Minneapolis, MN - (March 19, 2007) - To create a stunning promo for
Discovery Channel's new series, "Expedition Borneo," film production and
motion design company Mrs. K commissioned its creative partners at
motion504, a design and animation studio.
"Expedition Borneo" features a team of jungle specialists-scientists, climbers and wildlife filmmakers - who explore the remote island of Borneo
and track down its endangered species as part of a conservation effort.
The promo opens on a gentle floating ride through clouds before taking a
violent dive into a remote island. As the camera pulls back out through the
darkness of trees, motion graphics, set against a hazy moonlit night, introduce the show's title, "Expedition Borneo."
"This Discovery series is unique in that it is an extreme version of science
research," explains Mitch Monson, Creative Director of Mrs. K. "The scientists are survivalists who traverse the third largest island in the
world via helicopter, canoes and climbing. The spots had to capture the
intensity, danger and excitement of their wildlife experiences. motion504
created a rich and natural piece that felt more like a soft, surreal, live-action sequence than traditional CGI. They also did a great job of incorporating After Effects and 3D together between all of their artists, and maintaining an integrated 2D and 3D process."
"Our goal in the animation was to show both sides of Borneo, the beautiful
and the dangerous," says Andy Reynolds, Founder & Creative Director of
motion504. "Aside from the show clips, the promo is completely computer-generated imagery. Working collaboratively with Mrs. K, we were able to create a fantastic, photorealistic world."
During initial discussions, Mrs. K presented an image of airplanes above
clouds as visual reference. From there, motion504 created animatics of the
clouds and master camera moves in Lightwave. These elements were then
imported into Cinema 4D, Vue and After Effects to develop photorealistic
clouds, water and vegetation, as well as lighting and movement on the
island. The floating Discovery Channel logos also had to fit convincingly
into the real-looking environment. Compositing, cloud layers and final color
grading were done in After Effects while multi-pass rendering was achieved
in Cinema 4D and Vue.
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