Three new films for a Mail Chimp campaign – ‘Mail Shrimp’, ‘Jail Blimp’ and Kale Limp’ – give us a glimpse of the email marketing brand’s distinct identity. Director duo Ed and Alex, known as ‘The Sacred Egg’ Mind imagine its on screen persona as uniquely childlike: curious, creative and always dreaming up big and wonderful things. Things that don’t always make sense, but just feel right.
Alex Lovejoy, MPC’s VFX Supervisor, says: “Ed and Alex’s vision was all about creating something beautiful and interesting, an almost 'hyper real' world where anything goes. We really tried to bring together the unexpected with ‘Chimp World' to add unexpected visual quirks to the films. As ever it was great fun working with these guys, from being on set dressing up a dog in a real-life kale suit to bringing it all to life here in the studio.'
With grade by Richard Fearon, the result is a richly colourful feast. Watch them all now to dip into the wacky and wonderful ‘Chimp World’.
This spot opens with a dejected and patronised mail-room employee taking a lunch break; only to discover his shrimp sandwich has an unexpected talent for singing.
A blimp flies through the air and hovers in the air above a kids party. Clouds created by our VFX artists surround the aircraft, before the children smash it open like a piñata. Men in prison jumpsuits start to lower themselves out – before an entire troop escapes, replicated in CG by our VFX artists.
A dog with a limp and a kale coat – and an entirely CG head crafted by our team of artists – gets wet; he shakes himself down causing (hand animated) kale leaves and water droplets to fly through the air.
Andy Steele, CG lead, says: “We had a ‘kale of a time’ finding ways to bring this creature to life. There was no out-of-the box-solution to simulate thousands of kale leaves convincingly in slow motion, so we used a blend of specialist software and traditional hand-animation to craft the end result. This was such a great project to work on; it really stretched our CG artists - the fun was in the exploration that’s for sure!"
Droga5 NY
Ed Kaye and Alex Mavor (The Sacred Egg) @ Riff Raff Films
Jane Tredget
Ben Todd
MPC
Alex Lovejoy
Andy Steele
Louise Unwin
Tamara Mennell
Richard Fearon @ MPC
Sam Bould