MPC’s latest VFX breakdown, directed by Creative Director Carsten Keller, gives audiences a peak behind the curtain in the development of their photo-realistic jaguar Panthera Onca.

Spark 44 turned to MPC to develop a jaguar realistic enough to represent the iconic luxury car brand, Jaguar, as part of their new campaign “A Breed Apart”. The creative concept was to bring to life a young, athletic and confident jaguar walking alongside stars Eva Green and Thure Lindhardt. The spots were directed by Chris Palmer of Gorgeous.

Carsten Keller who also served as VFX Creative Director on the spots said “We’ve never had to replicate a creature to such precision. For instance, the Jaguar’s short fur meant that we couldn’t hide behind it, you see every single muscle twitch, bulge and flex. The Jaguar’s scapular sliding movements are very distinctive. We had to carefully study how the shoulder blades are defined as the Jaguar prowls around its habitat, according to the terrain and specifically when climbing down. We the applied those same movements on the hotel staircase shot, walking down, next to Eva Green.”

To achieve the level of realism on display, MPC conducted extensive research to match this specific jaguar, hair for hair. Research included talks with wildlife specialist and visits to the Big Cat Sanctuary in UK and the Cat Haven Sanctuary in Fresno, CA, to gather photographic and video references for movements, behaviours and physical characteristics of Jaguars. An expert in Vertebrates, Dr Kitchener from National Museums Scotland provided MPC’s 3D team access to jaguar skeletons and furs which helped achieve precision on the skeletal & muscular systems and the groom.

Lastly, MPC collaborated with their colleagues in MPC Film, whose character specialists team advised them to consider animation details such as the jaguar’s thought process in order to make it look conscious and boost the levels of realism.

3D Supervisor Fabian Frank, explained “We were able to achieve this level of realism through our experience of previous creature work. For instance, we really finessed our muscle definition techniques developing a ram for VW. And we’d pushed what was possible with fur simulation when we created the animals in Buster the Boxer for John Lewis. But, we’re continually innovating to improve the detail, realism and pushing the boundaries of what the tools can do. On this project, we used tons of new tech, for instance developing a new fur tool which meant the look and randomness of the hair improved dramatically. Now we’re able to colour each individual strand of hair, whereas before we had to map colours in blocks. This is just one of the innovations that have made new levels of realism possible”