Project:

Castrol 'Rabbit Hole'

Type:

Animation

This is a story of power. The anticipation of watching a rocket launch; the earth-shaking rumbles before it blasts into space. The feeling of revving your engine before a race, waiting for the green light.

Using a mix of 3D and 2D Digital techniques and looking at the heritage of the Castrol Oil brand, we visualized the moment of calm before the untapped potential is unleashed. Castrol's "Icons of Power" lead us down the rabbit hole, shifting gears as the world warps in a vortex of energy. We weave between piston-crackling electricity and straight into the eye of the story to embody the power of the product.

Credits
  • Design & Animation: Scholar 
  • Creative Director: Will Campbell
  • Art Directors: Alex Bernas, Michael Cafarelli, Wu Hyun Lew
  • Managing Director/ Executive Producer: Anne Skopas
  • Executive Producer: Kate Aspell
  • Head of Production: Nakia Cooper
  • Senior Producer: Andrew Rindlaub
  • Designers: Ana Chang, Danni Fisher-Shin, Zach Herdman, Irma Hasanic, Madison Kelly, Susie Scheer, Amy Wallace, Kyle Fewell
  • Cel Animators: Alex Bernas, Olivia Blanc, Lyuben Dimitrov, Michael Relth, Julia Simas
  • 3D Lead: Tim Hayward
  • 3D Generalists: Michael Cafarelli, Vin Kim, Jay Kim, Jeffrey ‘Jip’ Jeong
  • Model/Texture Artist: David Martin
  • 3D Animators: Han Hu, Stephen van Wyk, Sarah Wolfe
  • Compositors: Sam Bachman, Jeffrey ‘Jip’ Jeong
  • Storyboards: Fred Fassberger
  • Editor: Sam Bachman

“It was important to ground our Icons of Power in reality, while also connecting them to the surrounding psychedelic world. Using reflective materials on our accurate/realistic/photo-real 3D models let us seamlessly merge the cel animation and 3D models, allowing the Icons of Power to interact with the vibrant, hand-drawn animation as it was mirrored off their contours.”

Process

We wanted to capture the thrill of slamming your foot on the gas and tearing down an empty highway; the anticipation of shifting gears as you accelerate.”