If you happened to catch this PSA on television in Britain this month, you might be left wondering if it is—could it somehow possibly be?—real footage. And that's the point.
The spot, from Grey London, shows an unborn baby drifting around inside the womb in what is surely the most real-seeming in-utero footage ever. It is, however, all CGI.
"The craft and technique that Digital Domain and [Radical Media director] Chris Milk put into making the ad was amazing, and the end result looks so brilliantly life-like that we hope people will walk away from it questioning whether it's real or not," says Grey deputy executive creative director Vicki Maguire.
The ad, for the British Heart Foundation, even has the baby do the voiceover (in a child's voice). She talks about how she might inherit a heart condition from her parents.
"I wanted to create a sincere and simple piece of film, forging a deeply emotional connection with girl who needs saving even before she is born," says Milk, who also made Arcade Fire's stunning interactive experience The Wilderness Downtown."The story is told in a world that is familiar but still a mystery. She's invited us in because she has something to say. Something vital."
Credits below.
CREDITS
Client: British Heart Foundation
Agency: Grey London
Creative Director: Vicki Maguire
Copywriter: Clemmie Telford
Art director: Lex Down
Managing Partner: Sarah Jenkins
Business Director: Eve Bulley
Account Manager: Grant Paterson
Account Executive: Isaac Hickinbottom
Agency producer: Vanessa Butcher
Creative producer: Gemma Hose
Planner: Ruth Chadwick
Media agency: PHD London
Media planner: Monica Majumdar
Production company: @radical Media
Director: Chris Milk
VFX: Digital Domain
Editor: Brian Miller
Producer: Ben Schneider/Sam Storr
Post-production: Digital Domain
Soundtrack composer: Vampire Weekend
Audio post-production: Grand Central