“Who’s a Good Boy?”
UNIT have teamed up with Mr President and Faithful Hound to deliver the post-production on BetVictor’s fun new spot Good Boy, featuring Harry Redknapp.
The spot begins with our hero asking his Siri equivalent (Harry) for any tips on the big game (Disclaimer: saying “Hey Harry” doesn’t work on most devices). Mr Redknapp then advises him to put a few quid on the lad up top (always a safe bet), before saying “Who’s a good boy?” – everyone’s favourite line when talking to a dog. With some confusion, our hero thinks he’s being chatted up before quickly realising Harry’s been talking to his dog – feeling that second-hand embarrassment?
Creating the motion graphics for this project was an interesting challenge. The client needed to create an audio reactive animated UI Visualiser that would pulsate and glow in response to Harry’s voice. UNIT needed to build a setup that was both visually pleasing and easy to iterate numerous times as there were multiple shots across three commercials that required the same effect. We used the audio reactive features inside of C4D and X-particles to create template setups. This meant we could easily load in any audio samples and achieve a similar output. We also used the same approach with our comp setups in After Effects so all the head shots could quickly be combined with the exported animation sequences. The result was a really procedural workflow that made creating all the separate bespoke animations a very efficient process. Once we had finished each insert animation, our comps were then tracked back into the phone screens by the Flame team.
UNIT’s VFX Artist, Rob Ellis, who was the shoot supervisor writes:
Once I’d popped the tracking markers on the phone and had a quick chat about reflections, I could sit back and enjoy Harry Redknapp’s performance in person. Myself and senior Flame artist Ian Baker have worked with director Chris Faith and Emma Leach from Mr. President on quite a few previous projects so I feel the trust is there. BetVictor ‘Good Boy’ was so much fun to be on location for – one of the most enjoyable shoots I’ve ever been on! We played to our team strengths back at UNIT: Graphics had devised a look for the on-screen Harry, composited in Flame, with the odd bit of clean up over Denny’s grade.
Rob Ellis, VFX Artist
UNIT created 2 other commercials for BetVictor, so watch this space!
Credits:
Agency: Mr President
Agency Producer: Emma Leach
ECD: Jon Gledstone
Creative: Max Simmance
Creative: Jake Smith
Senior Account Director: Aine Molloy
Senior Producer: Emma Leach
Production Company: Faithful Hound
Director: Chris Faith
Producer: Barty Dearden
UNIT
2D: Ian Baker & Rob Ellis
Shoot Supervisor: Rob Ellis
3D Design: Matt Rowley
Design: Tom Wansborough Jones
Grade: Denny Cooper
Producer: Isabella Wakley
