Filmworkers and Vitamin recently provided visual effects and post-production services for a new national spot about a family of vampires who learn to love mornings thanks to Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain. Conceived by Leo Burnett Chicago the spot opens on a vampire couple being interviewed in their suburban home. Admitting they weren’t morning people the couple tells how their lives have been turned upside down by the crunchy taste of Nutri-Grain Fruit Crunch Bars. The whole family is now rising early and accomplishing much more. Dad even has time to walk the family bat. The visual effects crews from Filmworkers and Vitamin contributed a number of effects to the spot including a 3D bat that the vampire dad takes for a stroll. Vitamin artists went to great lengths to make the creature as realistic as possible and also drew inspiration from classic Hollywood vampire films. “Real bats are not all that interesting because they move too fast ” said Vitamin creative director Danny DelPurgatorio. “Instead we took our bat into a more theatrical world and gave it a playful movement as if often done in movies.” Filmworkers applied additional effects work and also completed final post-production. Colorist Fred Keller applied the final color grade using a Baselight system to give the spot a slightly macabre cast. “We gave it a vampire feel ” Keller said “There’s not too much skin tone but it still has an interesting color palette.” DelPurgatorio said that the cleverness of the spot’s concept made it fun to work on. “It was a great idea ” he said. “Our work needed to be subtle and to blend into the overall vision.”
