IDEA

Established in 1993, Embassy Group is a real-estate developer based in Bengaluru, India. With a mission to refine and redefine life spaces over the last two decades, they have emerged as India’s largest premiere office space builders.

Embassy approached us for a corporate film that showcases their philosophy, vision and a glimpse of their growing portfolio over the years.

CHALLENGE

Multiple storyboards were made to best present the Embassy Group vision without having to flaunt buildings and structures, as the film was about the philosophy, not the product. The team brainstormed using just blocks – a simple representation of infrastructure.

Though the metaphor worked well and we chalked out an interesting storyboard, the pattern turned out monotonous – contrary to our initial plan. It was decided that real people would be used, and there would be a mashup of styles, giving us more freedom to play around with various elements. The orange, which was the brand colour, would pop out in the film. The grading for all other colours was left desaturated.

PRODUCTION

When the final storyboard was ready, it was just the beginning. Drawing out the complex metaphors, calculations and measurements, and communicating these ideas to the crew for execution was a challenge.

When we work on such films, it also involves a learning curve for those parties who have no prior experience of working on this scale. It’s not just about the delivery of the product but also about training and empowering others in the process. We did a complete pre-visualisation in 3D and began production.

During the intensive 4-day shoot, we changed up a lot of shots on set. Creating all the visual illusions with minimal use of VFX was a challenge. With ambitious concepts like these, things don’t always go as planned (and that’s okay). Because of those alterations, the post-production process was heavier than we had anticipated. We had totally spent 3 months on production after the concept was locked.

CREDITS

Design and Direction: Suresh Eriyat
Executive Producer: Nilima Eriyat
Client: Embassy Group
Agency: Bates CHI & Partners
Chief Creative Officer: Monmohan Anchan (Maac)
Creative Team: Vinod Chandran and Sunil Krishnan
Account Management: Naveen Raman, Chitrangda Gupta
Producer: Sagar Bhanushali
DOP: Sylvester Fonseca
Music Director: Sandeep Patil and Dharam Bhatt
Sound Engineer: Arun Crasto
Art Direction: Rinku Mishra (Sharpline Arts)
Editor: Tathagata Basu
Colourist: Metin Okutay (Nube Studios)
VO Artist: John Owen
Line Producer: Ritesh Vyas

Chief Asst. Director: Nirmaan D Geeta
2nd Asst. Director: Soorej Rajagopal

In-house Asst. Directors: Punya Krishnan and HImanshu Patel
In-house Editor: Tintu K. Philip

Production Manager: Vinod Mohan
1st AC: Antony Binu
2nd AC: Sejal Kothari
Focus Puller: Pradeep V Pasthe
Costume Stylist: Monica Bhanushali
Hair and Make-up Stylist: Jd Jagtap
Casting: Shahnaz Nomani
Art Assistants: Shivani Singh, Alpita Parkar, Amol Chitte

Pre-Production
Storyboard: Amey Dhamanaskar
3D Previz: Nilesh Dhore and Priyansh Gupta
Miniature Previz: Ajinkya Udmale and Amey Dhamanaskar
Stop Motion Animation: Sanjay Patkar, Ajinkya Udmale, Charulata Bendale

CG and Animation
3D Modelling: Adrian Fernandes
3D Texturing, Animation, Lighting, Rendering: Studio V Sync
In-house VFX Supervisor: Nitesh Dhore, Priyansh Gupta
Rotoscopy: Studio V Sync
Matte Paint: Nijin Nazeem, Amey Dhamanaskar, Ajinkya Udmale, Jaimeen Desai, Nilesh Dhore and Studio V Sync
Post Production Coordinator: Jivan Gaikawad

RESPONSES

This was meant to be a digital film. The film was loved so much, that the good fellows at Embassy Group decided to air it on TV and did so extensively! The full version of 100 seconds was aired throughout the campaign.