3D-rendering Gabriel Macht suits DStv Premium

Suits is one of the most watched shows on M-Net (DStv channel 101), with many characters that local viewers relate to – strong, intelligent women who are always catwalk-ready and men who act with conviction and authority. Men like Harvey Specter – quick-witted, sharp-tongued and easy on the eye.

Nomsa Chabeli-Mazibuko, GM for marketing at Multichoice South Africa, explains that DStv Premium subscribers get to see episodes of the popular show within hours of the US broadcast, as it is broadcast “Express from the US”. And so, in reminding audiences that DStv Premium provides up-to-date, quality on-demand content, Gabriel Macht – the actor behind Specter, who is his most recognised role to date – was selected as the perfect fit as a DStv Premium ambassador, because his enigmatic persona, conviction of beliefs and love for great entertainment aligns with the ethos of the DStv Premium brand. He’s been gracing our screens as part of a series of themed commercials that proves celebrity backing can increase brand awareness.

The first instalment, titled ‘You’, focused on DStv’s Express from the US and Catch Up offerings, which give consumers the power to have great entertainment first hand. Fittingly, the second instalment, ‘Power’, focused on the fact that DStv helps consumers curate their own best content on these platforms. Now, the latest instalment, ‘What do you see?’, is intended to help advertisers and consumers alike understand and appreciate the power of great television and great storytelling, as it inspires and gives them social currency. In it, Macht is seen projecting the very characters that helped him shape himself into who he is today. That’s no mean feat. View the ‘What do you see?’ ad below, if you’ve missed it:

Luckily, Chabeli-Mazibuko says Macht is not a prima donna, as the team had three commercials to make, each comprising a lot of scenarios and pages of dialogue, which could have been scary if coupled with a little Harvey Specter instead of actor Macht.

On the contrary, she found him always professional and courteous – “arriving on time for shoots, putting in extra hours without complaint; queueing for food and sitting down to eat with the rest of the crew. He’s extremely flexible and took the initiative to ask questions in order to gain a better understanding of our market. We also have many fun moments with him, for instance we spend hours trying to teach him how to pronounce the word ‘duvet’.”

Macht was clearly a lot of fun to work with. “It’s seldom one meets and works with an international actor in his league who is so humble, focused, collaborative and entertaining!”

Making Harvey Specter’s digital double

Ogilvy & Mather brought in the award-winning Greg Grey of Velocity Films to direct this decidedly different story. In telling us more about the ‘making’, Grey explains that the 3D-rendering process that went into creating this latest ad was quite the “thrilling creative conundrum”, with a team of eight people working on the post-production of the commercial spread across a ten-week period.

On the day of the live action shoot, Macht was 3D-scanned and photographed using a combination of Artec 3D scanner and more traditional photogrammetry techniques, using a turntable. The actor’s likeness had to be captured quickly in a 20-minute session between takes, as there was a busy day of shooting scheduled for the other commercials in the series.

After the data had been captured on set, a digital double of Macht was modelled and rigged in order to animate and track his live-action performance. The offline edit was then matched in 3D using the digital double, and a series of digital projectors was then set up to project the edited DStv content onto Macht’s face and body. The rendered 3D projections of the content were then married to his live-action performance during the compositing process by digitally relighting the live-action plates. The shots were then reframed and subtle camera moves were animated before adding the final lens effects and finishing touches.

Certainly an impressive result. Click here for Jacques Massardo, creative director of Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town’s take on “The magic in understanding the brief” and bringing the latest and greatest content to life with this ad series.