CREATIVE REVIEW: Discovery Channel promo

Client Discovery Creative London and Think Make Create

Post Unit

Brief Post-produce a VFX-heavy TV and digital film for Casio Edifice watches’ sponsorship of Discovery Channel.

How it was done Unit created the extensive CG work, intricate sound design and graphic work on this Tron-like sponsorship film. The promo showcases the ‘speed and intelligence’ of Casio Edifice watches, using the tagline ‘Engineering sponsored by Casio Edifice, Connected Technology’.

It’s the fifth year that Casio has sponsored Discovery with its range of Edifice watches. For this year’s campaign, the aim was to emphasise how

the watches are “full of clever, connected technology”, said Discovery Creative creative director Lee Healy. “The challenge was to highlight these features in a unique and memorable way.”

The idea was to focus on a high-speed race against time around the internal workings of a Casio Edifice watch.

Marcus Jones, director at creative agency Think Make Create, explained the thinking behind the film: “Casio Edifice’s relationship with Formula 1 teams Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso inspired us to set the film in a world where reality has shrunk to watch level and the action takes us inside the timepiece. Overcoming the challenge of miniaturising the ‘watch world’ without reducing the gravitas of the watch and racing car was paramount.”

Unit’s task was to bring this creative vision to life. Unit’s head of broadcast and branding, executive producer Kevin Docherty, said: “Marcus’s great creative idea allowed our artists to let loose. The result is amazing and looks stunning.”

Tito Fernandes, who led the CG work on the film, explains that Unit created a ‘pitch-vis’ to visualise, at pitch stage, the CG approach the company wanted to take on the film. “It immediately gave everyone an impression of the speed, cameras, visual language and so on. It also became a clear internal communication tool.”

Once the job was confirmed, Unit received the watch data and used it to create a detailed pre-vis which, Fernandes said, “allowed everything to fall into the right place”.

Next, Fernandes developed what he described as a “rigid methodological structure” to make it possible for 60 seconds-worth of CG to be created very quickly. “The tasks were carefully assigned and executed, exploring the best camera work for each of the shots approved in pre-vis.”

The film’s sound was created by Unit’s senior sound designer Chris Southwell, who used early VFX renders to begin planning the sound design. He said: “This project was all about matching sound design to the amazing visual effects. After speaking with Marcus, it was clear Tron: Legacy would be a useful reference for the sound effects. I spent time creating synth elements, mixed with real engines and a few other little tricks to bring the visuals to life.”

Watch it Discovery Channel now