Blue Room

To promote Whale Wars, the series that documents the battle to end whaling between Japanese whalers and the highly controversial Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Animal Planet wanted to create a spot wherein the viewer would be given a different perspective on the act of whaling by having the POV tethered to the tip of a harpoon. To accomplish this, we rented an industrial fishing boat and traveled 19 miles off the coast of Gloucester, MA.

Each promo opens on the deck of a whaling boat and follows the harpoon tip as it swivels, locks on its prey and fires. As we close in on the whale, a large, metallic object suddenly intercedes and as the camera pulls back from the action, it is revealed that the letters of the Whale Wars title have acted as a protective shield.

We shot at 100fps using the RED camera which gave us a great resolution for the visual effects as well as the ability to enhance the scene by traveling in "harpoon time." All in all, we ended up with a great spot, some stalwart mates, several Promax/BDA awards, and an unforgettable high seas adventure.

Credits

• Animal Planet
  Marketing Director: Michael Eisenbaum
  Exec. Producer: Jamie Dugger
  Supr. Editor: Barry Gliner

• Blue Room
  Director: Brian Aumueller
  DP: Steven Faulkner Moyer (The Arsenal)
  Creative Director: Brian Aumueller
  Exec Producer: Chris Gargani
  Sr. Producer: Lauren Muir
  Editorial Director: David Gargani
  Editor: Shaun Sindelman
  Sound Design: Brian Aumueller
  Art Director: Steve Harper
  Lead VFX Artist: Steve Harper
  Animator: Chieh Yen
  Compositing Artist: Alejandro Monzon

• Adobe After Effects, Alias Maya, C4D, Mocha