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

Weta Digital (NZ) is a world leading visual effects Company based in Wellington, New Zealand. We provide a full suite of digital production services for feature films and high-end commercials, from concept design to cutting-edge 3D animation. Weta was formed in 1993 by a group of young New Zealand filmmakers including Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor and Jamie Selkirk. It later split into two specialized halves—Weta Digital (digital effects) and Weta Workshop (physical effects). Weta Digital has been nominated for five visual effects Oscars® and won four.