Despite boasting the longest list of VFX credits we’ve ever seen for a commercial, director Mark Jenkinson and The Mill crew keep narrative and emotion firmly in the foreground of NASCAR’s ambitious 75th anniversary film.

The Mill CD Chris Bernier: “The themes of history and excitement were what guided us through the process of making this film. We were focused on accurately representing the tracks in their moment while also bringing life and excitement to them that elevated it beyond the existing historical footage.

“Shot over several days in Barstow, California, there was a wide range of post-production work needed to bring this spot to life from new dynamic angles. We were responsible for recreating tracks and environments like the ocean along Daytona beach from early races, Bristol motor speedway, and Daytona international speedway.
 

“A custom detailed 3D 75 car was modeled in three versions, Chevy, Ford, and Toyota. This 3D model was tracked onto filmed footage of a vehicle and a peeling reveal was created in Houdini.”

 
“As a base to build on top, recreations of the iconic cars were filmed at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana and a dry lakebed outside of Los Angeles. We created the track and period accurate details of the walls, stands, crowds, and signage in 3D and composited them into the plates shot in these locations to give an accurate context for each historic moment.

“Another important element to the spot was the 75 car. In the script, the 75 car represented the 75-year history of NASCAR and served as a transitional element that transported us into each iconic moment. The 75 car was to peel its exterior away revealing the famous car from the moment underneath.

“A custom detailed 3D 75 car was modeled in three versions, Chevy, Ford, and Toyota. This 3D model was tracked onto filmed footage of a vehicle and a peeling reveal was created in Houdini, with custom dust, smoke, and debris simulations to bring these transitions to life.”
 
 

 
Client: NASCAR

Agency: 77 Ventures Creative
CCO: Galen Bernard
ECD: Doug Hanshaw
Executive Producer: Kim Daniels
Managing Director: Meredith Weiss

Production: Imperial Woodpecker
Director: Mark Jenkinson

VFX: The Mill
Creative Director: Chris Bernier
Executive Producer: Matthew Loranger
Senior Producer: Justin Matzen
Associate Producer: Ramya Shankar
Production Managers: Sourabh Dharmpurikar, Rushikesh Shelar, Atindriya Dasgupta
Production Coordinators: Paola Malo, Ankita Mitra, Kunal Panjwani, Mohit Bhomia
Shoot Supervisors: Rafael Ghencev, Toya Drechsler, Morten Vinther
DFX Supervisor: Rajesh Kaushik
2D Lead Artists: Andre Vidal, Tara Holland, Vi Nguyen, Matt McDonald
3D Lead Artists: Rafael Ghencev, Arup Barik
Compositors: Jose Arauz, Felipe Passarini, Lucia Hill Barroso, Katelyn Veneman, T’Naige Wallace, Varshini Kumar, Nanda Kumar Perumal Pillai, Adwait Atul Page, Akhil A S, Gangadharam Raja, Nitin Rupsing Patil, Pradeep Kumar Rawat, Ragesh Ramachandran, Ramesh Petwal, Camillo Gutierrez, Aditi Khosla, Chris Russo
2D Generalists: Jaswan Vishnu Prasath Balla Mohan Rao, Kumar Ranvir Sinha, Pran Ayare, Praveen Balasubramanian, Shubham Pawar, Athul Prakash A, Bairi Rakesh, Ganji Ravi Kumar, Kandala Maniteja, Kannan R, Anisha Kachi, Manish Kumar, Praneet Vivek Borkar, Ramandeep Singh, Ramesh Basanna Vhataghonde, Tarun Kemtur, Yasasvini Vagampalli, Yellamilli Sai Hari Sandeep, Kamatham Pavan, Karthikkeyan M D, Nishith Thallasseri, Pankaj Harish Ukey, Sriram Parameshwaran
CG Modeling & Texture: Shaktivrat Khanvilkar, Sarjana Datta, Shahid Hussain, Kapil Rana, Amalraj P, Jigna Chandulal Saparia, Nishika Bansal, Pratik Bhade, Praveen Sharma, Ravi Kulwantsingh Ubhi, Sunny Ankit Minj, Yashwant Singh, Badin Wongsawat, Quinn Thompson
Rigging: George Saavedra
CG Animation: Goran Ognjanovic, Jessica Castillo, Lohit Chintala, Dhruba Sinha, S Anashwara, Nisham Khan
CG Lighting & Rendering: Alex Smith, Sergei Volkov, Lauren Shields, Luca Maccarelli, Marc Angele, Alores Li, Venna Leelanadhareddy, Rajesh Patra, Pintoo Kumar, Ravi Kant Nirala, Setty Ashok Chakravarthy, Stacie Fina Dsouza, Surya Chetan, Trinath Sarkar
DMP: Gowri Sankar Velusamy D, Jyothika S
FX: Madivadanatamilparidy Ramamoorthy, Gleaces Juvilian, Manik Suvedi, Joon-ho Bang, Matt Roach
Roto: Kunal Bendke, Prasanta Maiti, Sivakumar R Mahendranatha Reddy, Md Munaam Gazzali, Narendra Kumar M, Abhay Singh Chauhan, Aditya Prasad Panda, Rohit Kuppekar, Dalra Manikanta Sai, Harshad Rane, Hrushikesh KaduImrojul Khan, Kamlesh Chauhan, Laxman Nathuram Bodere, Sagar Eknath Gangurde, Santosh Kondiba Lokhande, Amit Chavan, Sarita Chauhan, Amit Kumar Shukla, Bhushan Sanjay Tawade, Dipika Salunke, Hrushikesh Tarade, Jaydeep Rajendra Jadhav, Karthik A, Michael Madhukar Alhat, Poly Das, Radha Kumari, Romishbhai Sindhi, Sachin Kumar, Satish Yadav, Shubham Rajkumar Dhaygude, Saurabh Patankar, Sekh Sahangir, Shamim Zamir Khan, Suhas Sitaram Jadhav, Shrikant Jadhav, Shubham Rampratap Savita, Sushil Palai, Tanmay Bera, Tejas Budhawale, Vikas Ramhari Sondge, Tribhuwan Kumar, Umesh Shivade, Vilas Kailas Khiradkar, Vishal Devkar, Vishvajeet Kocharekar
Paint: Sachin Ranaware, Putta Mahesh, Devappa Hadpad, Guthikonda Venkateswara Rao, Bandi Raju, Khandu Baliram Bidkar, Mohammad Ghayasuddin, Prashant Mohite, Ajay S Kumbhar, Amit Karnik, Anil Kumar, Bruno Roosewelt, Chetan Shelar, Dixit Kumar, Gowthaman N, Nilesh Patil, Prem Rajay Vankudre, Ritesh Patil, Sarika Jadhav, Utkarsh Indis, Sandeep Saini, Shubham Kumar
Matchmove: Manoj Ravi, Elangovan Ganeshan, Sriram Namana, Nallur Suhas Bhat, Asif Mohammad, Avaneetharan Karuppasamy, Chetan Balasaheb Kadam, Dongili Varaprasad, Giri Prasath, Kishor Shivaji Apune, Mubin Munaf Qureshi, Pabitra Kumar Sahoo, Paras Pareshkumar Shah, Praveenkumar Palani, Puppala Vinod Kumar, Rais Pinjari, Suman Sahu, Typhan Rai, Upasana Choudhary, Pritam Narayan Behera
Finish Artist: Heather Keister
Designers: Kris Sharabinskaia, Chris Rodriguez

Color: The Mill
Colorist: Philip Hambi
Executive Producer: Edwin Elkington
Color Assist: Caitlin Donaldson
Resource Manager: Jemma Beaumont

Editorial: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Adam Marshall
Edit Assist: Paul Rummerfield
Head of Production: Melanie Klein
Executive Producer: Brooke Williams

Audio Post Production: Source Sound Inc.
Supervising Sound Designer & Mix: Charles Deenen
Senior Producer: Daniel Lepervanche
Sound Designers: James Evans, Dominik Ragancik
Sound Editors: Landen Belardes, Matt Severin