Charlex Drives Jeep through M.C. Escher Country

To everything, there is a season. For today's Jeep enthusiasts that season is spring. In its new advertising campaign for its four-wheel drive vehicles, Daimler-Chrysler emphasizes the transition from winter to spring with dazzling effects produced by Charlex, a design and post production boutique in New York. Let's take a look at the process Charlex artists used in the production, editing and compositing of this unique spot.

Jeep's advertising agency FCB Worldwide, Southfield, MI, immediately thought of the celebrated "transitional," work of the illusionist artist M. C. Escher as the basis for the conceptual design and astounding visual effects directed by Charlex cofounder and creative director Alex Weil.

For all of his remarkable visions, Escher probably never thought of this. The spot opens on a winter mountain scene, the falling snow is quickly magnified as individual snowflakes form a distinctly Escher-like pattern.

No sooner is the pattern established than the snowflakes transform into dogwood flowers, which are quickly blown away by a swiftly passing Jeep.

As some errant dogwood flowers come to rest on a nearby stream, the camera drops to reveal a school of identical fish beneath the surface. Adopting a remarkably ordered crosshatched pattern, the fish gently transform into an aerial view of lush farmland, through which a Jeep drives. Ascending skyward, into a mountain range, the vehicle eventually gives way to a flock of birds.

"The challenge was to figure out how to use the visual branding suggested by M.C. Escher in the world of Jeep," said Weil. "Since in Escher's work one thing transitions into another, we immediately fastened on the idea of winter turning to spring. To get the job, Carolyn Kaufman, project lead designer, and I worked day and night to create this design."

"This was a full team effort," said Charlex producer Steve Chiarello. "Everybody worked very hard on the pitch, which was almost as tough as the job itself. We combined preexisting Jeep footage with running footage to create an interesting Escher metamorphosis vision. Carolyn worked hard on the concept, and after we won the job, we had just five weeks to complete it, not a lot of time for a spot of such complexity."

"It was certainly a challenge," admitted Kaufman. "Competition for the spot was wide open, so a lot of work had to go into our pitch and storyboard. We needed something that Charlex Flame artists Marc Goldfine and Greg Oyen could work their magic on. When we were awarded the job, we were very happy, but the challenge was just beginning. The storyboard that came back to us was basically our pitch, with some modifications. We then had to make our still images follow and enhance the vision laid out by the art director. Because of the challenge of marrying live action with graphic images, it got rather intense toward the end."

Charlex Editor John Zawisha was quick to agree, "After seeing the initial design, the challenge was to take the stock footage Jeep provided and weave it together with Carolyn's graphic elements to tell the story in a coherent, Escher-like way. Jeep footage is always beautifully filmed, but it was up to us to add the choreography to make it work together. There is a lot of trial and error, and I really have to hand it to the Flame guys, who made my job a lot easier."

And Zawisha's job was certainly not easy. Although the spot plays as if it were running footage, it was created almost entirely from still images. In all, nearly 4000 images in every format were examined. The initial spring scene alone required 13 different types of images.

"Carolyn, John and Marc Goldfine really made this very difficult job work for us," insists Weil. "They really deserve the credit."

Charlex is a design and effects based post production boutique. Collaborating with agencies, directors, editors, and musicians the Charlex team creates unique solutions to communications problems. This "post" boutique, lead by creative director and founder Alex Weil, also serves as a production company when the right projects come along.

Masters of Compositing Charlex Drives Jeep through M.C. Escher Country
	To everything, there is a season. For today's Jeep enthusiasts that season is spring. In its new advertising campaign for its four-wheel drive vehicles, Daimler-Chrysler emphasizes the transition from winter to spring with dazzling effects produced by Charlex, a design and post production boutique in New York. Let's take a look at the process Charlex artists used in the production, editing and compositing of this unique spot. Jeep's advertising agency FCB Worldwide, Southfield, MI, immediately thought of the celebrated "transitional," work of the illusionist artist M. C. Escher as the basis for the conceptual design and astounding visual effects directed by Charlex cofounder and creative director Alex Weil. For all of his remarkable visions, Escher probably never thought of this. The spot opens on a winter mountain scene, the falling snow is quickly magnified as individual snowflakes form a distinctly Escher-like pattern. No sooner is the pattern established than the snowflakes transform into dogwood flowers, which are quickly blown away by a swiftly passing Jeep. As some errant dogwood flowers come to rest on a nearby stream, the camera drops to reveal a school of identical fish beneath the surface. Adopting a remarkably ordered crosshatched pattern, the fish gently transform into an aerial view of lush farmland, through which a Jeep drives. Ascending skyward, into a mountain range, the vehicle eventually gives way to a flock of birds. "The challenge was to figure out how to use the visual branding suggested by M.C. Escher in the world of Jeep," said Weil. "Since in Escher's work one thing transitions into another, we immediately fastened on the idea of winter turning to spring. To get the job, Carolyn Kaufman, project lead designer, and I worked day and night to create this design." "This was a full team effort," said Charlex producer Steve Chiarello. "Everybody worked very hard on the pitch, which was almost as tough as the job itself. We combined preexisting Jeep footage with running footage to create an interesting Escher metamorphosis vision. Carolyn worked hard on the concept, and after we won the job, we had just five weeks to complete it, not a lot of time for a spot of such complexity." "It was certainly a challenge," admitted Kaufman. "Competition for the spot was wide open, so a lot of work had to go into our pitch and storyboard. We needed something that Charlex Flame artists Marc Goldfine and Greg Oyen could work their magic on. When we were awarded the job, we were very happy, but the challenge was just beginning. The storyboard that came back to us was basically our pitch, with some modifications. We then had to make our still images follow and enhance the vision laid out by the art director. Because of the challenge of marrying live action with graphic images, it got rather intense toward the end." Charlex Editor John Zawisha was quick to agree, "After seeing the initial design, the challenge was to take the stock footage Jeep provided and weave it together with Carolyn's graphic elements to tell the story in a coherent, Escher-like way. Jeep footage is always beautifully filmed, but it was up to us to add the choreography to make it work together. There is a lot of trial and error, and I really have to hand it to the Flame guys, who made my job a lot easier." And Zawisha's job was certainly not easy. Although the spot plays as if it were running footage, it was created almost entirely from still images. In all, nearly 4000 images in every format were examined. The initial spring scene alone required 13 different types of images. "Carolyn, John and Marc Goldfine really made this very difficult job work for us," insists Weil. "They really deserve the credit." Charlex is a design and effects based post production boutique. Collaborating with agencies, directors, editors, and musicians the Charlex team creates unique solutions to communications problems. This "post" boutique, lead by creative director and founder Alex Weil, also serves as a production company when the right projects come along.