subway - elfventure
Eve is a lovable, mischievous Christmas tree ornament elf who is absolutely obsessed with Subway cookies. We had a ball teaming up with Publicis Worldwide to create Eve and bring her cookie heist to life for Subway’s Christmas Cookie campaign.
As well as designing the character and providing animation and visual effects, the campaign was directed by Zenon and Ian. This meant that we could work closely with Creative Director David Schaack to bring his vision to life.
The Process
DESIGNING AN ELF
Elfie’s small size contributes to the epicness of her journey as her nimble, flexible legs and strong, sturdy arms give her the ability to flying-fox down a string of Christmas lights, leap over the giant family dog, clamber onto the mountainous sofa and bounce off a plush Santa’s head.
Her expression range allows for extremes of expression while she’s performing her stunts, with particular attention paid to her ‘cookie-gazing’ expression - one of awe and delight.
TEXTURING
She was designed to look slightly worn, like a favourite ornament purposefully placed at the front of the tree. Small details like fingerprints on her hat, raised stitching on her felt tunic, and her sculpted hair whorls all ensure she belongs in the real world.
Preprod - boards and animatic
Live-action shoot
Prop design and builds
Tracking and match-build of the set
3D character animation in Maya
Simulation of sauce explosion in Houdini
Lighting in Houdini
Compositing in Nuke and Flame
The team
Subway ANZ
Director of Marketing: Rodica Titeica
Marketing Manager: Luciana Vorkas
Assistant Marketing Manager: Zoe Stuart
Subway APAC
Region CMO - Mandy Mak
Head of Marketing and Digital - Ling Ang
Agency: Publicis Brisbane
Executive Creative Director : Ryan Petie
Creative Director: David Schaak
Executive Production Director: Vicki Lee
Senior Producer: Natalie Mitchell
Chief Client Office: Kate Lippett
Senior Account Manager: Crystal Davis
Account Executive: Matisse Sipa Borgeaud
Strategy Director: Mike Redfern
Production by Edge Studio
Director: Zenon Kohler and Ian Anderson
Producer: Nick Wolff
1st AD: Andrew McInally
Production Manager: Lucy Ratz
Director of Photography: Jason Hargreaves
Gaffer: Glenn Jones
Key Grip: Marcus Ballantine
Art Director: Justine Dunn
Food Stylist: Emma Costello
Animation and VFX by Squeak
Creative Director/VFX Supervisor: Zenon Kohler
Animation Director: Ian Anderson
Assets: Andrew Kimberley, Nathan Rule and Leyton Brown
Layout: Rob Conn
Animation: Andrew Kimberley and Brendan Jacquin
Lighting: Dom Femia and Cam Wright
Compositing: Benjamin Ying and Glenn Cone
VFX Producer: Sarah Burton
Post Production by Cutting Edge
Offline Editor: Kerry Farrell
Colourist: Kali Bateman
Online Flame Artist: Glenn Cone
Sound Design: Mike Lange
Senior Post Producer: Samara Keune
Executive Producer: Trelise Blade
