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When auto insurance company Geico and ad agency The Martin
Agency approached Framestore NY about creating nine new spots
featuring the beloved Geico Gecko, it was clear from the outset
they wanted much more than variations on a trusted theme and
mascot.
"I believe the key to the success of a spot often lies
in having a relationship with your client that encourages
good communication," says Framestore NY President Jon
Collins. "We had already developed a good working relationship
with the guys at The Martin Agency since working on Miller
Light earlier this year and I was very happy that we were
given an opportunity to work closely with the team at Geico
as well from the outset."
Jon continued, "Naturally we were delighted when we were
awarded the job but we knew this was already a strong iconic
character and took the responsibility of working on the Gecko
very seriously. At the same time we were all excited about
taking the character further and to do this we drew on techniques
that we'd developed as early as working on Walking with
Dinosaurs through to the underwater sequence in Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
Framestore NY Lead CG Animator/Effects Supervisor Dave Hulin
commented, "Our role was similar to that of an acting
coach. We used our CG experience to train the new Gecko guy
to act cheekier and show a lot more 'sales savvy.' Ultimately
we honed an East End geezer type performance, and his cockney
accent and mannerisms make for tons of fresh comedic possibilities."
The challenging project required far more than a simple change
in accent or flexibility or animation, however. In attempting
what amounts to a near-complete reinvention of a cherished
character, The Martin Agency knew they had their work cut
out for them. In choosing Framestore NY, the agency understood
they would be helped by the creative minds behind such 3D
triumphs as Walking with Dinosaurs, Dinotopia and the formidable "merpeople" in Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire.
Drawing on their hard-earned and much-celebrated creature
animation experiences, the Framestore NY team accomplished
that most difficult of tasks: making something old new again.
In doing so, Framestore NY created a more complete and enduring
animated character capable of inhabiting a wide variety of
scenarios:
"The new Gecko is able to sit down and climb things in
every conceivable situation," says Hulin proudly. "There's
no longer any need to create a new Gecko every time a different
scripted scenario came up. Both Geico and The Martin Agency
wanted to be able to take the Gecko in completely new directions.
Working on projects like Walking with Dinosaurs and
Harry Potter certainly gave us great ideas about
how to approach this much smaller, more amusing creature."
Spreading the News
"Big News," the first of the new spots, reveals
the new Gecko attempting to recruit other lizards to "spread
the word" about the benefits of Geico car insurance.
As he does so, the new Gecko announces his presence with
humorous authority. To an audience of three, he declares
that without his message, Geico's offerings are but a "wee
orphan of truth looking for a home…in someone's ear."
His prospective salesmen promptly scatter, causing the surprised
Gecko to mutter: "That was easy!" "We gave him a full overhaul," says Hulin. "We
were so into it, we bought our own pet gecko for texture
and animation reference purposes. Using a mixture of Alias
Maya, Apple Shake and mental ray rendering, we gave him
a better skin shader, which gives his skin texture a more
realistic quality. The agency wanted him to have very human
gestures; he's just a regular bloke, after all. We broke
away from the very precise anatomical proportions and giving
him slightly longer arms and legs that we could articulate
to make him more expressive. The lip sync was also quite
challenging; he does a lot of talking in 30 seconds, and
his cockney accent causes him to combine several words in
one go. It's a very subtle style of animation for a spot
like this. It’s been great fun to do."
Hulin and his team of ten animators worked on the nine spot
package for four months. The large number of spots has made
an efficient effects pipeline a crucial part of the project.
"Early on, [Framestore Animator] Andy Walker and I
created a tailor-made animation pipeline for the Gecko,"
says Hulin. "That pipeline has made the lighting and
the rendering very smooth. This is a very emotional performance
from the Gecko. We want to make sure that he performs and
looks as good as he possibly can."
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