August saw Adidas Originals and agency Hypebeast roll out a new campaign in China promoting the ‘reborn’ classic shoe Ozweego led by a star studded and effects-laden hero commercial.
The lead spot is fronted by C-Pop singer/dancer/actor Jackson Lee, who is depicted as carving the shoe for Japanese influencer Lala Takahashi and rapper Dough-Boy.
The 30-second film is based on the idea of ‘reworking the past to create a new future’ and includes a set of vignettes showing the evolution from the 1998 classic OZWEEGO to the new design.
This plays out with Yee crafting the shoe initially with a chisel and hammer and then later with a contemporary 3D printer, while adidas-clad mannequins spring to life to walk with Takahashi, while Dough-Boy morphs into cuboid graphics whilst performing on stage.
The video, which runs across TV and online platforms, creative agency Hypebeast teamed up design and VFX studio Fin Design + Effects to create the special effects for the spot.
The campaign was created for the Adidas OZWEEGO by a team from agency Hypebeast, with production by GTONE, the joint director and creative director was Crystal Choi, post production was by Fin Design + Effects, the VFX supervisors were Justin Bromley & Robert Grbevski, the producer was Isabelle Howarth and the head of visual effects was Alastair Stephen.
“Hypebeast’s Crystal Choi approached us with a refreshingly clear and succinct vision. This was one of the things that initially drew us to the project as we knew we could get stuck into the production straight away – leaving ample room for creative adjustments,” commented Fin Design + Effects Head of Visual Effects Alastair Stephen.
“Crystal had very clear references for the visuals she wanted and was open to technical advice on how we could craft this. It’s a very design-centric spot, so our main challenge was constantly being mindful of achieving visuals that were true to Crystal’s design sensibility. ”
Fin VFX Supervisor Robert Grbevski added: “Technically-speaking, the film required us to cover a whole range of CG disciplines. It made for an interesting palette of design, ranging from more abstract sequences such as the cuboid figures, which were achieved in Houdini, to the more traditional photoreal effects such as the mannequins, which we achieved in Maya. We executed most of the work in Houdini – for example where the old Ozweegos evolve into the new model – as it was well-suited to the design-centric nature of the project. Compositing was all finalised in Flame.”
Comment:
Highly stylised and visually impactful, this is classic commercial craft from the heyday of advertising.
Which, somehow makes it feel a little old school.
This China creative follows on from the global relaunch work for the Ozweego led by a hero ‘Powered By The Past’spot.
Links:
adidas
http://www.weibo.com/shopadidas?locale=zh_CN
Hypebeast ZH
https://www.facebook.com/Hypebeastcn/
https://www.instagram.com/hypebeast.hk/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC58qIGYnSiMnNhFXanjxHTA
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.