Face to Face with... Rudiger Kaltenhauser

German-born Rudiger Kaltenhaeser is head of 3D at Glassworks Amsterdam. Having studied in Germany at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, he moved to London having bagged a job at the company’s UK office and spent two years in the capital before swapping the Tube for a bicycle when the Dutch base opened.

Recently the company pulled together on a high-profile job for G-Star RAW which Kaltenhauser spearheaded direct-to-client, including taking on the direction of the commercial (below). Having spent months on the complicated technical job, the creative talent talks us through the production steps, tells us about becoming a father of twins during the process and looks ahead to summertime on the local canals.

What’s happening in your recent G-Star RAW spot? There’re some jeans, a skeleton and some running action…

G-Star creates denim art objects, of which the skeleton dog wearing a denim jacket is a signature piece. The film shows the creation of this art piece as a dramatic journey through their denim-making process (or a stylised version of it), with which the viewer can witness everything from the untreated cotton burs all the way to the final denim object. We aimed to leave the viewer with a sense of the beauty of the raw denim material itself, not just the end product.

What appealed to you about the job?

I recognise that G-Star is a very iconic Dutch brand, which has created a strong identity, and it was appealing to play a part in its creative output. The brief from their creative team gave us the opportunity to develop a really rich and textured film, as well as the chance to storyboard, design the style frames and to create the final edit ourselves. As one of Glassworks’ core strengths is to create photo-realistic CGI, it was a great challenge to create a texturing/lighting set-up that allowed the beauty of each step of the denim-making process to be clearly understood, whilst also satisfying the expectations of the G-Star denim specialists.

Tell us about the production process and the challenges involved with such a brief?

To get an interesting contrast to the realism of the materials, my idea was to create a clean graphic layout for the shots and a very coordinated and choreographed animation while also having all the little details that makes it look like macro photography.

Our goal was to create the feeling of a journey with a naturally flowing edit from one sequence to the next. During storyboarding and 3D layout, we were in close contact with G-Star to make sure our film remained true to the processes involved in denim-making. We actually changed the dying sequence completely at the layout stage because it was too far away from the real dying procedure. This Film was all about the material. So it was crucial to achieve a super photo-realistic look that would stand up to the critical eyes of the denim experts.

As we figured every sequence needed its own approach, we decided to split the job up into sequences rather than departments. So every sequence was handled by a different artist at Glassworks who would then take ownership of the whole shot, from the models and rigging, all the way to texturing and rendering. This led to a lot of different ways of setting up the ropes and threads, but each specifically met the needs of that specific shot. The cotton sequence is largely created using Softimage ice strands, the weaving sequence uses curve-deformed geometry for the threads, whereas the denim fabric seen in the stitching and button shots was created using hires textures and displacement maps. To maintain a clear continuity throughout the constantly changing threads, each artist always referred back to the hi-res macro photographs of the real G-Star denim, rather than trying to match what another artist had made.

What was it like supervising all the other 3D artists and how long was the job?

We work with an excellent team consisting of our own 3D seniors as well as our trusted regular freelancers, so I was sure everyone would deliver top quality work.

Two things were challenging from a director’s point of view. Firstly, as mentioned before, we assigned the different sequences to different artists. We had to make sure that every shot not only looked good on its own, but also maintained a consistent look and feel throughout the whole film. Before the actual production of the shots, I spent about eight weeks creating the storyboard, 3D animatic and a detailed colour board, with two to four key images per shot. The Artists used the animatic 3D files as a starting point for their scenes, and the colour board and reference images as guidelines for the styling of their shots.

Secondly, while translating the animatic and the more stylised colour board into a final shot, there are always a lot of creative decisions the 3D artist will have to make. Finding the right balance between accepting the advice and suggestions of the other artists on the team, and of course pushing for my own original creative vision is a complex negotiation, but absolutely vital to the creative process.

I spent about two months in pre-production (often between other projects), followed by a production schedule of just over three months, with an average of four or five 3D Artists on board.

The Art of RAW was quite a life-changing project for me, as I became a father of twins halfway through... so quite a productive time overall, I think!

Congratulations! Back to work though. Did you choose the music to support the piece and if so, how much did this influence the direction?

G-Star has a solid history of collaborating with leading creative talent, so we suspected they would be pushing for someone pretty special for this piece. Even as early as the storyboarding stage, it became clear that they were likely to secure Skrillex to contribute the soundtrack. We sent him works in progress regularly which he used for the timing of the track. To get a general feel for the mood and pacing of the film we used an existing Skrillex track as a place-holder.

You’ve directed some big projects for Glassworks now; was it always your intention to direct, and do you feel it’s an essential to take on the direction for a post-heavy job?

After my first internship at a 3D company, I went to study at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg at their Institute for Animation and Visual Effects. I wanted to train in not only animation, but also to learn about the creative steps involved in CG filmmaking. This naturally involved storyboarding, layout and production design. I think a 3D artist has to make a lot of creative decisions already, and I always liked the challenges of a more open brief. So for me it was the logical next step to take on the responsibility for a whole project. I think some of the nicest CG/animation pieces in recent years have come from hands-on CG directors with a background as a 3D Artist. They know the medium very well, are able to handle the pre-production and design stage and can then work alongside the other 3D artists on the production on the final shots.

Tell us a bit more about the direct-to-client process and relationship?

Typically we still work closest with advertising agencies or production companies, but G-Star approached us directly in this instance as they have their own creative team and were interested in partnering with a company that matched their creative vision and standards.

We have noticed a broadening in our client base of late, something that we attribute to the current state of the market, forcing clients to re-evaluate the way that they use their budgets. If they feel that we can bring something special to their brand, then we approach their brief with the same dedication and enthusiasm as we would for any agency or production company. We just want to work with like-minded creatives that strive for innovation and beauty; people that will push us further and bring out our best work.

What’s your favourite thing about working in Amsterdam?

One of the nicest things to do in summer is to get all our clients, friends and current freelancers together for a little spin on the Amsterdam Canals with our Glassworks boat. We're currently experiencing a little bout of engine failure however, so it's rowing lessons for everyone... I was only planning on working in Amsterdam for a year before returning to Germany, but Amsterdam is such a great city that I stayed. I’ve been here for five years now and have no plans to move.

If you could make this spot again, with another product, what would it be?

Not sure about another product, but what we have already created is a beautiful flowing mane of CGI hair and attached it to the skeleton dog to transform it into a lion. It was a special request of little Kian Geerts, the four-year-old son of Markus, the 3D artist who created the dog.