London-based creative production studio Taylor James completed a one-shot television commercial that combines striking photorealistic CGI with live action. Commissioned by GlobalHue, the campaign for Bermuda Tourism is currently airing in the United States as part of the company's advertising goal to attract visitors to the island.

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The campaign uses both CG and live-action shots to deliver a :30 fly-over of the island that becomes a map detailing Bermuda's recreational attractions and landmarks. Taylor James enlisted the help of London-based film production company Flynn Productions to pull off the effect.

Both teams were present on location to gather the necessary images and film, the latter recorded primarily against a bluescreen for the live-action plates. By utilizing both CG and live-action technology, Taylor James was able to seamlessly integrate the different aspects of the spot, showing it in one complete camera move.

Glen Taylor, managing director at Taylor James and director on this shoot, describes the complexities of combining location-based live action with CGI: "It was extremely important that we got the images of the setting right. We needed to know what the ins and outs of the island looked like so that we could transcend this into CGI while maintaining the beauty and original features of the island. We wanted to create something fun and stimulating that engaged the viewers, so we tried to capture the shot with one camera move—instantly drawing the viewer's attention to the different activities on the island. Emma Comley, the producer on set, and I went over first and decided on the locations for the shoot.

"The second time I went over with the rest of the CG team and we took a location scan. This meant that when we returned to London, we already had the animatics from Bermuda, so when it came to building the imagery around the live-action shots, we had already worked out all of the camera angles. The next big step was the actual filming, which took around 10 days. This is where Flynn's expertise on set came into play and really helped build on our team's expertise and vision. With two-thirds of the advert done completely in CGI, it was crucial that Taylor James'stechnical team was present during filming and we got what we needed to complete the job. Most people on set had never used CG before, so it was important to me, as a director on set, that we stayed true to our vision and our client's goals."

Logistically, it was a very demanding task as much of the imagery was captured through photo-mapping, which allowed for the 3D imagery to be built on using Autodesk 3ds Max and Vue software. However, this also proposed a problem for the team at Taylor James, and overcoming file size and detail within existing software proved challenging.

"Building the imagery uses a huge amount of data, and the overall technical structure involved to make it seamless is also very difficult," says Taylor. "Blending in and out of live action and using different software programs so they match seamlessly with the 3D was a constant challenge for our team; however, we managed to get it all done in one complete camera move."

Taylor James has produced iconic work over the years for some of the world's leading brands, including Mercedes, Motorola, Heineken and Evian. The move into live action signals further growth for the company, which now has a 35-strong team covering expertise in all areas of creative production.

Taylor continues: "This has been a great project for Taylor James. Working with live action and film has always been an area of interest, and it has been a great way to demonstrate the potential of CGI. It would've been great to have carried the ad further, to cover not only TV but print and digital, demonstrating the broad spectrum of CG work.

"At Taylor James, we make sure we hit the high standards that the industry sets for us and have continued to move with the times. If you don't stay ahead with technology, you will get left behind very quickly. A decade ago we just did print work and gradually moved through the motions into retouching, photography, CGI and now live action. The move into live action has been a much welcomed one, and we hope to continue doing projects like Bermuda that go on challenging us."