The ad was shot on several locations; an amusement park called Rainbow’s End, in Fort St in Auckland’s CBD, and in the company’s car park set up for greenscreen.

One of the more exciting bits of this project is that we employed a drone (carrying a Blackmagic) to shoot the rollercoaster when it was doing its slow climb. I helped advise the drone pilot and cameraman on the storyboarded shots. It was quite cool to see a custom drone in operation, to hear the pilot talk about his work, admire the tech and engineering.

So when it was time for the CG to start, it felt a bit boring.

Same ol’, same ol’, as I always say. Yup, someone modelled the rollercoasters; yup, someone modelled digital doubles; yup, I matchmoved; yup: I texture projected a set; yup: they pixel-fucked every frame in the name of Continuity. “Give me a reflection pass, please!” I’ll give you a reflection, all right.

A job is only interesting if the subject matter is worthwhile, or if it’s a technical challenge. Apparently, this was neither. But something’s got to pay the bills, eh?