Eight VFX and ATTIK create pre-launch ad campagin for the 2008 Scion xB

Global creative and brand-engineering agency ATTIK's pre-launch campaign for the 2008 Scion xB continues to build momentum, and the latest entry showcases character animation by Eight VFX. The 3:30 web-only spot entitled "Hammer" was directed by Chelsea Pictures' Larry Frey, and it debuted on the web destination want2Bsquare.com on March 15."Hammer" tells the story of a big man and a little black box engaged in a battle of wills.

Distinctly European in tone, the short opens with a man perplexed by the appearance of an odd-looking black box in the middle of an apartment. He tries all the obvious things - lifting, pulling, shoving, kicking - but the box won't move. Even striking the box with heavy objects fails to affect any result. An equally stocky cohort stops by to take a crack at moving the box, but even repeated swings with a sledge hammer and a go with a chainsaw fail to do the trick. The box does move, eventually, stirring oddly and emerging from the floor...to reveal itself as a small robotic creature with a box for a head. The robot is a bit dazed, and none too happy about the treatment he has received. In fact, he kicks each man in the shin, before dizzily wobbling out of the room.

According to Eight VFX Supervisor Jean-Marc Demmer, the project's appeal was twofold: creative freedom and the chance to do some serious character animation. "We loved the fact that Scion was affording us a lot of creative freedom within this expansive and very diversified campaign," he said. "They just wanted this to be strange, cool, and artistic. And we felt it was a perfect character animation project for Eight."

"Larry loves the European sensibility, and when we were communicating we were on the same page," noted VFX AD/Animator Yann Mallard of the director. "He also draws quite well, he's very skilled, which helped us tremendously."

Originally, the team planned to create a visual effect to enhance a practical robot based on Frey's sketches, but eventually a completely CG robot was preferred. "Based on the practical robot that was produced, we were able to craft a great CG model," Mallard said.

While the robot does not appear until the film's climax, Mallard pointed out that the action builds up the expectation of the audience. "The more you focus on the box, which is very strange to begin with, the more they beat it, try to destroy it, the greater a sense of immense weight is created, building the suspense," he said. "As viewers, we are amazed that this creature can emerge. And when it does, it has to move in a way that makes sense. He's been through a lot, after all."