Heckler Singapore’s creative director Cody Amos has just directed a steamy fully computer-generated campaign for Suntory BOSS Coffee with the release of ‘Ambition is BOSS’ via Australian indie agency It’s Friday.
Marking Heckler Singapore’s most premium photoreal-liquid CG project to date, Amos got to work on exploring an approach that would create a super realistic, attention-grabbing film.
Hovering in a clean abstract space, the audience is taken through the Suntory BOSS Coffee “flash brew” process. We see the striking glass “pour over” apparatus, the hot steam rising, and the rich coffee bubbling before it’s chilled over chunks of ice and is poured into the Suntory BOSS Coffee can.
Amos says: “The idea was to create something beautiful and carefully designed, elevated but grounded in reality.
“Using a CG approach gives you a very high level of control. We can craft every little aspect in CG and finesse and refine elements over time. Lighting decisions can be altered, and that little splash can be a little bit bigger!
“I was really keen to take on this project to show what our capabilities at Heckler are in the CG liquid space. My background is in effects simulations, and we’ve been building an amazing team, so I knew we could deliver something really cool. But as a studio, we haven’t done heaps of that kind of work just yet.
“The goal was realism. It needed to feel like authentic coffee, because the whole purpose of the film is to say ‘hey, Suntory BOSS Coffee is real coffee, pure and simple’. We also wanted to give it a stylistic look, with the whole device floating in the Boss-blue space. I really like where it landed.”
Heckler Singapore’s Effects Artist, Sen Ree, said: “The fun challenge on this project was creating the ice and how it organically melts onscreen in an authentic way. The trick was to make all the elements feel integrated and we are pretty thrilled with the results!”
It’s Friday, Chief Operating Officer, Jeremy de Villiers, adds: “Our team couldn’t be happier with how this campaign has come together. The level of care, detail and craft shown by Cody and the team is second to none. Creating this kind of work demands a highly collaborative and flexible approach – and the Heckler team delivered this in spades.”
Credits
Client: Frucor Suntory
VP Brand Development: Penny Cheung
Marketing and Innovation Director: Amy Hiscock
Senior Brand Manager: Chris Henbrey
Creative Agency: It’s Friday
Production: Darren Bailey: Generator United
Live Action Production
Company: Scoundrel
Producer: Renee Nadid
Executive Producer: Kate Gooden
VFX: Heckler Sydney & Heckler Singapore
Executive Producer: Will Alexander
Director: Cody Amos
Head of Production: Amy Jarman
Flame Online: Julian Ford
Houdini Effects Artist: Sen Ree Ooi
3D Artists: Dani Planas & Joan Divins
Sound & Music
Music Composition + Sound Design: Squeak E. Clean Studios
