Finally, it’s allowed out into the world. Amazon Prime launched a brand new season of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ at the beginning of September. PAKT created the campaign, featuring eye-catching special effects, in an innovative Virtual Production for the sponsor, KitKat.
Challenge
Nestlé wrote a pitch for KitKat’s campaign. The latest series of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is expected to attract more than 100 million viewers. So the campaign airing during the film could – to put it mildly – use a special effect. PAKT convinced KitKat to harness the power of Virtual Production. CEO Maurice Wenneker: ‘In the pitch, we described how we could use this innovative technique, which has been used in Hollywood for some time, to make the campaign better and bigger than ever. Thanks to Virtual Production, location is no longer an issue. And there’s a natural interaction between the actors and the background, which is built in 3D.’
Approach
Who can forget the overwhelming beauty of Middle Earth? Maurice: ‘We worked up a creative translation of the atmosphere of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ for KitKat’s campaign, and then applied this new technique to it. With an EPIC BREAK, KitKat shows consumers a first glimpse of Middle Earth in the new series. Eating a KitKat has never been so magical…’
3 benefits of Virtual Production for KitKat
1. The scene with the KitKat doors opening would usually have been filmed by PAKT in front of a green screen, then add in special effects afterward. But thanks to Virtual Production, the actor now sees those doors opening on the big LED screen, making the actor’s job a lot easier.
2. Virtual Production helps make the set much better, bigger , and much more realistic.
3. The location is built in 3D and the cast and crew don’t have to travel. This saves time and reduces the impact on the climate.
This article is the third in a series on Virtual Production. In the first episode, you read about the technology of Virtual Production. In the second episode, we told about the project for Henkel (Dixan).