Alpenliebe latest TVC: making of Mr. Mach : Bollywood News

Right from yesteryears Jee lalchaye raha na jaye to todays lalach aha laplap, Alpenliebe, the flagship brand of Perfetti, has positioned itself well within the kid and adult segments. Since its launch in 1996, the sugar confectionery brand has always been innovative with its television commercials (TVCs) by incorporating kids, adults and Bollywood stars playing with computer generated (CG) and animated characters.

The latest 60 -seconder features the classic animated duo of Tom & Jerry, joining forces with Alpenliebe brand ambassador and Bollywood mega-star Kajol. Besides them, the mascot crocodile, Mr. Mach. Mach is three dimensional, computer generated and has been created by Oscar winning visual effects house Rhythm & Hues, Mumbai, making this a truly global collaboration. The commercial takes a leap ahead to reinforce the irresistibility factor as it introduces Tom & Jerry into the mix, under license from Warner Bros.

The TVC has been created by McCann Erickson, headed by the versatile Creative Director Prasoon Joshi, and has been produced by Black Magic Motion Pictures. The animation component, conceptualized in association with Turners Sponsorship and Promotions department - a division of Creative Services - was shot in Mumbai, and directed by Abhijeet Chaudhuri. The Tom & Jerry animation was produced by Hook Up Studios in Buenos Aires.

The commercial mixes live-action, 2D and 3D animation to get the spectacular effects needed to make sure the mayhem of the story was translated on screen. The TVC kicks off with Tom & Jerry jumping out of the television straight into Kajols home to get hold of Alpenliebe candy jar, in effect turning her home upside down. A shocked Kajol enters her home in between the ensuing Tom & Jerry chase and sets Mr. Mach to catch them and recover the candy. In the melee that follows, the jar finds its way back to Kajol. The quick thinking Kajol sends Tom & Jerry back into the TV feigning an Alpenliebe thrown into the TV. Mr. Mach gets his candy as a reward as do Tom & Jerry. The commercial ends with Kajol pretending to yet again feed Mr. Mach with the Alpenliebe candy but infact pops the candy in her own mouth.

For a behind-the-scene on how the CG crocodile was created, we spoke to Rhythm & Hues India MD Prashant Buyyala who explained the detailed process and shared the references which were used in creating the photorealistic Mr. Mach.

Says Prashant, In the Alpenliebe commercial our job was to build a CG crocodile and composite it in a live-action environment. The goal was to do seamless integration of the CG crocodile in the live-action scenes and the challenge was to make the crocodile look friendly and cute along with maintaining its photoreal look.