Play The Spot

Westpac

Help. It's what Australians do

Westpac launched its latest work via DDB Sydney, which embraces the quintessential Australian spirit of mateship and people helping people.

With production from EXIT FILMS and Director Mark Molloy, the TV spot is set to David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ covered by Gang of Youths.

Alt.vfx handled all of the visual effects for the epic spot, including a stunning recreation of the historical building of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Colin Renshaw, VFX supervisor, said: “The challenge with the Westpac project was the scale of the visual effects required – Mark’s vision was far bigger than contained set pieces hinting at the construction of the harbour bridge or the goldrush era Sovereign Hill. The Agency and Director wanted to show everything we could and not pull any punches. That required hours of painstaking research and thousands of 3D models that would be seen at multiple angles.

“We built the complete harbour bridge in CG, down to the last rivet, and then deconstructed a section based on archival photography. We even matched the cranes and infrastructure they used. We also had to re-create an accurate 1930s Sydney Harbor, down to recreating the foreshore as it was – not what it was now. All of that then had to be blended with the live action footage of the actors.

“While they were definitely big challenges, creating a convincing flood sequence from live action footage shot in a dam turned out to be the most time consuming. We completed hundreds of simulations of flood water to get the right speed and eddying and the right amount of debris.”

TAG: , ,

DIRECTOR
Mark Molloy
PRODUCTION Co.
EXIT FILMS
CLIENT
Westpac
AGENCY
DDB Sydney
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