Deep beneath the surface of the sea, a costumed woman drifts by on the back of a swimming elephant. As fish clear out of the way, the camera approaches a circus big top. Inside, a ringmaster directs attention to acrobats on a flying trapeze swinging through the water, a strongman lifting weights, and a human cannonball firing out of a cannon. A man in the bleachers watches, thoroughly entertained. Finally, the ringmaster directs his attention to a washing machine sitting in the center of the ring. Clothes gently float out from the open lid. The man looks puzzled.

Suddenly the man is standing in a laundry room, knee-deep in water, a burst hose from his washing machine spraying water everywhere. He has woken from his daydream, back to reality. His daughter standing on the stairs behind him asks, “Is this going to ruin our trip to the circus?”

Most of the spot was shot underwater in a big pool against a bluescreen. We added the liveaction performer to the backgrounds we created digitally. We struck a balance between preserving vibrant circus colors, but still keeping the absorption of light feeling realistically underwater. We also created a digital elephant, complete with sequined headdress.


Executive VFX Producer: Eileen Moran
VFX Supervisor: Dan Lemmon
Compositing Supervisor: Mark Richardson
VFX Producer: Rebecca Downes