MPC posts commercial for international 'Womankind' charity

'Be There', a harrowing commercial for woman's charity 'Womankind', has been completed by Director Nicolai Fuglsig of MJZ.
Postproduction and 3D animation were carried out at MPC.
The 60-second spot shows women in danger at the hands of others in different corners of the world. The spot opens with a young African girl about to undergo the barbaric tradition of female castration, we also see an attempted rape in a war torn eastern European city and the mental and physical cruelty affecting many seemingly normal UK women. In each of the situations shown an invisible force intervenes before the horrific events take place, this intervention illustrates the work of international charity 'Womankind'.
The majority of the post work carried out by the MPC team involved removing the substantial rigs manipulating the aggressors away from their victims. The knife that was to be used on the 12-year-old African girl was attached to a rig, which pulled the knife from the elder's hand and forced it to the floor. MPC Inferno operator Bill McNamara added secondary effects including glints and light to the blade, dust/sand particles were composited into the shot when the knife falls to the floor. Flies were added to the room where the operation took place and the skies above the African village were replaced to look hazy and hot.
In the 'Kosovo' scene, a soldier tries to rape a woman in a bomb damaged building while his colleague, aware of what is about to happen, ignores the woman's cries.
Again a rig was applied to the soldier and the actor was pulled away by an invisible force. The rig was removed in inferno and the soldier's jacket was repaired and manipulated to look as though he was being pulled.
MPC 3D Supervisor, Lee Danskin created elements in Maya which Bill McNamara then used to enhance the surroundings e.g. a burning 3D car, swirling smoke emanating from a destroyed building and a TV aerial on what was a nearby home. Dust particles and broken pieces of wall were added when the soldier fell to the ground.
The final section of the ad shows a British housewife whose husband returns home from work and immediately starts to pick on her before raising his hand and swinging to hit her. In this instance, the rig - again later removed in inferno - was set so the actor could make a genuine punching movement without actually connecting with the actresses face - the resulting punch is very realistic. However, in shot, a 3D animated hand in-print grabs the arm, warps the flesh and then pulls it away again intervening before the woman is harmed.
The spot's strap line underlines Womankind's plea - "We can be there, but only with your help..."
The ad airs internationally after the launch of the charity in March 2005.
(GB)