Heckler Singapore lights up the city skyline in new campaign for Downy

Creating a magical city skyline for Downy Mystique’s latest campaign, Heckler Singapore was commissioned by Publicis Fluid Singapore and Big Blue Productions, Thailand, to bring to life a stunning penthouse-style city backdrop that transitions from night to day.

Heckler created a detailed CG city skyline that allowed for unparalleled control over every aspect – from the layout to the lighting, even the specific time of day. Such control allowed the team to tailor the environment precisely to their creative vision.

Working alongside director Antony Redman, Heckler’s CG team delivered a photoreal city that was mounted on LED screens on set and brought to life in-camera.

Additionally, Heckler created an epic sequence to show off the Downy pack, and its ‘night pearl’ ingredients. The night pearls encounter the clothing, resulting in a flower explosion that was all animated and simulated using Houdini.

Heckler’s executive producer, Charu Menon, says: “We created the photoreal CG city and rendered it in three different lighting conditions. This also meant we captured gorgeous in-camera reflections of the city which would’ve been impossible to do with green screen, ultimately elevating the film while efficiently meeting the project’s budget demands.

“It’s virtual production just without the aspect of real-time rendering. We used pre-rendered sequences, but in a lot of ways, it was similar to virtual production where so much of the post happens in pre, and once we finished the shoot and edit, we pretty much had a finished film!”

Credits
Client: Downy
Advertising Agency: Publicis Fluid Singapore
Production Company: Bigblue Production
Director: Antony Redman
Cinematographer: Joke Pirachat
Editor: Dave Singh
Post Production & VFX: Heckler Singapore
VFX Supervisor: Cody Amos
Executive Producer: Charu Menon
3D Artists: Woon Yen Cheng, Danielle Melianti, Sen Ree Ooi, Shazni Muhammad, Mohammad Nizam Compositors: Johnson Lim, Davor Zec & Azreena Ahmad
Flame Artist: Abi Santos
IO: Michael Taye & Craig Woo