GE 'Crane'

Framestore has completed a visually stunning spot for GE – Crane. The spot debuted on the opening night of the XVIII Olympics. “The opportunity to work on this beautiful and whimsical spot, and to have it broadcast during this international event, was a real privilege for us,” says Laney Gradus Head of Production.

 

Crane integrates the visual metaphor of the beauty and balance of nature with the eco-engineering of GE’s GEnx jet engine. The creative challenge was twofold. First, to integrate our CG Crane with back plates shot in Thailand and live cranes shot in Wisconsin and secondly, to build and light a jet plane and the GE engine.

 

“Being on location with the cranes, and studying their characters and the nuances of their movements, was an enormous aid in translating this information to the animation team,” says Kevin Rooney Lead and Senior Animator for the spot. “Our goal was to have a seamless transition between live action and CG cranes, and also to inject a bit of humor."

 

Andy Walker, CG Lead, referring to the running take off shot of the crane says, “It is quite unusual to have such a long focused shot on a creature. We were presented with a huge animation and rendering challenge, which we successfully met.” Walker went on to add,  “The lighting and texturing of the jet and GE engine was so successful it was able to convince the GE engine experts”

 

Murray Butler, Lead Flame Artist on the job recalls, “Weather problems in Thailand meant some plates had very striking lighting, while some were flat. We added stills of sunlit rocks and clouds to certain scenes to bring them to life, creating a low light, end of day feel that we also applied to the green screen cranes. It tied all the disparate elements together nicely. The 3D lighting guys were able to match this look so you don't know where the real cranes end and the CGI ones begin."

 

The turtles were also created by Framestore in CGI.