Glassworks Amsterdam Deals With RAW Materials

Glassworks Amsterdam Deals With RAW Materials

If you've been to the cinema recently there's a good chance you may have had the most visually arresting and aurally entertaining experience before the main feature even hit. Currently doing the circuits on big screens across the globe, the spectacular 'Art Of RAW' for G-Star RAW from Glassworks Amsterdam is a triumph in engaging content, matching exciting images with outstanding music (a specially commissioned piece from Skrillex).

Created directly for the brand by the Dutch post-house, the spot is a highly detailed macro-level journey through the denim-making process, featuring bouncing threads, intricate weaves and a dog that's a bit on the boney side. We spoke to Glassworks' MD Phil Linturn about the project, the benefits of working direct-to-client and the complexities of creating such a detailed piece.

How did Glassworks get involved with the G-STAR project?

Last summer we were approached by G-Star RAW directly. They shared a brief that just burst from the page. They explained that they wanted us to realise their campaign commercial to run online and in cinemas across the globe. The opportunity to collaborate with a client known for working with the best creative names in the business, and especially on their first commercial campaign, was both flattering and inspiring.

What was the creative process in working directly with the client? Did they come to you with a fully formed idea or did you develop it yourself?

As with the majority of our projects we are given a script or brief and are then asked for our creative input; something we really appreciate. G-Star's creative team wanted a macro-level journey through the denim-making process, within which it was very important to remain faithful to the core processes involved in creating their famous raw denim.

This framework gave us the opportunity to present our ideas for specific content and to flesh out the original idea with our own storyboard, to design the style frames and to edit the film. It was always the intention to focus on the details within the garment, and to leave the viewer with an appreciation for the beauty of the materials themselves, not simply the final product. To offer an interesting contrast to the realism of the materials, we chose to create a clean graphic layout for the shots and a very coordinated and choreographed animation style, whilst also playing with the conventions of macro photography.

What's the procedure in creating a job like this? How much time is spent planning, animating and rendering?

In comparison to regular TVC schedules, the timeline set out by the client was considered and practical. It enabled us to work with a compact but highly skilled team over a longer period; an ideal situation for maintaining quality control and consistency of styling.

Essentially, the pre-production period lasted for 6 weeks, allowing time for designing the look and feel of the film via style frames, and to storyboard out the action until we knew exactly what scenes we would be taking into production. The production period itself lasted for approximately 12 weeks with a team of 4 or 5 artists.

As the film has a cinema release, was it important that the fidelity of the image was a good as possible? Some of the textures are amazing.

Thanks! Texture and surface detail were always going to be key to the success of this film, and we're very happy with the results. The resolution of the film is 2k, for cinema, but we knew this in advance which helped us plan render times accordingly. We also knew that the dog would be appearing throughout the print campaign, which meant that, right from the start, we could factor in the intense detail needed in both the model and textures for that section.

How do you go about animating fabrics like this? Do you use source footage as a reference or are there clever computer things (technical term) that work it out?

Right at the start of the process we got our hands (and macro lenses) on as many samples as possible from the G-star RAW collection. Our CGI team even spent time at their HQ being walked through the production process, step by step, with one of their denim specialists. The clever computer things are simply our team of CGI artists who knew exactly how to translate those real-life textures into photo-real, but also interesting and artful, compositions.

There are of course some aspects of the film that can't simply be photographed and translated; elements like the fibres on the threads and also on the denim surface, the cotton burs and thread, and the indigo dye all have their own techniques and processes.

The dancing threads reminded us a little of the anthropomorphic objects in films like Fantasia and Cinderella. Are you guys closet Disney fans? Did you have any references?

Rumbled! 'Closet Disney fans' only scratches the surface ;)

In reality, the processes themselves dictated some of the compositions, although the seminal promo for Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' did influence the set-up for the indigo dye scene.
 

What was it like working directly with the client on the project? Did it differ from a more traditional agency-led campaign?

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 recently, 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.

It's hard to say that we prefer working with one group or another, as there are fantastic people to work with/for in every corner of the business. 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 the planned roll-out of the film and its elements?

The first release of G-Star Art of RAW was at the Bread & Butter fashion fair in Berlin on the 14th of January 2013, where they played the 15" teaser of the commercial on large screens as part of G-Star's Spring/Summer 2013 campaign marketing. On February 15th G-Star launched their Art of RAW campaign online on theartofraw.g-star.com, with this film being the centrepiece.

Furthermore, it will be played within their stores globally, and will also be released for cinemas worldwide, in both the original 60 sec format, as well as a 30 sec cut-down. The CGI skeleton dog is the leading visual throughout the Art of RAW campaign. Besides appearing in the print campaign, it can also be seen running up the Hong Kong subway.

What's up next for you?

Currently we're working on a huge fully-CGI stereoscopic piece for a theme park ride, bringing to life mythical worlds full of dragons, giants and castles. We are also just finishing full-production on a live-action TVC containing some great CGI characters that we designed, for which the head of our compositing department and our senior animator take joint directorial credit. It's a privilege that Glassworks gets such a diverse range of work; one day we're designing and directing a beautiful campaign like 'Art of RAW', and then we can dive straight into both live action and also stereoscopic CGI productions. It's great to be challenged like this.