Chivas NBA CG Animation

Working with the wonderful people at Impero, we produced three NBA sponsorship idents for Chivas, featuring high-end CG animation of liquids, both straight whiskey and with a fizzy tonic mixer, glass, ice, and of course, basketballs. The challenge was creating both ads using single seamless camera shots, taking the viewer from the start to the end without a cut.

In the first ad, the Chivas branded basketball transitions to an ice ball before rolling around the rim of our hoop, a high ball glass. It then drops into the glass revealing the product, Chivas and tonic. Fizz was added to the liquid, which is shown quickly, before we transition out to an overhead shot featuring two people sharing a night out with the drink.

The second ad is rather more dramatic, as our basketball slams into the backboard of a hoop, freezing it on contact, before smashing it into thousands of pieces of ice. We follow these as they plummet to the floor, conveniently morphing into ice cubes which then drop into our drink, a tumbler of Chivas Regal Extra.

Finally, motion graphics end frames were created and animated for both ads, with slow motion liquid splashing out of the Chivas glass. Lighting effects and a final tagline for the product were also added.

The animated idents were originally shown in China to help launch the NBA season, before being rolled out to other territories, and adapted for social.

We also produced multiple end frames including a red devil version with a cranberry juice mixer, along with DOOH and social edits.

The entire piece was created and animated in Cinema 4D, with compositing done in After Effects.