Reel FX

Director: Dale Carman

EP Live Action: Steve Johnson

EP: Gary Banks

Editor, Reunion : Greg Sunmark

Assistant Editor: Steven Happel

Producer: Taylor Williams

VFX Artists: Dan Margules, Patton Tunstall, Laychin Lee

VFX Supervisors: Kevin Althans, James Rowell

Texture Artist: Barrett David

Texture Artist: Chas Naylor

Animation Supervisor: Jason Taylor

Animators: Todd Wilbur, Bruno Montiero

Lighting Lead: Chas Naylor

Lighters: Lyn Caudle, Karissa Sloan, Crystal Leal

Lead Effects Artist: Lyn Caudle

Layout Artist: Branndon Fricks

Rigger: Douglas Bell

Technical Directors: Jon Speer, Barrett Davis

Production Manager: Molli Leggitt

Production Manager: Rachel Bradley

Matte Painter: Volta

Matte Painter: Barrett Lewis

VFX Set Supervision: Patton Tunstall

Motion Design: Kyle Craig

ABOUT REEL FX

Reel FX is a fully integrated movie studio that develops and produces both animated films and live action movies. The studio also focuses on short form work including commercials, music videos, digital/interactive content, and short films. The company's development slate includes Free Birds, The Book of Life, and Beasts of Burden.

Reel FX launched its feature length development and production slate in 2010 after almost 20 years of experience as an award-winning one-stop studio for the creation of animated content including films, special attraction/live venue projects, commercials, and interactive projects for companies like DreamWorks Animation, Fox, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios.

Since starting the development and production of feature films, Reel FX has aligned itself with some of the most recognized and respected names and brands in the entertainment industry for its projects including The Book of Life (Guillermo Del Toro, Jorge R. Gutierrez), Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse Comics, Andrew Adamson, Aron Warner) and Free Birds (Jimmy Hayward, Scott Mosier).

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