Charli XCX x Samsung Galaxy Buds2
Director
I had the opportunity to direct a video that spoke very much to my passions: tech and music (specifically, totally badass hyper-pop star Charli XCX). The visuals of the film were inspired by AR, and the cinematography was lifted from the virtual cameras of video games. To accomplish this we employed Volumetric Capture, a technology typically reserved for AR/VR, to create a breakthrough linear social spot.
Read past the video for more details and explorations of where this technology can take film making.
Four Worlds
Four worlds. Four color. Four features. 30 seconds. Volumetric capture enabled the freedom to position our talent and set, then move the camera fluidly between each of the worlds. This allowed to both fully immerse the visual effects, and seamlessly transition between each of the four drastically different settings.
Olive, crystal clear sound. Sparkling water droplets while greenery moves to the tunes.
White, powerful bass. An LA rooftop that turns into Charli’s personal stage, shaking from the beat.
Lavender, comfort. A barren desert is transformed into an ethereal field of soft lavender flowers.
Onyx, long lasting battery. The beach comes alive as a night club, while Charli and the stars leave long-exposure trails behind, emphasizing how late they’re going into the night.
Volumetric Capture
The 3D digital twin of Charli gave full control of camera and environment in post.
Volumetric capture creates the freedom to do things otherwise prohibitively costly to execute.
With one shoot day on a Volume stage. We were able to capture the content necessary to place Charli in four distinct locations and build a visual playground of interactive elements.
After makeup and styling for Charli, and lighting the stage for each location, we captured Charli in photographic 3D. The resulting “digital twin” of Charli allowed complete control over placement and camera, while always maintaining a photographic quality.
With very little effort, we could apply different materials to the geometry, letting Charli transition between her photo-real self, and a liquid version (A true update to the classic “Waterfalls” effect!)
Because she exists in true 3D. Other effects such as refraction and reflection also work accurately, bringing another level of dynamism that would not be achievable with traditional production.
Charli turns turns into water, accurately refracting and reflecting in the bubbles and effecting the surface of the pool
The CG lighting was used to relight Charli as she activated it.
This spot demanded that Charli be in complete control of the world around her. The white world see’s Charli illuminating sculptural tubes of lightning as she dances.
The dramatic effect of precisely timing and re-lighting Charli with the CG lightning bolts creates the immersive interchange between our virtual world and the digital twin of Charli.
Long exposure effects were used to demonstrate the battery life of the buds.
Rather than simply over-cranking motion blur or echoing the footage, the volumetric capture allowed us to leave 3D stamps of Charli in space as she danced.
While the resulting effect in the film is subtle, its yet another example of the creative possibilities that volume capture enables.
3D models of Charli are frozen in time, creating a sculptural time lapse that tracks perfectly with the environment