The commercial and VR divisions of Golden Globe-nominated digital studio Reel FX, and its director Elliot Dillman, teamed up with Leo Burnett out of Detroit, for client GMC on a live-action and virtual reality production. In honor of Military Appreciation Month, and as part of the ongoing relationship between veteran support program Building for America’s Bravest, GMC’s #enlistme campaign launched on May 20, 2016. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness and donations in support of the over 200 injured service members waiting for life-changing smart homes.
Stephen Valyou
The campaign features unique content pieces centered on the moving stories of two severely injured veterans who took an amazing leap in the form of a skydive, and invited viewers to come along for the ride virtually on May 21 through a Facebook 360 video, and other impactful content introduced by actor, Josh Duhamel. He was enlisted by GMC as campaign ambassador, and accompanied veterans SSG Stephen Valyou and Cpl. Todd Love as they prepared to surmount their disabilities and take a monumental jump to support injured service members waiting for life-changing smart homes – their jump represents the independence that these homes can bring to the lives of injured service members.
SSG Stephen Valyou, Cpl. Todd Love and Josh Duhamel
The campaign includes four :30 second teaser videos (“Todd”, “Stephen”, “Prep” and “Anticipation”), a :60 featurette (“The Jump”), plus a :90 virtual reality skydive experience entitled “GMC #enlistme 360 Skydive”. Since launch the video has garnered over 8.3MM views.
Reel FX handled both the traditional live-action and 360° content pieces “soup-to-nuts” including all elements of production and post-production from its Dallas headquarters.
Shot in Perris, California, Reel FX director Elliot Dillman made two jumps prior to the shoot to ensure that the jump day was a success. The team shot the five pieces over four separate jumps, utilizing multiple cameras to capture the footage for both the live action video pieces (Shot on a RED Dragon) and the 360° video shot with custom GoPro rigs. The :90 360° video experience allows viewers to virtually experience the jump alongside the veterans, also taking in immersive views of the moments leading up to the jump and the triumphant landing.
Watch jump below…
https://youtu.be/Vp_3mHNuwi0
Reel FX Credits:
Client – GMC
Agency – Leo Burnett Detroit
Director – Elliot Dillman
Head of Production – Jim Riche
General Manager – Commercial – David Bates
General Manager- VR & Interactive – Steve Nix
Editor (Live-Action pieces) – Greg Sunmark
Editor (360 Content) – Quan Tran
Executive Producer – Live Action – Steve Johnson
Executive Producer – Virtual Reality – Taylor Williams
Senior Producer – Marcie Teague
Production Manager – Rachel Bradley
Director of Photography – Samuel Brownfield
Aerial Director of Photography – Craig O’Brien
VFX Artists – Laychin Lee, Dan Margules
Stitching Supervisor – Lyn Caudle
Lead Stitching Artist – Matt Stocks
Stitching Artists – Shannon Walsh, Kelsey Craig, Doug Hogan, Jessica Hogan
Stitching Technical Directors – Ryan Hartsell, Dylan Rogers
Audio Engineer – Frank Pittenger
Editorial Assistant – Steven Happel
Production Coordinator – Julia Gibson
