The animation and VFX crew at BaconX in Copenhagen and Epoch Films director Martin De Thurah combine forces for a cheeky take on the powers of perseverance in this beat-perfect spot for Canadian online investment platform Wealthsimple.

Thomas Haas-Christensen, VFX supervisor/co-head of CG at BaconX: “Creating any CG creature is an exercise in observing how it behaves. If the job is done right, our work disappears and the audience believes what they see is truly real.

“The Slug for Wealth Simple involved a deep dive into the miniature world of the gastropods. We started out looking at references of various types of slugs before settling on a look and type of slug which we set out to recreate.
 

“Creating any CG creature is an exercise in observing how it behaves. If the job is done right, our work disappears and the audience believes what they see is truly real.”

 
“Starting with that realism, we then choose whether we want to anthropomorphize our character. In this case, we defined a slight structure for the eyes to better convey a feeling of presence. We also settled on a ‘head design’ which helped us convey the acting of the slug, a slight humanization which helps the idea of the film.

“Getting the surface structure and texture right was of absolute importance to making the slug look real. We did a lot of iterations of how the translucent shader should behave. We ended up using ray traced sub-surface shading with modeled intestines.

“The animation rig for the slug makes it possible to deform and move it in a realistic way. We added simulated parts to the body to help deform and make it look like a thick gooey surface sliding along. We also added tiny organic looking fibers to the surface, together with a sheen of wetness mixed with filaments of dirt and mud.

“As the slug moves, we generated a slime-trail and a simulated liquid surface interacting with the surface around the slug. To enhance the integration with the ground shot on set, we added tiny 3D pebbles and stones for the slug to slide over and interact with. Some shots required twigs and set-dress elements to be added in CG such as leaves and forest undergrowth.”
 
 

 
Client: Wealthsimple
Creative Director: Jacob Weinstein, Devin Friedman
Producer: Marc Tavas
EP: Greg Tharp
Marketing Director: Janet Xi
Chief Marketing Officer: Rubina Singh

Production: Epoch Films
Director: Martin De Thurah
EP: Melissa Culligan
Producer: Michaela Johnson
Director of Photography: Rasmus Videbæk
1st AD: Stefan Danholm

Production Service: Bacon
Line Producer: Henrik Berthelsen

Post/VFX: BaconX
CD/Co-founder: Jonas Drehn
VFX supervisor/co-head of CG: Thomas Haas-Christensen
VFX Supervisor: Jonas Drehn
VFX Producer: Daniella Strand
EP: Lorène Lescanne
Head of Production: Rikke Gjerløv Hansen
Compositing: Thomas Banner
Colorist: Hannibal Lang

Post: Bacon
Editor: Peter Brandt

Music Supervision/Sound Design: Ballad
Music supervisor: Adrian Aurelius, Gregers Maersk Moeller
Sound designer: Adrian Aurelius, Philip Flindt
EP: Gregers Maersk Moeller

Voice Over: Jon Abrahams