Stardust's Designs Trick-out Scion xB

HOLLYWOOD—Bicoastal creative production company Stardust Studios recently contributed design, animation and visual-effects artistry to global creative agency ATTIK’s Scion “xB Swarm” :30 cinema/broadcast spot.  The ad was creatively combined with another new Scion ad and has run in theaters across the U.S. since May 27, and also debuted as a stand-alone :30 in broadcast and cable outlets on June 5.  The spot was directed by ATTIK co-founder and group creative director Simon Needham.

“Overall, this campaign illustrates how imaginative Scion owners personalize their vehicles with modifications,” explained Deborah Senior, Scion's national marketing and communications manager.  “In this particular spot, we see that inspiration for the transformation comes from a city scene, following the theme that inspiration can come from anywhere.” 

With live-action filmed on location in Bangkok, “xB Swarm” opens on a stock silver Scion xB moving through a nighttime urban setting, which transitions from live-action to animation when the vehicle turns into a parking garage.  In the animated world, the xB changes color and customizes itself using flowing design elements from neon signs and other practical objects.  At the spot’s end, the action transforms back to reality, presenting the newly tricked-out xB. 

“For this year’s brand campaign, we approached companies that we knew would deliver a hybrid look that was unique for each Scion model, but which would also match-up with the other new campaign spots,” Needham said.  “Stardust’s team brought a lot of artistry to our vision of ‘Swarm,’ and also worked closely with the team at Hydraulx to ensure that all the design elements flowed seamlessly into the finished spot.”

“We knew that ‘Swarm’ would need to visually and conceptually fit into the campaign, but also appreciated the opportunity to extend Simon’s vision with our own aesthetics,” said Jake Banks, Stardust’s executive creative director.  “It was a big challenge… and we’re thrilled with the results.”

Led by Banks, executive producer Eileen Doherty, art director Neil Tsai and producer Erin Sullivan, Stardust worked extensively with Needham and his colleagues to nail-down the concept, storyboard the action and produce previs and final animated elements.  The team used Maya 7 and 3D Studio Max 8 for graphics, CG cars and environments, and After Effects 7 for compositing. 

“This campaign breaks new ground in fusing style, design, visual effects and live-action,” added Neil Tsai, “and we're very proud to have contributed our talents to this visually stunning piece.”

BAFTA and VES-Award winning animation and visual effects company Hydraulx handled extensive 2D and 3D effects, editorial and finishing on each campaign spot. As Needham indicated, a key to the workflow was integrating design elements with live-action and final CGI models.  Commenting on those issues of the project, Eileen Doherty explained, “Working  with Hydraulx to get their 3D information, and having our fully animated action match up with theirs, required a lot of coordination to ensure everything came together perfectly.”

Along with Needham, ATTIK’s project team included creative director Wayne Hanson, design director Stan Zienka, copywriter Ariel Lustig, senior producer Michele Morrison and assistant producer Joseph Segrove.  Credits for the spot’s live-action production company Hazel Films include executive producer Jamee Natella and line producer Jordon Winter.  The spot’s music was composed by Tony Shimkin and Jonathan Florencio at bicoastal Face the Music, where Shimkin and Michael Schmidt also handled sound design.  A complete project credits listing is available upon request.