Dia de los Muertos: A Magically Creative Collaboration
StudioTribe, a local CGI, Creative Imaging, Photography, & Motion Graphics post-production studio, recently partnered with Jarritos’ AOR, WALO, to create three animated spots showcasing Jarritos MXCN Cola. The video spots are centered around the tradition of the Dia de los Muertos celebration and show, through a sequence of events, the magic of Jarritos’ MXCN Cola and how much it is loved – even in the afterlife.
If you’re already familiar with StudioTribe, you know that they are great at CGI & Creative Imaging. This project allowed them to utilize an array of other services they offer including motion capture, videography, post-production, visual fx, color grading, & animation.
And if you DON’T already know of StudioTribe, now’s your time to wake up from the DEAD!
With inspiration, conceptual sketches and color references from the team at WALO, Tribe got to work beginning with three phases of shooting:
Shoot Day #1: Motion Capture: Photographer/Videographer, Joel Parés’, shot the green screen footage while Animator, Paul Miller, captured the motion data needed to make the animated characters come to life.
Shoot Day #2: The Altar: An elaborate set was created for filming the altar for the above ground segments. Old photos, frames, beads, bread and many other wonderful offerings were sourced to style the muy autentíco scene along with hand carved and painted styrofoam tombstones, marigolds and candles . . . lots & lots of candles.
Shoot Day #3: The Underworld: A miniature set was constructed and filmed to create the environment for the underworld scenes. StudioTribe artist, Kyle Wood, meticulously built a miniature model of the underworld using modeling clay, dirt, teeny-tiny rocks, cardboard, and glue. The Mayan temple designs in the back of the crypt were carved by hand for authenticity.
At the same time physical props and sets were being built & filmed, 3D artist, William Wardy, was busy modeling, texturing and lighting the 3D artwork created in preparation for animation.
Once the 3D models were ready, the animation phase began by “rigging” the skeleton characters. The motion capture data was then transferred to the skeleton characters and tweaked for better tracking & to enhance the visual story.
As the various assets were coming together, Post-production Editor, Tommy Tate, built the foundation for the scenes; first with animatics that he created using WALO’s storyboards, cutting them to music, layering in the composited 2D assets & effects, and then animating for final cuts. Valerie Moore, Digital Artist, did the final color grading bringing all the visuals to life.
Jarritos posted these animations on Facebook & YouTube and at the time of this post, have garnered over a half million views. Now that you know how each spot was created, check them out individually for yourself here:
Altar
Fiesta
Mariposa
