Including the stand-in performer, and a look at the live-action/2D animation approach.
A recent live-action/animation hybrid Magic: The Gathering cinema commercial features the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, orchestrated by production studio Eyebolls, which is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Watch the spot, below.
It was directed by Phil Hawkins, with animation direction from Tony Cervone (of Space Jam fame). “At its core, it’s traditional animation,” says Cervone in a press release. “Absolutely hand-drawn characters integrated into a live-action world. Making it believable meant focusing completely on that integration. Every choice was designed to support it. When an animated character truly interacts with live action, you start believing it immediately. The goal wasn’t just for the animation to fit in, but to elevate everything around it.”
“We were brought in early, which gave us time to test different approaches and figure out how to make the 2D animation sit naturally inside live action,” says VFX supervisor Dan Bull in the same release. “The brief was clear: keep the integrity and charm of the 2D style, but integrate it convincingly into the filmed environment.”
Here’s some fun on-set imagery which showcases the stand-in performer for the Ninja Turtles.
